Tag Archives: travelling with children

THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2021

There were many family trips after 1987 but we returned to Italy and Switzerland fifteen years later in 2002. I was in a car accident with our fourteen-year-old son and seventeen-year-old daughter the week before we were booked to fly. The car was a write off. After we had a check up with our family doctor she said it was too early to begin physiotherapy and thought we would feel even worse if we stayed home. As banged up as we were she cleared us for travel. In Florence, with a separated shoulder and severely bruised legs, I couldn’t hold a camera steady and could only walk short distances in a city that is among the top walk-able cities in the world. We had to hire cabs or horse-drawn carriages to see many of the world-renowned artistic treasures. It was a trip of healing, with daily exercises to help us mend, we slowly improved as the weeks went on. We were of no help to Jim with lifting. It was hard on him as the main baggage carrier and therapist in a family of four.

 

Switzerland was a three-day holiday, August 10-13, tagged on the end of touring Italy that began on July 26. On day sixteen, we drove Route 2 from Como across the Swiss border, through the Gotthard Tunnel, a 13 minute drive to Andermat and then Route 11 (Sustenstrasse) at Wassan, with a stop for lunch at Restaurant Sustenbrüggli to Interlaken.

 

 

 

A few weeks earlier we had another car accident when leaving Naples for a scenic coastal drive of the Amalfi coast. A driver gawking at a woman slammed his cube van into the back of our car while we were stopped at a red light. We spent the rest of our morning arranging another rental car. Back on route heading south, it was the best side of the road for a view down the sheer cliffs to the shoreline villages and the Tyrrhenian Sea, but a hair-raising ride for the children and me. With our eyes squeezed tight, the odd peek here and there, we leaned into the middle of the car away from the window. We felt as precariously perched as the fishing villages.

 

 

Here we were on the Swiss Route 11, famous for hairpin turns. We felt the same precariousness, but did appreciate the mountainous scenery. On route to Interlaken we went up the Jungfrau, Elevation: 4,158 m.—13,642 ft. (Canadian Rockies 3,954 m.—12,972 ft.) and then drove on to Interlaken for the night at Chalet Oberland.

 

 

 

From Interlaken we re-visited Gstaad for a walk about to stretch our legs, before arriving in the French speaking medieval town of Gruyères for lunch and a tour. This was our first time to experience a car-free town, where you park your car and walk across a large gravel parking lot to the town.

We were seeking out Raclette for lunch. In Switzerland the electrical raclette, a modern way of serving raclette involves an electric tabletop grill with small pans, known as coupelles, in which to melt slices of raclette cheese. The device was put in the middle of our table. The Gruyères cheese was brought to the table sliced, accompanied by platters of boiled or steamed potatoes, other vegetables and charcuterie.

 

After lunch, we rambled along cobblestone lanes, in this fairy tale village, where the main street is 300 meters from beginning to end. We shopped for souvenirs and discovered a lace making demonstration. It boggled my mind how the artisans kept track of so many wooden bobbins in their crisscrossing of threads to create their intricate patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

Fairy tales have happy endings in this town. Gruyères Castle dating back to the 13^th century had a French garden behind the castle walls. A collection of art, Fantastic Art, by HR Giger was shown inside the castle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made it to Montreux after missing it in 1983. This time we were too early for the 36^th festival running from July 5 – 23. But we saw the Charlie Chaplin statue and toured Chillon, the water castle. Built on an oval shaped island, Chillon means rock platform. The French painter Gustave Courbet depicted the castle in many of his paintings. After his trial concerning the Vendôme Column, Courbet was compelled to personally pay for the rebuilding which left him in financial ruin. He was forced to live away from France, exiled near by in La-Tour-de-Peliz from 1873 to his death in 1877.

 

 

We drove to Lausanne and then Geneva to stay overnight at Hotel Strasbourg with plans for a day of sightseeing in Geneva before our flight home the following day. It happens often when travelling, to arrive at a location to discover the one attraction that you want to see is closed. I can’t remember what our teenagers wanted to see but as we drove into the city there were signs clearly stating that it was closed. To walk the promenade along Lake Geneva and to see the Jet d’Eau pushing water to a height of 140 meters just didn’t hold their interest. It was a day spent shopping, finding souvenirs and Swiss Army Knives and a promise to look forward to Fondue for dinner at a posh restaurant.

 

 

 

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

In spite of our brief experience in 1983 with Switzerland that was all about the intensive rain, we were enamoured of the country. And so we thought it a good place to return to with our young daughter August 21-September 5, 1987.

Our Swiss hiking and spa trip began with Zurich. We figured we would have something to do in the evening with a two-year-old if we stayed at Spa Hotels for their mineral water pools. The Spa guests appeared to be octogenarians. Even though Jim and I were decades younger, it was our daughter that held the cache of a visiting celebrity. They couldn’t get enough of her in the dining room and when walking the grounds. We wondered about when the pools were used because we seemed to have exclusive use, just the three of us took in the waters in the large pools. Maybe the spas were busier during the day when we were out sightseeing. We stayed in Weggis, the northern part of Lake Lucerne, four nights at Sigriswil (Thun), night seven in Lenk a spa resort in the Simmental Valley, one night in Gstaad, two nights in Geneva, Leukerbad for two nights, Vevy for two nights then back to Geneva.

