Can you remain a strict vegetarian /vegan and still tour Europe? Can you cover most of Italy in 4 days? Can you cover most of Milan in 4 hours? Can you continue the trip uninterrupted even after losing your wallet and iPhone? Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes!!. This is an account of our 10 day Europe trip, bound by the available time we squeezed in the most we could. And learned some lessons along the way when I lost my wallet and phone. This was the lightest we ever traveled, with just one carry-on and a backpack /handbag for each of us. I still can’t believe that we traveled internationally without those large suitcases! Thanks to many tips from RickSteves.com, seat61.com, tripadvisor.com, booking.com, and others, and a ton of planning this was possible.
Places visited in 10 days:
Switzerland: Zurich, Lucerne, Brienz, Interlaken, Spiez, Visp, Zermatt, Disentis, Samedan, Pontresina, Poschiavo, (Glacier Express & Bernina Express)
Italy : Tirano, Lake Como, Milan, Venice, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Genoa,
Vatican City
Monaco: Monte Carlo
France: Nice, Paris.
Day 1: Switzerland- Bernese Oberland – night at Zermatt
Our trip started off with an overnight SwissAir (now a part of Lufthansa) flight to Zurich arriving early at 6:30am on 12th August. We utilized the excellent shower facilities available at the airport (15 Euro per person) and were out by 8:30am. After a good amount of reading, we decided the best way to enjoy the natural beauty of Switzerland is by train /boat /bus / hike and not to spend much time in the cities. Had already purchased a 3-day swiss pass from raileurope.com, -they had a 20% off which ended up cheaper than buying it from the official source– Kids under 16 travel free with a paying adult. A first-class swiss pass was just $25 more per day per person but was worth it.
The train station is right under the airport. It took 12 minutes for the train ride from Zurich Airport to Zurich’s main train station. It was cloudy in the morning but fortunately did not rain. Right beside the Zurich station, is Hiltl Sihlpost, a smaller version of the Hiltl restaurant (a 100+-year-old vegetarian restaurant in Europe), where we had a sumptuous vegan breakfast (including some Indian dishes). Walked outside the station, soaking in the Swiss atmosphere and taking pictures before boarding the next train to Lucerne on platform 7 at 10:05am. It was an hour-long picturesque journey to Lucerne on a double-decker train.
We spent an hour walking around Lucerne, mainly the wooden bridge with the artwork. This is right across the station, just as most important sites which are concentrated right around the train stations in Europe. Trains are the most convenient mode of transport in Europe, and these train stations were built over 100 years ago very close to the main attractions. The main terminus stations reminded me of the large termini at Howrah, Bombay VT, Bombay Central, Madras Central built by the British. Now I know where the inspiration came from. Switzerland is particularly built for public transport where these options are all converging into a hub, usually the main train station.
Both Coop and Migros (chain of grocery stores) are right inside the Lucerne station (as is the case with most train stations). Coop had a better selection of vegan bread, ketchup, salads, dressings, veggies, condiments, fruits, etc than Migros. Quickly bought some, using which we made a picnic on the train.
(The European term picnic is used for getting your edibles and eating anywhere you like, often in very scenic places). Traveling first class helped as it was more spacious with fewer people, some portions of the journey we had the entire coach to ourselves.
The next train we took was to Brienz in the Bernese Oberland. This is one of the most scenic train rides we have had. I was amazed at how the swiss engineered train tracks to climb up and down the Alps in any weather. The sun came out by this time and it changed the entire scenery. Particularly beautiful is the descent to Meiringen (the station before Brienz where the train changes direction). We first saw the valley with a long straight canal from way up above and then after the descent, we follow the same canal in the reverse direction. The water is so clear and blu-ish green in the lakes and streams, it reminded me of the color of Seshnag lake on the trek to Amarnath cave in Kashmir.
