Quiet town of Uzwil

Uzwil is a municipality of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen, northeastern part of Switzerland. It took us no more than 1 hour before we finally reached Uzwil, truth was...we missed the train stop- thanks to Jacky who for some reason overlooked it! So we got off Sank Gallen then took another ticket to go back 2 stations away to Uzwil! 

Hotel Uzwil 

Just a stone's away from the train exit, Hotel Uzwil was pretty much convenient, such a cozy place to stay!  After a quick check in, we went out for  dinner , some Pad Thai surprisingly just along Uzwil. After a bottle of beer, we bade goodnight, Jacky was a gentleman himself even walking me to the hotel door, I know he don't mean to but...xie xie Jacky! 

Oh ser gut. English please?

Some comfy bed, just what I needed now! 

I kicked off my boots and jumped here!

Some franks. Swiss Franks. 

Gutern morgen

Good morning Sunday! Feeling great today after some hot coffee and that nice, croissant, bacon and eggs. So with no itinerary at hand,  took the train to St. Gallen to do more of sightseeing!

Uzwil train station. I'm used to crowded train station but this is a relief!  

Typical Sunday morning. Yes, those are cows right in there, 

after all this is what you would see in Switzerland. 

SBB Train

Speaking of railways, SBB is the biggest railway system in Switzerland, welcome aboard! 

Comfy chairs and a good scenic windows to enjoy more of CH!

I think I'd like to say that Europe is nice. The transport system, the modern culture, I like it.. because yeah it's different from what I am used to, but just so you know, home is still where the heart is, and the differences is what sets them apart. Europe is all that, and Philippines..brings so much more warmth! 

Until next post,

itsmelory (^.^)

Halo Zürich

Zürich is undeniably one of the leading global among the world's financial centers. Well, channeling my Harry Potter fan self, Zürich reminds me of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, and why not? Zurich is home to a large number of banking giants and financial institutions despite it's very low population. Currently, one third of worlds total fund or "offshore funds" are kept in Switzerland. The banking privacy law made it a criminal act for a Swiss Bank to reveal the name of the account holder. Now where on earth is the safest haven for your wealth? yeah. 
Having barely half day to explore Zurich which is not much I guess, we just hit the streets of Zurich, wanting to be surprised and be inspired by the "Downtown city of Switzerland".

River runs through Zurich

Limmat river in the heart of Zürich

Such a classic Zurich view..

Occasional load of traffic in the afternoon.. 

It was difficult to find a place for refreshments along the Limmat River since most shops were crowded in the afternoon but lucky we found just a perfect spot. To make up for being late (just kidding), Jacky treated me for some drinks along the scenic Limmat river.

Quite a nice place to have coffee, or in this case- beer. 

its never too early for one!

Awed by all these European cars..

The clocks never lie

We strolled once more to window-shop, and check for  on sale watches. After all, we are in a country devoted to finest and luxurious watches! I figured it was just hard to chose with all the brands and with uhm limited budget, so I thought hey no pressure, I needed more time- a watch is just necessary. 

Beautiful piece, don't  you think?

After our brief Zurich half-day tour, tourist time is done. We made it to the 530 train schedule to Uzwil, and yet another 45min travel time until my temporary home in the lovely Switzerland. Glad I have more days to explore, let me just savor the moment and take it slow. 

Finally here in CH,

itsmelory (^.^)

SuisseCland

Arrived at SBB train at Zürich Hauptbahnhof HB Main station by around 2PM. The first thing I thought was, wow! Such a big train station, Zurich HB Main's probably the biggest and busiest station I have ever been. When I have collected myself, and paid attention to my grumbling tummy, I remembered I needed some cash. I queued to exchange some USD to Swiss Francs, but it's also possible to use Euro's when in Switzerland. I'm glad that one of my Chinese colleague - Jacky whom I have met in Jakarta is en route to Zurich today, so I'll be glad to see the city with someone to take my photo but..I have to deal with the luggage first!

welcome to the land of many C's, clocks, cheese and chocolates!

Accuweather seemed accurate. 

