Zurich

Day 15: Tues, 16 July 2019
26°C
AutoPost Depart Lauterbrunnen, Lochbrücke Arrive Lauterbrunnen, Bahnhof
SBB Depart Lauterbrunnen Arrive Interlaken Öst
SBB Depart Interlaken Öst Arrive Bern
SBB Depart Bern Arrive Zurich Hb
Yooji's Hauptbahnhof, Coop Supermarkt Zürich Bahnhofbrücke, Bäckerei Confiserie Bachmann, McDonald’s, Aldi
Jungfrau, Interlaken Öst, Bern, Zürich Hauptbahnhof, Lindenhofplatz, Limmat river, Grossmünster, Fraumünster, Münsterbrücke
SBB Depart Zurich Hb Arrive Kloten Balsburg
Apart-Hotel Zurich Airport
12,019 steps

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We had an early start to check out of our chalet and to catch transport to Zurich. We woke up to a clear and beautiful morning. We saw a great view of Jungfrau from just below from the chalet. Our host helped us with our luggage again and walked us to the bus stop where we admired Jungfrau some more. We arrived at a busy train station and managed to get tickets from the machine to Zurich. Because of the great weather, it was very busy in town too. There were crowds of people getting off the trains. We took 3 trains to Zurich. We had an empty carriage to Bern for a while and then our last train to Zurich was packed. We arrived Zurich about 12.30pm and stored our luggage at the station lockers. We went to the public restrooms at the station where we had to pay. Phil had an incident with the woman working there who told him off in another language. He didn’t pay the right amount. Luckily there was a nice local man who helped defuse the situation and he paid the woman the extra change she was demanding.

We got sushi and sandwiches for lunch before going for a walk around town. It was very warm, so we found some yummy ice cream at a chocolate store. We found Zurich to be a very pretty city with lovely buildings, luxury cars and well-dressed people. We stopped at Lindenhofplatz to take in the view of the city and for a swing break for Catherine and Nicholas. From there we walked to Münsterbrücke (bridge) for another break. Then it was back to the train station via a stop at McDonald’s for a snack. We got our luggage and took the last train of the day to our airport hotel. Phil bought some makeshift dinner at Aldi next door.

Day 16: Wed, 17 July 2019
26°C
Hotel Shuttle Bus Depart Apart-Hotel Arrive Zurich Airport
SQ288 (Airbus A380) Depart ZRH 11:45 Arrive SIN 05:55+1
Room; Mid-90s; The Upside; The Con is On (don't watch!); Veep S7

Thurs, 18 July 2019
SQ265 (Airbus A350) Depart SIN 07:20 Arrive BNE 16:55
Sink or Swim; Alita: Battle Angel; Miracle Workers S1 E3-7; Killing Eve S1 E1-3; Veep S7
SQ265 (Boeing 737) Depart BNE 19:20 Arrive CBR 21:10

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We were ready to go home. We got up early and had a good breakfast at the hotel. The egg boiler was popular. We took the hotel shuttle to Zurich Airport. Check-in was smooth. We took a train to the terminal E gates. The terminal was clean and new. I bought some last minute (cheaper) souvenirs and expensive Starbucks. Nicholas and Phil checked out the outdoor observation deck on the third floor. Our flight was delayed over an hour, so once we deplaned at Changi Airport we made a frantic rush to Terminal 3 to catch our connection. We weren’t the only ones rushing and it turned out that Singapore Airlines delayed our connecting flight about 15 minutes to wait for all of us. Nicholas was a bit unwell on that leg. Our flight from Brisbane to Canberra was also delayed about half an hour due to bad weather elsewhere. It was lovely to have family pick us up at the airport and drive us home. We finally arrived home about 10.30pm. The long-haul flights exhausted us but the kids did well in getting over the jet-lag quickly.

16 days of travel around Europe for our family was just right, although it was probably a little bit on the long side for our teenager. He is at a stage where he would rather be home and see his friends. We are restricted to travel only on school holidays for now. We had some great experiences at each destination. It was good that the kids were more involved with the planning and had input on what they wanted to see and do. We all had our emotional moments – travelling seems to elevate our sensitivities, but we got over it quickly. Looking back, I’m amazed by how much we did and I’m so proud that the kids went along with most of it. This time they were more helpful and more gracious than in the past. I’m so happy that they are curious about the world. Here are our highlights:

London: Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace; Matilda; Hamley’s; Pizza Union
York: The Shambles; York Minster; City Wall; train museum
Edinburgh: Exploring with grandparents; National Museum of Scotland
Milan: gelato; Porta Garibaldi area; Duoma area
Lauterbrunnen: Our Chalet and surrounds; seeing Jungfrau
Zurich: Lindenhofplatz; Münsterbrücke