Category: 2014 (Mar/Apr) Tulip River Cruise

Tulip Cruise (JAL &CAB) as part of 2014 travel to Amsterdam to Germany and Switzerland.

Six days in Switzerland and 75 years young – Part 1

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After few hours on the train from Zurich with just the one change at Bern we disembarked from our
train at Interlaken Ost (East) not to be confused with Interlaken West.

The stations are at each end of town with a shuttle bus running between them so doesn’t matter which you choose but on the advice of our very friendly guard we choose the east as it was well within walking distance of our hotel, Hotel Du Nord, Interlaken. 
The view from deck outside our room
After a smooth check in and a bit of a rest we decided to set out and explore the very picturesque Interlaken, with hang gliders landing in the park opposite the hotel and snow capped mountains sounding us, it was exactly as I imagined only more spectacular . 


The blue sky and warm weather only added to our very first Swiss experience. after wandering, a sumptuous hot chocolate (I am forever spoiled when it comes to hot chocolate) and taking in the sights close to the hotel we headed for a little Chinese place we had seen earlier in the day for dinner. A dish and a rice and we were done and ready to turn in. 

 Interlarken surrounded by snowcapped mountains and with Hang gliders dropping in with regularity in the park across from our hotel provided us with picture postcard backdrop for the next few days. Below are few photos around Interlaken before the story continues with our day on the mountain.

Our Day on the Mountain              


We organised to head for the Jungfraujoch the next day as the forecast was good an on the advice of the hotel staff should do it while the going is good otherwise the weather could close in later in the 
weak and it wont be worth doing. Jungfraujoch lies at a height of 3,466 meters (11,371 ft) above sea level in the Bernese Alps, on the boundary between the cantons of Bern and Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch.

A complex tunnel connects the railway station to the Top of Europe building and an elevator to the summit of the Sphinx, A scientific observatory, the Sphinx Observatory, is also located here. a peak

Not they highest I have been in the world, that was Independence Pass (Colorado) It is at elevation 12,095 ft (3,687 m) but that is about as high as I want to go.

As promised the next morning dawned with another clear blue skied  day and we keen to set off on our first or a number day trips in Switzerland. Interlaken proved to be a great base for each of our day trips it was nice to be in one place for a a string of nights. Our first train was to the little village of Grindelwald where we wandered for awhile taking in the sights before boarding train two at Lauterbrunnen station, our final train for the trip to the top was a cog wheel train. 





The railway runs almost entirely within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the Eiger and Mönch mountains and containing two stations in


the middle of the tunnel, where passengers can disembark to observe the neighbouring mountains through windows built into the mountainside. 






It was great to be able to stop on the way up to check out the views.


Some two hours after leaving Interlaken we found ourselves at the Top of Europe, we decided to have lunch (not too bad food and price-wise for a bistro with a captive crowd) before heading up to the lookout and face the cold (or not as cold as we expected as it turned out).

At the Sphinx are enclosed and open viewing platforms, with views over the Aletsch Glacier and the surrounding peaks.  Also accessed via the tunnels is the Ice Palace, a series of ice caverns beneath the glacier, and the Alpine Sensation, which presents a display on the touristic development of the Alps and the history of the Jungfraujoch Railway.
The view from the platform was mind blowing and I would recommend anyone that has the chance to take the time to go up especially on a clear day as it feels like you are looking over all of Europe. Our stay at the top was interesting including a visit to the ice caves and standing out on the actual mountain.
How or why would anyone contemplate building a rail line up this majestic mountain is beyond me, it must have been such difficult job but they did it never the less.  After few hours wandering around and checking out all that as on offer we boarded the trusty little cogwheel train for the decent back down the mountain.  

Once we got off the cog wheel train back at Lauterbrunnen station which is a railway station in the village and municipality of Lauterbrunnen in the Swiss canton of Bern. The station is on the Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB), whose trains operate services to Interlaken Ost. 