Look Lockers

My prayers was heard in a instant when I went up , in fact the entire floor was full of lockers for rent! Superrrr! I made a quick detour to the restroom and paid CHF1.00, that's Php50 ha (for every restroom needs). Back in Manila donation lang pwede na talking to myself. Is there such thing as free here?? I rented the large lockbox to fit my quite big luggage for CHF 9, so finally! For price reference:

Lockbox small (W25/H40/D75) CHF 6 /24 h 

Lockbox large (W50/H60/D90) CHF 9 /24 h 

See you later luggage!

CH ( Like IKR )

It's quite easy to remember Switzerland's flag. After all, I see this very often in Swiss brands like Wenger,Swatch, Victorinox, Rolex, Tissot, Sultzer etc.  Imagine a red square with white flag. Don't mistake it over the Red cross logo and why not - Red Cross founder Jean Henri Dunant's birthplace is Switzerland! Here's what I found from Expatica.

Swiss Canton

Switzerland has 26 cantons which are the federal states of the Swiss confederation. Canton (and not pancit canton, sorry can't help it) is a French word for "political territory" which translates corner, edge..IKR, exactly what our "kanto" meant. The canton of Geneva comprises just one city; the canton of Uri is entirely mountains and valleys; the population of the Zurich canton is over one million, and Zurich itself is just over 300,000. Switzerland is also known as Confederatio Helvetica – which explains its abbreviation CH. 

World's Happiest! 

CH is one of the world's best places to be born, live and be happy. It was ranked the world's happiest country in 2015, and came second in 2016 (after Denmark) out of 156 countries. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) latest Where to be Born Index (2013), Switzerland was the best country to be born. I also read that Coca-Cola's logo is "by accident" Swiss-inspired with its red cross overlapping forming like that of the Swiss-flag and so thus the tagline - Open happiness. 

Oh Sundays be like

It is very interesting to know that Sundays in Switzerland are protected by a long list of social laws – making it illegal to undertake activities such as mowing, hanging out laundry, washing your car or recycling bottles to ensure peace and beauty is maintained. Oh. A peaceful night's sleep is also guaranteed by the Building Laws prohibiting noisy actions after 10pm including peeing standing up, slamming a car door, flushing a toilet or emptying a bath. Ridiculous eh? I remembered also driving Nik when he was in Manila and he was quite surprised that despite all those traffic and crazy drivers, he rarely heard one car honked to another. He thinks Filipino drivers were courteous in a way (uh.uh.) Back in Switzerland, if ever the need to change lane despite putting your signal on you'd get all cars around honking at you and those dirty looks.  

First wave: The birthplace of instant coffee

Switzerland was the origin of instant coffee. Nescafe was created by Nestlé in 1938. The Nestlé Company, started by Swiss businessman Henri Nestlé in 1867, buys almost 10 percent of the world’s coffee and cacao bean crops annually. Switzerland is also widely recognised as an international research center, with the private and public sector strongly promoting science and technology.

Le tsokolat 

The Swiss eat more chocolate than any other nation in the world! Now that explains why they're happy. Chocolate is a major Swiss export; with 18 Swiss chocolate companies, Switzerland exported almost 115,500 tonnes of chocolate in 2015. They have also invented techniques like conching and tempering to perfect the art of chocolate making. 

By 3PM finally saw Jacky after our garbled conversation on the phone "I can't find BK" which translates as where-the-hell-is-it. He was his usual happy- quiet self. We found out later that Burger King is in every corner of the station! Ok, now we know. We confirmed that next avail trip to Uzwil is 630PM. Good. we still have time to relax a bit, and enjoy Zurich. 

So shall we? 

itsmelory (^.^)

Toast to clocks, cheese and chocolates

Finally arrived at the hotel, my colleague Craig too eager to pack up and run since he has a flight to catch early morning,  so he need to make it to the train's last trip and spend the night at the airport. My golly whooah! I spent the entire week in Germany. For one- I've never eaten that much meat my entire life!  and moving forward to my next destination at our HQ in the fancy country named Switzerland.
So after the brief farewell is said ala Swiss style - right cheek, left cheek, right cheek. I'm a bit surprised during the first time with the third kiss, but not so long I learned.I went to my room (slightly sad, yeah I'm always like that when having to say bye to friends,  or even just an acquaintance). Packed my stuff too, drank hot cocoa and retired for the night.

