December 2019 – Page 2

Alpine sunrise

A spectacular sunrise over Zürich.

Every morning I climb Zürich’s steep strasse and steig until I reach the clear ridgeline of the Zürichberg hilltop, with its broad view across the city and Zürichsee lake to the Alps. Some days I am enveloped in the valley fog common this time of year. Other days the clouds grudgingly give me glimpses of the Alps beyond the valley. Today, finally, I was treated to a spectacular sunrise, with a crystal-clear view of the Alps and a sky painted with deep red sunlight. I picked just five photos for the (must-see!) gallery, and share only one below.

Uetliberg sunset

A beautiful day to view the sunset over the Alps.

Today was a spectacular day to be high – on a summit, that is. Mid-afternoon I caught a tram to the west side of town and hoofed it up the steep slopes of Uetliberg, the hill that dominates the western edge of Zürich. I wish I’d arrived earlier, while the sunlight was still touching the Alpine peaks… but I arrived in time to climb the summit tower and watch the the clouds’ evolving palette of colors for the next half hour. It was hard to capture the magic of this moment… but I’ve posted a gallery of five favorites.

Sunset view from Uetliberg, Zurich.

St. Gallen

A brief visit to the beautiful town of St. Gallen.

We made a short overnight visit to St. Gallen, a pretty little town in the eastern edge of Switzerland. We were there for an evening banquet, hosted by my professor host at the University of St. Gallen, and stayed overnight so we could explore the town the next day. We spent a few hours to stroll the history ‘old town’, the famous Abbey of St. Gall, and its Christmas markets. Unfortunately the library at the Abbey was closed for cleaning, but we enjoyed their small museum about the this thousand-plus year-old archive of documents. (“Since 1983 the whole remaining abbey precinct has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”) The old town has many beautiful half-timber buildings and oriels, elaborate multistory bay windows. Many of the squares and streets had stalls selling crafts and Christmas wares, and in one square we encountered three old men playing music on their alphorns. Fascinating!

Streets of St. Gallen's old town, Switzerland. See the photo gallery for more. If you want to keep up with our adventures, “Follow” this blog via email or RSS at right.

First, Grindelwald

Sometimes you need to close the laptop, grab a camera, hop a train, and head for the mountains.

Today we took the train (actually three trains, a bus, and a tram) from Zürich to Grindelwald, in central Switzerland… and then the gondola up to ‘First’, where there is a panoramic view of the Jungfrau region. On this blue-sky day, with no clouds and no wind, it was truly spectacular.

Wetterhorn (left) and Schreckhorn (center), from First... above Grindelwald.

Check out the photo gallery… what a day!!

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