Our Swiss pass allowed us to board all buses, and boats in addition to all trains (except funiculars and some mountain trains) in Switzerland. We boarded the boat cruise from Brienz to Interlaken Ost and it was a highlight of our day. 1st class is the upper deck with better views. It was interesting as the boat called on several villages along the way. As we got out of the boat at Interlaken and boarded the train to Spiez (on our way to Zermatt), I realized my pocket was empty of my wallet. (So it was either picked while I was disembarking the boat or fell off my pocket somewhere between the last point I used it on the boat to buy some hot chocolate and coffee to keep us awake from jet lag). We returned to the boat dock to realize it just left back to Brienz. I tried contacting the boat folks but due to the language barrier, we decided to head back to Brienz by train to catch the boat and search it in case it fell off. Long story short, we could not find it. However, it was not a disaster in that it only had a couple of hundred USD – I had not yet changed any money to swiss francs yet (which is the major currency used in Switzerland). Also lost my main credit card(s) and my bank debit cards. Spent the next couple of days calling the credit card companies. Fortunately, we had few other cards and the rest of the cash along with our passports in my hidden neck pouch (It is a ‘must-have’ when traveling overseas – yes, it ruined most of my pictures as it stuck out from under my shirt, but worth the peace of mind), so it did dampen our spirits and we lost about 3 hours, but we did not have to alter our plans. Another thing I learned is that the Police Station at the Interlaken Ost station closes at 6pm (it was a Friday) and does not reopen till Monday morning, surprised to note that there is no coverage during that period. When I called them, they asked me to either report later at any other police station or email them. A silver lining is that this anxiety wiped out our jet lag/ sleepiness :).
Resumed our journey in Interlaken Ost on the 7pm train and reached Zermatt after changing trains at Spiez and Visp at 9:15pm and headed straight to Hotel Jagerhof. Zermatt is an overgrown tourist village which is the starting point of several treks /ski slopes and was pretty much dead at around 9pm. 
No automobiles (cars /buses) are allowed except electric vehicles in Zermatt (Fossil-fuel vehicles are only allowed up to Tasch which is 5 km down), so took an electric taxi to the hotel. A family apartment in this mountain lodge with a view of the Matterhorn from the balcony awaited us. It was about 5 days before the full moon and was a clear night, so the view of moon-lit Matterhorn was surreal. No, this picture from our balcony does not even begin to capture that beauty. The picnic supplies we bought in the morning lasted us for dinner as well.
Day 2: Crossing over Switzerland in the Glacier express – night at Samedan in the Engadin Valley
Woke up before sunrise to catch the different hues of Matterhorn as the sun rises and after a good breakfast at the hotel, headed to the train station on the hotel’s electric shuttle. Again, we did the picnic shopping at the Coop in front of the train station and boarded the 9:52am Glacier express to St. Moritz. This is dubbed as the “slowest express train” and covers a pretty scenic route over 7.5 hours (pretty much the whole day). It has panoramic windows with headphones to listen to the descriptions of the places we pass by in the language of our choice. This train is a joint venture between the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (up to Disentis-Munster) and Rheitian Bahn for the rest of the journey. The scenery is great, and again I could not help admiring how Swiss engineers built these tracks for year-round operation at such altitudes.
We saw river rafters alongside the train on the rapids. 
The train changes direction at Chur (the oldest inhabited town in Europe) and goes thru the Albula pass where they constructed a series of tunnels and loops to allow for a 400-meter descent into the Engadin valley with a 6km long tunnel. Overall, while I liked the Glacier express, I think it is a bit hyped and 7.5 hours is a bit too much even for the great scenery. If I were to do it again, I think Bernina express (which shares the route from Chur to Samedan) is just right and gives you more bang for your buck as well as better use of your time.
We spent the night in a royal family suite at the Hotel Bernina 1865 in Samedan. It had two bedrooms in the penthouse level and a living/dining/kitchen in the lower level. It was an upgrade as they did not have the connected rooms we reserved. It is a historic hotel but recently renovated with all the modern amenities. There were interesting pictures of it from over 100 years ago in the lobby and staircases. Enjoyed a refreshing Jacuzzi bath at the end of a long day. Hotel folks were kind enough to provide us a shuttle to go to the nearest Migrolino (smaller version of Migros) and do some quick shopping. Actually, our original plan was to go to either Davos (an hour away) or St. Moritz (15 minutes away) for an evening stroll and dinner, but the suite was so good we just settled in. 🙂
One thing that beats me is why don’t we get the Swiss quality Yogurt in the USA? In Europe, the same brands (eg Dannon) make Yogurt out of simple ingredients (just milk and cultures), whereas in the US the same company adds a whole bunch of other chemicals, Pectin, etc. This spoils the flavor and you can feel the artificialness of the US yogurts. Leadership of Dannon: Are you listening?
Day 3: Breathtaking Bernina Pass – Descent from the Swiss Alps into the Italian plains, Lake Como, Milano and night in Venezia (Venice).