Auf Wiedersehen DE

I'm up before my alarm at 6AM, still undecided if I should take a shower or not..major decision right? my OC self won over. Still shaking and regretted having dripping hair, I managed to go up for breakfast, helped myself for some coffee plus bread, some apples and banana. By 630 I'm all ready to go. I bade our receptionist goodbye, remembered to return the charger she lent me, gave her a friendly hug (it's an Asian thing), and off the walk to the train station. Expecting a lot of walking today I decided to use my spare comfy black boots but it got me no more further than 20m from the hotel door because I found out that its sole coming off. Good morning Lory, it's going to be a good day. Imagine me rummaging through my red luggage for my brown boots-right in the side of the highway. I'm sure not a pretty sight! 

The ICE, ice baby

Thanks to my photographic memory (self proclaimed, because I'm usually good with directions) I have no trouble getting around after S2. Pretty soon I walked to ICE, the Intercity Express to bring me to HB Zurich. Not a bit surprised that the lift is not operational to the platform area (does it even work at all???) so I'm on dragging luggage mode again. I probably passed out if not for the gentleman who volunteered to carry it until the platform area (He was with the wife, and the kid btw- please nothing romantic). I said a clear, almost high pitch thank you to him and he gestured back no problem, sorry my voice was partly shaking of cold- yes cold. Oh Europe, you make me believe in your people. You know that weird feeling creeps when traveling alone but the same time it kind of liberates you. I'm so happy to find my spot when the train finally arrived, tucked my luggage below my seat and getting comfortable. Ok Lory, it will be a long way from here and I shout a silent I'm comin' for ya Switzee! 

Swiss Time starts now

Maybe, my old-shoddy boots was telling me something after all.  Over the radio they announced that all passengers need to get off at Singen Station. I checked my ticket, how could've missed it? A bus will pick us up at Singen Station to the SBB at Scaffhausen  all because  some repairs were being done in one of the railway station. Huwaat?  of all days! I look at my luggage who seems to look back at me with that mocking smile- Well, hello eto na, magkaka-muscles ka na lalala..
Don't panic, it's organic. So I got off as calm as possible, saw that B27 Bus was waiting for us. I pretty managed a good seat beside the window.  I cheered myself to think that this is a free tour at the same time! By 1030 Swiss time, we were on the road again.
It could have been a quiet moment for me to enjoy the view and a time to relax my arms if not for my seatmate who was too curious enough to start a conversation. So I found out he's from Audi, and that he recently transferred to Bosch. Wow, close na kami. I found in fact that he's also traveling to Switzerland. You see, I'm always the lucky girl. Who would've thought I'd enjoy this ride? My guardian angel just loves me. So the entire bus ride, we talked about Asia - China, Indonesia. We parted ways at Schaffhausen and I'm feeling a lot better. My ticket says I need to take 1200 train, so I'm just  right on time, you know I'm here in Switzerland and to quote Paulo Coelho-  the clocks never lie it's Swiss time.

Platform 3, check. By 12nn, I'm onboard SBB to Zurich. I relaxed on my seat, and said a thank you prayer.  Ordered some hot coffee and a croissant, plus the banana I managed to snatched from the hotel. (ha-ha). I will make sure to have chocolates and cheese when I get there, but for the meantime, I will enjoy the long and windy ride to Zurich, and snapped some proper selfie  for the day!

To CH,

itsmelory (^.^)

The Schokoladenmusem Köln

After the quick The Dom stop over, next is the  Chocolate museum. My heart beats faster just the thought of it. Don't we- children of all ages love it? Now, time to satisfy that sweet sweet tooth! A 20-min walk from the Koln Cathedral is Schokoladenmusem Köln, probably the most enjoyable museum I have ever been, tbh. That sweet homey-chocolatey smell  is calming, happy foods instantly emits happy thoughts!

How much?

For Eu 9 enjoy a day tour around around the chocolate factory. We trailed after the tour guide and for a moment- we were transported to Spain, following the history and the origins of this Food for the Gods, and that proud moment all because ahemm our machines on display and is being used to make That chocolates. Yes, to see is to believe!

Reminds me so much of my Mama, the lab shop for recipe development

So after the tour is this huge chocolate fountain, and of course, free chocolates!

Mandatory photo at Lindt Museum. Yes, this jacket conceals all the chocolate treats
 I keep. Hopefully I can manage to bring it home without finishing everything. 

