Continuing our trip around the world, we have now journeyed to Switzerland. Traveling with an infant can be hard but, thankfully, we planned things right and our trip is going pretty smoothly (for now).
The best is to stick to direct flights and to keep Baby entertained or asleep. We also noticed some moms traveling with their baby carrier on the plane. That seems to be a good idea to walk down the aisle when your little one is too fussy.
We flew in overnight, leaving Canada at 4 P.M. and arriving in Zurich at 6 A.M. after a 7h flight. Then, we hopped on a train to Frutigen to explore the countryside.
Here, everything is expensive! The 2h train was over $100 per person, and that was in a regular commuter train, nothing fancy.
I hope the locals get better prices when buying monthly passes, otherwise, this commuting thing makes no sense. We are all for public transports but at these prices, I am very surprised to see the trains full. Not many seem to drive but, even with the higher gas prices, the highway taxes, and Euro taxes, driving that same distance seems to cost no more than $50. In Canada, public transports are subsidized and they are still fairly unpopular compared to the beloved car!
In Frutigen, we rented a super nice studio on Airbnb. The kitchen really helps save on meals and the view is simply breathtaking! For only $100 per day, this was a steal!
From our studio, we can see the whole town, the fields, and the mountains. It is truly exceptional to see the grandness of all this. The mountains are so high that there is snow near the top while we are down here wearing t-shirts and shorts.
The town is nice and peaceful, not much traffic. Not a lot of tourists either.
Although everything is expensive over here, we do our best to cut down on things we value least. For example, we enjoy eating out and tasting the local cuisines but we are traveling for another 4 months so there will be plenty of other occasions to eat out.
In addition, this is the only Airbnb we booked until mid-October. We will be staying in kitchenless Marriott hotels for the following weeks so we took the occasion to cook our own meals.
For this week, we bought groceries and will enjoy our little kitchen. Most restaurants are in the $25-$35 per person range but we were able to buy enough food for the week for about $70, the price of one single outing. So far, we cooked some delicious chicken, made sandwiches, ate swiss cheeses and sausages… Even without an oven, we were able to make pretty good pizzas on the stove-top.
It has been only 3 days we are in Switzerland and since we are traveling with an infant we are taking things slow. We took the first day to catch up the 6h time difference, slept a lot, did groceries, and stayed in. Everything takes more time when you are traveling with a baby! 🙂
On day two, we visited Oeschinen Lake. Once again, the prices shocked us. The 10-minute train ride cost $20 per person and the short gondola ride was over $25. The very next day we noticed that we could have taken the bus there for free but I guess that is just the way it is when you are traveling in an unknown country. You cannot know everything and optimize every cent when you cannot even speak the language.
At least, the views were amazing and the mountain-top lake was breathtaking.
After a short gondola ride up, we had to hike about half an hour down to the lake-side. Most of the path was gravel but it was not really stroller-friendly.
About 20 minutes in, a little restaurant sat on the hill overlooking the lake. From there, we left the stroller and used our baby carrier to walk down the steep trail down to the lake. It was way easier this way but it got pretty hot having her so close to us.
Once at the lake, we dipped our feet in, the water was surprisingly warm for a maintain lake. The trees, water, and huge mountains in the background were truly picturesque.
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The walk back seemed to take forever and the air was hot and steamy but everything ended on a perfect note. We took the train, walked back up the long long hill to our Airbnb, and enjoyed the view.
Baby Xyz enjoying the grand scenic view.
On day three, the sky had turned and the beautiful sunshine had vanished. Looking at the weather report, we knew we could not go too far. The rain was imminent. Since we are traveling with a baby, we did not take any chances and wanted to stay dry.
Just beside our Airbnb, we walked a country road going up in the mountain. Walking parallel to the mountainous cow pasture on one side, and a small river to the other. We got up to a series of dams, holding the riverbed, and ate our sandwiches sitting on the grass.
Once back home, after only two hours or so of walking, the rain started pouring only minutes after we entered our studio. We took it slow and watched a movie instead of adventuring out into the rain. Sometimes, a slow day is just what we need.
It has only been three days since we landed in Switzerland but so far, we are really enjoying our trip. Traveling with an infant was scary at first but I think we manage pretty good so far. 🙂 Stay in touch for our next update once we are in Austria, we will be posting roughly every week with some more pictures and more adventures.
Cheers,
Mr., Mrs., and Baby Xyz.