Trip to Venice and Swiss

Article written in June 2006

 

DAY 1 – June 14 WEDNESDAY - VENICE

The Windjet flight from Catania to Venice was at 7:00AM. We got up @ 4:30 AM, took shower, packed Jelly Sandwiches for me and Ajit and left the house @ 5:30 AM. We got into the flight without any incidents. The flight landed at Venice Marco Polo airport @ 8:45 AM. We collected our baggage and arrived at the Hertz Car rental service at the airport. We upgraded to a Mercedes A 160 series and included me as an additional driver. We also got a military discount. All in all, it came up to 370 Euro.

We drove (8 miles) up to Tranchetto Ferry landing area. Tranchetto is an artificial Island. We parked our car in the garage(18 Euros, 3 Euro/Hour) got 2 tickets (12 Euro/each) to get to Piazza San Marco(San Mark’s square). This ticket is valid for multiple trips. It was a 45 minutes ferry ride and we reached around noon.

The square is bordered by historic buildings and surrounded by chic sidewalk cafes and boutiques. Basilica di San Marco is a magnificent Byzantine dome with  mosaics. It is covered with more than 3000 precious stones and enamel icons inlaid in gold. To the right of the Basilica is the Venetian Gothic edifice, Palazzo Ducale, or Doge's Palace. It is striking, with its warehouse-like upper stories being supported by two layers of delicate stone arches. The clock tower is named the Torre dell'Orologio and has been ringing out the hours since 1499. Piazza San Marco hosts thousands of pigeons who flourish from the food that tourists offer them. The  flock of birds swoop down on anyone willing to stand still and offer them food. Ajit and daddy absolutely enjoyed this act.

We walked around the narrow canals and alleys before stopping by a fast food to grab some pizza slices and hot dog (18 Euro). After lunch we took a Gondola ride (80 Euro) for 30 minutes to the Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge area. Gondoliers invest a great deal in their boats: nearly €30,000 for a traditional hand-built wooden gondola with a useful life of about 20 years. After the Gondola ride, we returned back to the San Marco square and boarded a ferry to Tranchetto.

From Tranchetto, it was an hour drive to Aviano Airforce Base via Pordenone. After arriving at the base, we checked into the hotel($35/night) and headed to the commissary. We bought water, juices and bagels for next day’s trip ($17). Ajit got a Chicken Nuggets kids meal with a Toy from Burger King. We then headed to a Restaurant in the Base which had the Mongolian BBQ for dinner($40). There was a big crowd. We got seated @ 8:15 PM. We ordered Chicken with fries for Ajit ($7). By the time we finished eating, it was 9:45 PM. We then took Ajit to the Children’s play area behind the Lodge. Finally, we went to bed @ 10:30 PM.

DAY 2 – June 15 THURSDAY - SWISS

We got up @ 4:30 AM, took shower, toasted our bagels and left the room at 5:45 AM. We had our breakfast in the car. Around 9 AM we reached Milan. There was big traffic jam. So, we pulled over and I switched to the driver’s seat. Around 10:30 we entered into the Switzerland border. We paid CHF 30 for using Swiss Motorways. They didn’t even ask for our passports. Around 11 AM, we took a break in a gas station and filled up with diesel (CHF 60).

The rest of the journey over Swiss Alps was marked with numerous tunnels. Some of the tunnels even ran upto 15 KM. It was really claustrophobic to drive in long tunnels. But one comforting factor was that Swiss had strict road rules unlike Italy. So, we had a relaxing drive at 80 MPH without an Italian tailgating us. The drive was very beautiful. Since this is beginning of summer, the snow on the mountains were melting and coming down the hill as numerous waterfalls. These waterfalls merged into a river and it was a gorgeous sight of the river running through the valley.

Around noon, we took a break for lunch in a quaint mom & pop place. We ordered 2 bowls of soup, and 1 pork cutlet w/French fries. The food was great and costed us around CHF 40. Yes, food is really expensive in Swiss. After lunch we drove on for half hour.

We noticed lot of people mountain biking at high speed. The scenery was so breathtaking. We decided to make a restroom stop. After taking few pictures, Shankar fell into deep slumber on a short parapet wall. Ajit was enjoying his walk up and down on the parapet wall. After an hour Shankar woke up and I resumed the driving.

