Switzerland, August 2008

After the Eclipse tour of Russia ended, I took off to Switzerland in my quest to visit two very special places - CERN and the Eiger Nordwand.

Geneva

Interlaken-Ringgenberg

I stayed in Ringgenberg at the Hotel Seeburg, right on the shores of Lake Brienz. The hotel has a rather dated 1970's feel to it but the people who own it and work in it are really friendly and helpful, and the setting is magnificent.

Jungfrau - Eiger

Via Ferrata

My first ever via ferrata was "Klettersteig", above Murren. Thanks to Hano and Joyce Tschabold of Swiss Alpine Guides for making this a really enjoyable experience. Only a few of these photos are mine -most were taken by Hano or by Adam.

The Castles of Bellinzona

Once I knew where I was going after Switzerland, I needed to make a decision about which direction to take from Interlaken... down to Zermatt for a couple of days or closer to Como, where I was going to meet up with Marco. The guidebook listed the primary attraction of Bellinzona as three medieval castles, and that was all I needed to know! Bellinzona has a lovely warmth about it, and I really enjoyed it. As you can see, I photographed the castles almost to death (and almost all in one day)... I loved their structure, the texture of the walls and the angles they displayed against the sky, and how this structure carried the purpose and history of the buildings so completely. Also, arranged through the courtyard of Castlegrande is a stark collection of bronze sculptures by Ticinese artist Nag Arnoldi. These have a skeletal, war-like feel and they suit the surrounding architecture very well. I returned to the castle on the last day of my visit simply to wander among them.

This page modified 18th November 2008 by C.A.L.