The ice-cave carved in the mountain

We ventured outside to get the feel of bein on the mountain

It is also the valley terminus of the Wengernalpbahn where we changed trains to travel back to Interlaken Ost via Wengen, we decided to take Wengen side back to Interlaken so we could see the other side of the mountain and really get a chance to see some of the amazing waterfalls along this side of the mountain. Lots of end season skiers and snowboarder heading back down which only added to the experience and provided a small insight into what this place would be like in high season. One thing that amazed me was the number of hikers that we dotted all over the mountain taking in the various pre-marked walks. We arrived home and decided on soup for dinner so called into same Chinese place from previous night for quick bite before calling it a day. 




















and this end our second full day in Switzerland.

Who’d thought I would ever find myself in Berlin, Germany

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After a very comfortable night where we both slept reasonably well and woke feeling quite refreshed. With the packing done we checked out of our hotel after deciding we would get something to eat at the station once I had validated our Global Pass train passes.


A short walk to the station, dodging bikes and the pedestrian traffic which all seemed to be going the opposite direction to us. We quickly had our passes validated, travelling first class allowed us to make use of the lounge facilities where we could relax and eat from the complimentary breakfast bar while waiting for our train ( as usual I had us there with oodles of time to spare but I really hate rushing when trying to find our way).

We boarded our direct train to Berlin from platform 10b at 11:01am for our 6 hour trip in very comfortable carriage, no-one else in our section which was great. spend the day napping and watching the great scenery pass us by, can I say it again, this is the way to travel in Europe.

As the day was drawing to a close we arrived in Berlin, we left the train one station too early, a problem easily rectified by catching the next city train from the other side of the same platform, and finally getting off at Berlin’s Station Hauptbahnhof (Central Station).

Within minutes of stepping on german soil we were in cab being whisked to our hotel in Potsdamer Platz district. Our hotel was the very fancy Wyndham Grand Hotel which has built inside an old sandstone factory and was so well done. We checked in and freshened up before heading down to The Post restaurant for our first real meal since leaving home, I had the Rinderfilet (Filet of beef) and mum settled for Zitrus- Maispoulardenbrust (Lemon corn poulard (chicken) breast). This was a memorable meal and the service great but we both hit the wall quickly and it wasnt long before we fell into bed exhausted.

With one full day to make the most of our day in Berlin we up early and walked down to Potsdamer Platz square for a roll and coffee for breakfast all while trying to work out where the main stop was for the red Hop on Hop off bus was.

After wandering around for awhile we eventually located the stop not too far away but not in it’s usual stop due to road works.

We purchased our 24 hour ticket and as it was fairly cool we decided we would do the full circuit first then decide where we would get off for a closer look. With 20 stops around the city such as Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenberg Gate,  Jewish Museum and not to mention a section of the Berlin Wall which was a surreal experience.

After our lap around the city we decided to get off at Checkpoint Charlie and have some lunch before continuing on our way. Lunch was the best tomato soup and a pizza at a little Italian place (Sotto Sopra) within sight of Checkpoint Charlie, amazing to think this was such an important place in history and here we were having our lunch.

After lunch Brandenberg Gate was our chosen stop to explore further this amazing city. Unfortunately
by time the bus got back to this stop there was some sort of demonstration taking place so the bus was forced to re-route in very heavy traffic. Upside was we got to go down some interesting streets that aren’t on the usual route.

We decided to hop off at the famous KaDeWa department store.

About KaDeWa (taken from website)

What apparently started as an adventurous idea by the Berlin merchant Adolf Jandorf in 1905 surpassed all expectations when KaDeWe was opened in March 1907. 


As the leading department store in the country, it presented customers with an array of desirable goods from around the world – from the latest Paris fashion show looks to exotic south sea fruits.

Always a firm step ahead of the competition, KaDeWe today, as well as offering a vast variety of products, is also setting new standards in service. 

KaDeWe caters for a wide range of needs with luxurious beauty rooms and lounges, a wedding and gift service, a hotel and home service, tailor, hairdressers, buggy rental and a bureau de change. In its world-famous gourmet department on the sixth floor, Berlin’s premium department store even plays host to exclusive parties high above the roofs of the city.