Ciao Cologne

From the museum, we strolled around Koln area, enjoying the cobble stoned street on the way to the train station. I could hear my boots against this colored patterns, the view itself was enough to made me forgot that my feet hurt from all the walking I did. We made it to 5PM train to Freiburg, but there was seat available. So imagine standing for like 2.5 hours!

@Köln Hbf, so glad I have a pocketful of chocolates to get me through 

the ordeal of standing!

It was dark when we have arrived at Freiburg, a quick stopover for dinner of croissants,  pasta and to-go coffee, the hot cup helped a lot in  keeping my self warm for the arduous walk to the hotel. What a lovely day indeed Danke schöne! 

Love,

itsmelory(^.^) 

Hello Köln, Goodbye

Enough of Freiburg for today because it's about time I have some spritz and smell some Cologne (no pun intended). We went on a day tour to Köln  (spelled also as Cologne),  is the fourth largest city in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. 

Travel to Köln

We traveled for like 2 hours via DB from Frankfurt Main. Grabbed some coffee and more coffee by midday when we arrived at Cologne station-  located on both sides of the Rhine River. From the station, we took a cab from the airport to bring us to Bergneustadt to visit our MO site which was uneventful I'd say. 

The 30 min-travel was a bit boring to me but the countryside appears really breathtaking! Mountain landscapes, trees, cold air, and quite unusual to me- there was some slight traffic on the way back to Koln due to some tree logs blocking. 

Finally, arrived back at the station feeling really nauseous, brought by the crazy-dizzy driving, typical German driving! Thanks to another cup of coffee I found my stance and head kind of normalized, and so ready for another round of exploring. 

The Dom

Listed as one of the most beautiful and grandest Gothic cathedral. I am literally speechless when I saw it. It's humongous but beautiful... from afar and up close. 

Beautiful details all over its walls..

The Nave.. 

the main alter, in here you'll find the Coronation of the Virgin image 

Appreciating the scenic windows, and how intricate the details 

The Dom is said to hold the relics of The Three Wise Men, or The Three Kings

the oldest known large Crucifix. The Crucifix of Bishop Gero around 960AD 

Shoe selfie is allowed, of course! 

Ser Schön Köln

Definitely enjoyed the quick visit to The Dom. Can't help but be amazed, and say a prayer because in my lifetime, I was given a chance to see its towering beauty!

Germany strikes me before of only cold looking people, overflowing beer, meats and sausages,  Platz and Stadts-  but The Dom- is all about Germany too! The people here may appear humorless but the people here are not all as you may think, they have a soft, sensitive side too,  very evident on how they keep their faith strong, and in how they maintain the Dom. 

Happiness,
itsmelory (^.^)

Oh Stuttgart

Another weekend, another place to visit this time to Stuttgat! Regarded as the "cradle of automobile", Stuttgart is considered as the starting point of worldwide automotive industry. Mercedez Benz and Porshce have both their headquarters in Stuttgart, as well as automotive parts giants like Bosch and Mahle. 

Before that, Stuttgart was a site for breeding cavalry horses, the Old High German name stuotengarten meaning "stud" as in, an estate for horse-breeding. 

Schlostplatz

Known as the palace square, Schlostplatz is right at the main center of Stuttgart. The largest square in Stuttgart, it stands at the crossover point between the city's shopping area, Schlossgarten Park which runs down to the Neckar River, Stuttgart's two central castles and major museums and residential areas to the south west. 

Originally, the square served as military drill and parade ground until the 19th century where it was opened to the townspeople. Up until the second half of the 19th century, this was the royal residence of the kings of Württemberg. Today, the palace contains ministries of the Baden-Württemberg state government and state reception rooms.

I'm at the Palace Square! 

The Palace Square could be a bit crowded during daytime..

Faith in Stuttgart

Christianity remains the largest religion in Germany, with an estimated 61% of the country's population. Two major faith dominates Stuttgart namely, Roman Catholic and Protestant. 

Another Catholic church in Stuttgart

The Stiftskirche church (Collegiate Church) is an inner-city church in Stuttgart, 

the capital of Baden-Württemberg

Evangelist church within Stuttgart

The main park and shopping center is a great place to hang out, you'll find many choices 

of al fresco coffee shops and relax while observing the beautiful Stuttgart 

after a good retail therapy!

Love, 

itsmelory (^.^)