Around 5PM, we arrived at Interlaken town. We went straight to our hotel, Gasthof Schoenegg (in German). This is a private house where the house owner converts his house into a Guesthouse. The room was really tiny with wooden floor/windows etc. The bathroom was quite small but really clean. We took a short nap (while Ajit was wide awake and occupying himself). Around 7 in the evening, we got ready and headed out to the town. We had Indian food at an Indian Restaurant. We ordered 2 Naans, Rice with Mutton curry and Chicken curry. Again food costed us around 50 CHF. The Interlaken town was marked with hoards and hoards of Indian tourists. The town was very beautiful. There was a huge green football field right in the heart of the city with huge mountains bordering on one side. On the other side of the field was the typical European style side walk streets lined up with Cafés and Restaurants. We returned back to our room and went to bed.

DAY 3 – June 16 FRIDAY - SWISS

Me and Ajit got up at 6:30 AM. Got ready and headed down for breakfast. DS joined us in few minutes. We had bread, jam, cheese, cold cut meats and orange juice for breakfast. We went straight to the tourist office. We learned that there are 2 options to go to Jungfrau – one from Grindelwald and another from Lauterbrunnen. They suggested us to take the Lauterbrunnen train. So, we drove to Lauterbrunnen which was 15 KMs from Interlaken. We arrived at 9:00 AM in Lauterbrunnen. We parked in the Train station parking lot and walked down to the station. Right by the parking lot was a beautiful green river flowing down the hill.

The ticket to Jungfrau was CHF 198. We got 2 roundtrip tickets. We will have to switch trains at Kleine Scheidegg station. For the first time we noticed that the Lauterbrunnen station was overflowing with Indian tourist. On enquiring, we found that SOTC/Thomas Cook tours book bulk european tours for people from India. There are 2 trains every half hour to Jungfrau – 1 for bulk tours and another for independent tourists. We took the train at 10:00 AM. Around 10:30 AM we arrived at Kleine Scheidegg station (altitude 2061 metres). The trains from Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald come to Kleine Scheidegg. All the tourists will have to take the special train from Kleine Scheidegg only to go to Jungfrau. So, the trains to Jungfrau are very crowded.  So, we decided to wait for the next train. Ajit and DS went down the hill for a hike while i took some pictures and videos of Kleine Scheidegg area. We took the Jungfrau train around 11:00AM. The entire trip continued through the Eiger tunnel to the stations at Eigerwand and Eismeer, with a five minute halt at each. We enjoyed spectacular sightseeing through large observation windows hewn from solid Alpine rock. Ajit was getting very crancky by now because of the long hike, cold weather and hunger. Next to us sat a family from Germany – mom, dad and 2 kids. The girl was same age as Ajit but quite bigger than Ajit. Around noon, we reached Jungfrau.

Jungfrau is called the TOP OF EUROPE located at 3700 Meters (11,000 FEET). At 3454 meters, this is the Europe’s highest altitude train station. There is 100% guarantee of snow and ice year round. The Great Aletsch Glacier, at 22 km the longest ice-stream in the Alps, begins on the Jungfraujoch-Top of Europe.

DAY 4 – June 17 SATURDAY – ZURICH / LEICHTENSTEIN / AUSTRIA

We got up at 4:30 AM. Got ready and left at 5:15 AM. We (DS) drove towards Zurich. It was raining on and off. Close to Zurich @ 7:30 AM, we made a stop at a gas station/Mc Donald’s. Mc Donald’s would open only at 8. So, we got some breakfast at the gas station. Around 8 AM, we reached Zurich city. Since it was a Saturday, the entire city was deserted. We took couple of picture in the Fraumunster/Grossmunster area and left for Liechtenstein. It was a straight road to Vaduz (Liechtenstein). We arrived at Vaduz around 10:30 AM. We made a stop in Vaduz city center and went into a coffee/breakfast place. DS had a coffee. We enquired about the Vaduz castle and left the coffee place. The Vaduz castle was just 2 kilometers drive from the city center.

We arrived at the Vaduz castle around 11:00AM and found it closed for renovation. We just took some snaps outside, sat around for a while and left. How unlucky!