The same ritual takes place every day at KaDeWe and sometimes on Sundays too when, shortly before 10 am, the original iron gate dating from 1907 is lowered so that customers can embark on an exciting shopping adventure. Each day up to 180,000 customers from around the world are welcomed in cordially by the KaDeWe before being attended to on more than 60,000 sq m of sales space by some 2,000 employees, for each of which customer needs and first class service take pride of priority.

We would have loved more time to explore this wonderful interesting store, definitely recommended as a must do for anyone visiting Berlin.

A short taxi ride found back in our fantastic hotel and we changed and headed down for a burger and soup from the hotel restaurant. Again early night and pack up for the next stage, Munich here we come.

Hotel: Wyndam Grand Potsdam Platz

Getting Around Taxis: Reasonably priced and easy to hail, carry hotel business cards to show driver for address

Highlight(s): 

  1. Seeing the actual Berlin Wall
  2. Visiting KaDeWa Department store
  3. Soup and Pizza at (Sotto Sopra) near Checkpoint Charlie
What a deal on a super hotel…

Seven days between OS trips (that’s record for me)

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A mere seven days after returning from the MacWool China Tour is time to pack up and take to the air for the long planned Tulip Cruise. This trip was planned as 75th birthday gift to mum who always wanted to see the tulips in Holland in full bloom and what better way than on a river cruise.

Who does an eight night cruise on the other side of the world without incorporating a few other destinations on the itinerary not us so Holland Germany Switzerland and Belgium here we come.

Our trip began at 10:50pm with boarding of our Eithad flight to Amsterdam with 2 hour layover in Abu Dhabi  the first leg was fantastic and I caught up on some sleep and mum was able to watch a couple of movies. The plane was great and the crew looked after us very well. We arrived in Abu Dhabi just after sunrise and it was very pretty flying in with day breaking. Our short layover disappeared quickly and we were soon boarding for our final leg in to Schipole Airport just outside Amsterdam for first night of foreign soil.

It was decided that we would only spend one night is the very beautiful Amsterdam as we would be back for a few days around the cruise.  Our first task was to procure a taxi (€45 and 30 minutes in average traffic) to take us the Tulip Inn (€65 per night approx) where we would stay for the night. This hotel has reasonable rates and is well within walking (and bag dragging) from the Central Railway station where we would begin our 6 hour train journey to Berlin.

On trains we decided this would be the easiest and least restrictive mode of transport for our journey,  I purchased Eurail Global Pass 15 Days for $877 which allowed us to used as much as we like in the 15 day window, some days we were several trains all first class and very comfortable. Only required reservations when travelling at busy times otherwise we just boarded and selected seats that had not been reserved. It only cost a few euros to pre-book seat,  so this was worth it if travelling in peak times or heading on long journey where needed to arrive by a certain time etc, mostly we just boarded and took our chances. Only once were stuck with sitting in buffet car as train fully booked( only hour trip which allowed us to have a beautiful full breakfast)



With our bags tucked away in our modest but comfortable room (Thankfully the lift worked when taking bags up and down) as the spiral staircase proved to be a challenge without a bag the couple times we used it, very narrow and steep, we headed our to check out the station and see where I need to validate our train pass the next day. It only took a 10 minutes to navigate through the masses of walkers and the millions of bikes that seemed to come from all directions and get inside the very beautiful station building. The information booth pointed us in the right direction for the ticket validation window. 

Now that the lay of the land had been established we headed out for short walk around and back to hotel. We purchased our first chips with sauce and mayo all the rage in Amsterdam on Damrak St . 



Yes Sam Forbes your recommendation was right they were crunchy with soft middle and possibly the best chips I have had in awhile, a little too much tomato sauce for my taste but the mayo was yummy, all served in a cardboard cone. After a walk through the red light district, everyone has to do it, we secured a very nice coffee before heading back to our room for a much need sleep. Although we both slept on plane we were grateful for a full nights sleep before our adventure got underway for real. Goodnight Amsterdam.