 

 

There was always something interesting for a two-year-old, hiking the countryside securely seated in a frame-pack hitched to her father. The meadows and delicate alpine- flowers, the call of cattle and bells, geraniums and carving on chalets, the alphorn and glacial lakes were from her vantage point, six feet above the ground, same height as dad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trips with a child, away from the distractions of early-childhood programs and nursery school, parent’s work and a city life, are about a slower paced lifestyle. It’s not about how much or how little one sees on a trip. It’s about one-on-one family time. It is well known that a child’s development and vocabulary soars on holidays with their parents.

 

 

 

Brienz, a woodcarving town on Lake Brienze remains etched in my mind for the cuckoo clocks, wood sculptures and chocolate-box chalets. I had finished shopping for a souvenir and our daughter was tired. Jim was close by but absorbed in the mastery of the carving, taking a lot of photos and wanted more time. I took a break with her and sat on a bench along the lake to observe the water, the Bernese Oberland and the endless sky.

 

A cloud shadow crossed the lake; the surface waves ruffled the water. Wrapped in a blanket, cosy in her Osh Gosh overalls, she was sleeping in my arms. I felt insignificant beneath the Frau of the Mountain. I wondered how she perceived this landscape, from her stature at 34 inches. We had such a big canvas to fill. Where would her life take her? What surprises and adventures were to come?

Elevation: 1,050 m.—3,440 ft. (CN tower antenna spire: 553.3 m.—1,815.3 ft.)

 

 

 

Hotel Bernerhoff in Gstaad was near the train station. Wood was featured for the interior and exterior, the back of the dining chairs had holes cut-out in heart shapes and the balconies had detailed leafy cut-outs and cascading geraniums. Everything one would want to see in a Swiss town. The turndown service included the white eiderdown rolled at the foot of the bed just like the one I first saw in Zug. Golden Delicious apples were in a ceramic bowl in the hallway with a note, “Gute Nacht!”

 

After breakfast we explored the underground pool and sauna area. There was a sign outside the sauna—a T-shirt image with an X layered on top—this meant no clothing in the sauna. It was the opposite of what would be expected at home. It was just a talking point for us, saunas are not for toddlers. On checkout we received a lovely gift, a ceramic dish from Hotel Bernerhoff. And then, back in the car and on to Geneva for two nights at the Beau Rivage. I’m not sure which route we drove along Lake Geneva but we were close to Montreux. This time we were too late for the 21^st year of the festival that ended on July 19.

 

 

Our last night was spent in Geneva at the Beau-Rivage. Designed to impress. The grand staircase led to hallways with balustrades open to the underlying mezzanine. On arrival the valet offered to park our car in their lot. Things that amuse a child on a car trip, whole and crushed cheerios, empty packages of other snacks and disassembled parts of Mr. and Ms. Potato Head were strewn about the floor and back seat of our car. It was the age of excess; we were driving the most expensive car we have ever rented, a Mercedes. We said, “No thank you” and chose to self-park.

 

 

 

THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021

We stayed in Zug, Switzerland on our first trip to Europe in 1983.

From my travel journal:

Saturday, June 25

We were in Wörgl, Austria on Saturday night. “Raining in Wörgl.”

 

 

 

Sunday June 26

“Meat, cheese and rolls for breakfast on the train,” 45 minutes “to Innsbruck.” Walked Innsbruck, had Austrian hotdogs, pretzel and beer for lunch” and then on the “12:30 train to Zürich. We walked the Bahnhofstrasse to Lake Zürich, walked back through Old Town. Cheese fondue dinner near the station, caught the commuter train to Zug, arrived 8:30” (30 minutes journey).

 

“Walked Lake Zug and found Hotel Rössli overlooking the lake ($35/ night shower and breakfast).”

“Walked around town in the evening, many ducks, had coke at hotel restaurant, played slot machine”

 

 

 

I remember Zug for our lodging, Hotel Rössli, with intricate carving in the wood interior. We didn’t stay in hotels every-night. Night trains with compartments could be reserved for a small upcharge because we bought Adult Eurail Passes. Rössli was a splurge. The bed-covering rolled at the foot of the bed was like a puffy merengue confection. I had read about eiderdowns but had never seen one. Zug, meaning train in German, was our sleeper car for two nights.

 

 

 

Monday June 27

“Nice breakfast” (train to Interlaken 3 hours)

Arriving in Interlaken at noon, it was raining and we had left our jackets at the hotel. Unprepared for the weather, we had to change plans to get out of the rainstorm. “ The Montreux Jazz Festival was of interest.” We were too early for the Festival that started on July 8, but we wanted to see the location on Lake Geneva. We thought we would go there, but “trains weren’t going to Montreux.” It would have been a six-hour train ride, which would not have been realistic anyway. By the time we arrived there, our time sight seeing would have been very limited before we had to catch a train back to Zug.

So we “caught the train to Bern” (Interlaken to Berne 30 minutes). It was raining in Bern, so we stayed in the train station and “caught the train to Zürich, (1 hour) and then a connecting train to Zug (30 min.) It was raining in Zug at 4:00 p.m.”

 

The day was a back packers write off. In my journal, “most of the day on trains but good scenery, water, very green at Interlaken.”

 

In Zug, we “changed for the weather” and “waked the town, took photos of deer and parrots and the town. Schnitzel and French fries for dinner in old town and tried Kirsch (Yuk!)”

“After dinner we walked to the train station for chocolate and then to the hotel.”

 

Tuesday June 28

In the morning we “paid bill for 2 nights, had breakfast, still raining, walked to train station, caught train to Zürich” (28 min. ride)

“2 minutes to catch train to Basel” (1 hour train ride)

“2 minutes to catch train to Frankfurt” (60 min. train ride) and “made all connections!”

 

Arrived Frankfurt 1:17