Known as “Sylvester Klausen” to High German speakers and “Sylvesterchlausen” to Swiss German speakers, the festival is unique to Appenzell and only happens twice a a year in winter in select villages of Switzerland. To celebrate Saint Sylvester’s day on December 31, volunteers in each participating village meet at 5am Read more
Appenzell is a rather curious place in Switzerland. While the country was named after the canton of Schwyz in the centre of the country and its language is as diverse as birds in the trees, Appenzell feels to me as the most quintessentially Swiss region. Appenzell is located in the Read more
It has been a few years since I gave an art museum its own post, but the Graubünden Art Museum in Chur is something special – I saw my first poo exhibition here. Poo aside, the museum consists of an older building and a newer cuboid building. The entrance in Read more
Being the furthest canton from Geneva, Graubünden was the last canton I visited after visiting all 25 other cantons on the way to taking the Glacier Express. If you had a preconception that Switzerland is a land of snowy peaks, deep valleys, and grassy slopes with cows, Graubünden is the Read more
Also known as the world’s slowest express train, the Glacier Express is Switzerland’s premier express train. Its main route goes all the way from St. Moritz through Chur and Andermatt to end in Zermatt. Although travel passes are valid on this route in first and second class, there is a Read more
Despite having lived in Germany before, I haven’t actually heard of Lindau until a French colleague told me about its beauty when I was working in Geneva. Having already been to 56 Swiss cities in my first six months in Switzerland, I decided to give Lindau a try. In terms Read more
There are two things that I really enjoy about Rigi: it has two railways going up and down the opposite sides of the mountain to offer different views and both railways are included as a normal rail line with no supplement charged. What I didn’t do so well was visiting Read more
On a recent ICE trip from Berlin to Bremen, I read in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the German government will cut VAT for train tickets in 2020 to just 7% (about 10% off ticket price at present 19.5% VAT rates) and consider raising taxes for flights. I am in total Read more
If I’ve written, complained, and praised the German railways, Amtrak, Vancouver’s West Coast Express, Thalys, the Euro Star, and China Railway Highspeed, I might as well do it for the Swiss railways while I’m here. Between June and Christmas, I’ve visited 57 Swiss cities, 3 German cities, and 5 peaks Read more
Thun, pronounced as “toon” as in “cartoon”, is probably one of the most liveable places in Switzerland. Thun is also the name of tuna in German, though if you ask if tuna comes for this lake the locals will roll their eyes at you. Trust me, I tried. Located right Read more