Switzerland - February 1992

In February 1992, I took a break from professional school to go to Switzerland for a week with a companion from school. We flew into and out of Zurich, and used train passes to get around the country during the week, concentrating mainly on the northern and western parts of the country. I visited Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Fribourg, Geneva, Murten, Meiringen, Interlaken, and the Jungfrau region - quite a bit of sightseeing  for a week! I definitely made the most of my vacation. In addition, I went skiing at Grindelwald for an afternoon. The weather was great - sunny and mild almost all the time, though with plenty of snow still left over in the higher elevations. A vacation here doesn't come cheap - the Swiss franc even in 1992 was expensive and nearly everything cost more than in the U.S. Swiss trains were nice, efficient, and reliable. I loved seeing all the scenery and beautiful cities. The pictures, in this regard, speak for themselves.

Basel, with the Rhine River in the foreground. Basel is in Switzerland but is located very close to the junction between that country and France and Germany.

Central Fribourg. This city sits very near the "linguistic border" between the French and German-language regions of Switzerland. Within the center city, mainly French appeared to be used.









 

Rooftops of Murten, a beautiful town in the country's northwest.

Jet d'Eau fountain in Geneva, located close to where the Rhone River flows from Lake Geneva. This is a famous city landmark, and reaches about 450 feet high. The direction of its drenching spray naturally depends on wind direction.

Jungfrau peaks near Murren.

Beautiful Murren, Switzerland. Being that this was February, seemingly everything here was about skiing.

Grindelwald resort. I did some simple, green-trail skiing here. The relative warmth made the snow kind of wet and slushy in places.

Swiss scenery visible north of Meiringen. I never, ever got tired of seeing beauty like this!

One of many triangular interior paintings visible on the Chapel Bridge in Lucerne (a historic pedestrian wooden bridge that crosses the Reuss River). Sadly, this bridge suffered a destructive fire in 1993 which claimed many of these paintings, and then the bridge  was rebuilt and restored afterwards.

Another scene of Murten and Jungfrau-region scenery.

Unusual and beautiful clock we saw in Lucerne.