We closed out our brief Swiss holiday – sort of a vacation from all that Mediterranean warmth and sunshine – with two days in Zürich. That’s not nearly enough time to experience this vital, vibrant city, but we were meeting friends in Provence so that’s all the time we had. And what little time we had there was pretty cold and wet. Not that we’re complaining; we’ve had very little use for our umbrellas in the 14-plus months we’ve been traveling so we were way overdue for some rain.

One of the advantages of a rainy day is that we’re more likely to go into a museum, so we headed off to Zürich’s Kunsthaus (where I walked around in wet shoes and socks…) to see the permanent collection ranging from the Middle Ages to contemporary art. It was a great experience, with all sorts of “bold name” artists, from Van Gogh & Picasso to Manet & Warhol. Apparently it has one of the (or perhaps the) largest collection of Edvard Munch in the world, due to his friendship with a director of the museum. We spent some three hours there and, but for tired (wet) feet and the need for lunch, could have spent several more hours.

Otherwise it was good food, a great bar with perfect Perfect Manhattans, and continued shock at the prices of everything. We’ve moved on to Cannes now, so we’ll write about that soon.

From Zermatt we took the beautiful Glacier Express, self-described as “the world’s slowest express train” to St. Moritz. In the winter this is one of the world’s most expensive ski resorts, vacation destination for the rich and famous. It still brags that it was the site of the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948, though we thought that after 66 years they might get over that. It is also allegedly the original site of winter tourism in the Alps and perhaps in all of the world: in 1864, exactly 150 years ago, the first British winter tourists arrived here.

We found it a pretty sleepy place in the summer. There were signs all around of the wealth the town is famous for – a big Rolls Royce in front of a neighboring hotel, exclusive designer shops, pricey menus – but not much activity in our two days here.

One of the amusing things about this area is that it seems as though throngs of Japanese tourists keep them in business. Everywhere you turned there was another big Japanese group moving (slowly) in a clump somewhere, all with their big floppy hats to keep the sun at bay. The restaurant we ate at our first night was nearly empty, and by the time we were finishing up we were the only patrons, so we talked for a while with the owner. He explained that yes, by 9:30 it was quiet, but at 6:00 PM he’d had a group of 35 Japanese. I won’t miss those big groups when we move back into France!

The other amusing feature of the area is that if you stay two or more nights at a hotel (we stayed two nights) they give you a free pass to all transportation in the region, including chairlifts and all that to get up into the mountains. So our experience is that everything in Switzerland is either two- or three-times as much as in other places … or it’s free. We liked the free part.

And yes, we did another hike here. Beautiful mountains and valleys, great trails, perfect weather, and (of course) hordes of Japanese. Here are some more of our favorite pictures.

Two more days complete in Switzerland, one hiking and one riding on a panoramic train. This is one seriously scenic country!

Our second full day was spent hiking, but a much more modest hike than day one. Instead of climbing up a few thousand feet, we took an underground tram well up the mountain and then a cable car further up. From there we started a four-hour hike back down, passing five lakes along the way. We stopped for our picnic lunch at one of the lakes, and I even went for a reasonably quick swim.

One of the things that amuses us about hiking here is the amount of money people spend on clothing and gear. It seems as though a significant majority of people use hiking poles, even on paths that are really easy. Mark & I have both tried those polls and find them far more trouble than they’re worth. Even worse, though, is the specialized clothing that people buy. Apparently Patagonia and North Face and those kind of brands have done a great job of convincing people that the shorts and t-shirts you wear normally just wouldn’t work for hiking in mountains. We saw lots of fancy duds up there.

Oh, and one of the treats that we’ve enjoyed here is that we found a store with limes, hazelnuts, and Bombay Sapphire gin. So we’re having gimlets in our room before going out to dinner, just as good as I could make them at home. When we had a home, that is. That’s been a treat.

Today was a long train ride, some eight hours from Zermatt to St. Moritz. The Glacier Express is one of those “must do” experiences here, so we did it. The difference between this and a normal train is primarily the huge windows so you can enjoy spectacular views all day long. When you’re not drifting off to sleep, that is, or reading. It was really a great way to see Swiss mountains and villages and rivers and all that stuff.

Tomorrow we’re off on a hike in the mountains again.