After a regal breakfast in Hotel Bernina’s historic 
dining room (erstwhile ballroom), we were dropped at the station in the hotel shuttle. Even though we booked the reservations for the first Bernina express of the day (a train with panoramic windows, similar to the Glacier express), we decided to take the earlier Regio express train from Pontresina for two reasons, a) it gave us an additional hour in Milan and b) It had windows that open so we can enjoy the fresh air and take pictures without the reflection from the windows. (Alas, I lost most of those pictures along with the phone) In hindsight, it turned out to be a great decision. I can unequivocally say the 2 hours from Pontresina to Poschiavo provided the best views on the entire trip. Initially, the train ascends to 2,253 meters at Ospizio Bernina, the highest point on the track and then descends to 441 meters at Tirano on the Italian side of the Swiss-Italy border. An amazing 2-hour train journey where we saw Glaciers (in August), melting into waterfalls, to lakes, to streams and rivers down to the Italian plains.
This 1800+ meter descent makes one wonder why don’t they layout similar trains across the Himalayas which also has immense tourism potential. I must say we were extremely lucky to have a sunny day which made it all the more beautiful. In fact, the RhB runs two coaches that are almost open top (obviously standing room only) to enable unobstructed views, usually at the south end of the train. Hopefully, someday I get to repeat this journey.
Changed from Swiss (Rhb) train to an Italian train (Trenord) at Tirano where the two stations are side by side and it was an 8-minute connection, but our swiss train was 4 minutes late. The contrast between these trains was huge. The Italian train (especially the 1st class) was dirty. Toilets were filthy similar to the worst I have seen on Indian railways – Actually noticed the 2nd class was cleaner than the 1st class – This was rather unexpected. The train went along the east bank of Lake Como and places like Varenna, where we could see Bellagio (this is where the Vegas Casino took its name from) and other towns on the other side of the beautiful Lake. Eventually arrived almost on time (1:40pm) at Milano Centrale (Pronounced “milaaano chinthraaale”) I began to understand why Italian is considered a musical language with mostly soft sounds and the comparisons to Telugu.
“Last Supper” tickets are usually sold out months in advance, but we kept searching online and luckily obtained tickets on GetYourGuide.com for the 3pm viewing so needed to quickly get there and also needed someone to watch our bags while we were in. I was most concerned about being robbed /pickpocketed in train stations (such as Milan, based on scary online reviews) which led me to a somewhat paranoid preparation. It did help when I lost my wallet in Switzerland. We searched for transportation options on TripAdvisor and pre-arranged with Cristian for a car based on good reviews. Our English speaking driver Enzo Mussolini (no relationship with the dictator) was waiting for us with a 7 seater Mercedes van. First order of business was lunch at Flower Burger, a vegan restaurant that was open on a Sunday. The food was so good that we even got dinner packed there (of a different spicy version of the burger). Enzo told us about how he had a friend in Kerala and been there a few times. Made it just in time to see the Last Supper painting. It was recently restored over a 21 year period, removing all the touch-ups made over the last 500 years after Leonardo DaVinci and looking at it and the scene of cruxification (on the opposite wall) was a serene experience. They allow only 25 people at a time (15-minute viewing slot) to control the humidity levels and protect the painting. From there we visited the arch and took pictures of the Sforzi’s castle from the outside. The next stop was Duomo. Most Italian cities have a large Cathedral which are called Duomos. But Milan was the grandest of them all in terms of sculptures, and why not? It took 600 years to complete it. While St. Peters Basicila in Rome is probably bigger in size, it lacks the sculptural richness of Duomo. We went up the ceiling on an elevator, enjoyed the Milan skyline and more sculptures on spires. Then went down inside the cathedral, and it was huge, really huge with a lot of sculptural detail.
This is the water dripping contraption we saw with most hawkers in Italy to keep Coconut slices wet, fresh and cool. Reminded me of street vendors in south India sprinkling water on coconut slices. It was a really hot day and we wanted to buy water but did not have time to cash some euros and there were long lines at the food trucks as well. So went into the Galleria mall (up to 7th floor where there is a food court) and had some juices to drink where credit cards were accepted. Also strolled around the mall for a bit before reaching the station (Milan Galleria is apparently the grandmother of all the malls in the world, which took the Galleria name). Just made it in time for our 6:05 pm Frecciabianca train to Venice. Important stations in Italy are now implementing security checks where they are verifying tickets to ensure only bonafide passengers get into the stations and it took some time for me to get the ticket on my phone, so we barely made it to the last coach. It was an experience walking along the length of the train to our reserved coach at the other end of the train. Hey, but we accomplished Milan in 4 hours, safe and sound!!
tvprasad 
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