We started driving towards Innsbruck, Austria. We spotted an Indian restaurant and stopped to see if they are open. They don’t open until noon. So, we left the place and started driving again. Austrian roads were very nice. Lots of tunnels. But traffic was very bad because of construction. I switched to driving (i mean idling) while DS and Ajit is sitting and joking around. The bumper to bumper traffic was driving us nuts. So, around 1:00 PM, we took a bathroom break at a Muslim Sandwich shop, got 3 gyros sandwiches and started driving again.

Around 4:00 PM, we arrived at Innsbruck. DS didn’t like  the Small hotel that I had booked. After arguing, we left the place and went to a bigger hotel, Hotel Innsbruck. By the time we finished checking in and arrived at the room, it was already 5:30 PM. The room was really nice and spacious. The bathroom was impeccable. The custom built shower enclosure was magnificent. We really admired it and took some pictures for our reference.

We went out for a stroll around 6:00 PM. Innsbruck river was flowing right in the middle of the city. We went to a park so Ajit can play. Because of the World cup football season, a huge screen was erected right in the city center. There were eateries spread all around. We ordered some chicken legs. Some sort of ball game was also set for kids. Ajit  went in there and enjoyed for some time. Around 8:00 PM the football match between US and Italy started. All the Austrians were cheering for Italy. DS started watching the match. Me and Ajit left for a stroll in the town. There were lot of nice restaurants spread around the Golden roof  area. The schnitzel looked very good. I got Ajit some pasta with tomato sauce. Around 10:00 PM, DS came and we were very hungry. It was beginning to drizzle too. So, we went to a fast food and grabbed a sandwich and pizza slice. After eating we went back to the hotel and slept in for the night.

DAY 5 – June 18 SUNDAY – AUSTRIA / VENICE

We got up late in the morning around 7:00 AM. DS made a (disastrous) call to India from the hotel phone. Since it was a driving day, we got ready leisurely and went down for the buffet breakfast. The breakfast was really good. Lot of varieties of bread, rolls, cheese, fruits, cakes, cold cut meat, scrambled egg etc. After the breakfast, DS went to check out of the hotel. The bill for one night stay was Euro 120. But the 30 minutes telephone call to India costed a whooping Euro 140. What a waste! After some arguments, we paid the bill and started off towards Venice @ 10:00 AM.

It was a long drive to Venice enroute Milan. Iam not sure what time we reached the Aviano base in Venice. We stocked up on some water and headed for the Officers club for dinner. They had Mongolian BBQ as dinner special. We had to wait for almost an hour for seating to be available.  Ajit had Chicken strips and fries. We had the Mongolian BBQ. It was OK. Not that great compared to Mongolian BBQs on state side. It was expensive too. The bill came to $35. After the dinner we stopped by the park for few minutes for Ajit and went to bed @ 10:00 PM.

DAY 6 – June 19, MONDAY - VENICE

We wake up to the last day of our tour. We got ready, packed up our bags and checked out of the Navy lodge. We then headed to the Food court in the base. We all had some burritos from Taco Bell to eat for breakfast. Then we bought from Burger King sandwiches and bottled water to take with us for lunch.

I was an hour drive to the Tronchetto parking lot. Then it was the same ferry ride to San Marcos square just like our first day in Venice. We strolled along with no destination in mind. We then sat in the square and had our packed lunch. Ajit was enjoying with the pigeons.

Around 4:30 in the evening, we departed from San Marco square. We had to fill up gas and return the rental car at the airport. While driving to the airport, we missed the exit to AGIP gas station, then came back again, filled up gas and arrived at the airport at 6:15 PM. We barely made it on time. DS was returning the rental car while I exchanged the Swiss Francs to Euros. After arriving at the gate and waiting for few minutes, it was announced that the flight is delayed. We got some snack/sandwich/juice in the lounge and waited. Meanwhile DS got called from Sigonella. He was on the phone for quite some time. The flight took off after 2 hours of delay. We landed in Catania around 10:30 PM. From the airport we drove directly to sigonella thinking it would be a quick fix at work. But instead ended up spending the whole night there. Atlast we came back home at 5:30 AM on Tuesday morning.

End of our vacation.