Vacation News-transportation

I had a great time vacationing in Switzerland, and hope to tell a little about it with you. I'll start with the travel arrangements. I asked a travel agency in Florida to help with the trip, and planned the trip with their assistance. I was going to arrive in Zurich at lunchtime on Monday and then have the afternoon to get to Interlaken where my hotel was. Well, this day was a fun travel day. I didn't sleep much the previous night from being so excited, and the flights were during the morning hours when I sleep light. Between connecting flights, I had one hour to get from one plane to the next. Knowing that, I half expected my luggage not to make it all the way, so I packed extra clothes in my carry on to tie me over. I'm glad I did that, because I didn't see my clothes until Wednesday night. It worked out, though.

I'll tell you a little about public transport in Switzerland. I took trains everywhere I went, basically. To get to Interlaken, I had to take 3 separate trains to get there. I had a pass which allowed me to get from the airport to any destination and back within a month, so I was able to use this pass to come to Interlaken and then get back to the city. I can read maps pretty well no matter where I'm at, so figuring out the right train and the time schedule didn't take much studying. And I actually gave myself some time to visit a town along the way.

Transportation while I was skiing was interesting as well. My lift ticket included transportation to the lift, which I didn't realize at first. But here's what I had to do. I had to walk from my hotel to a bus stop to catch a bus to take me to the train depot. From there I'd take from 1-3 trains, depending on where I wanted to go, to get to the lift. These lifts would take you to the base of the mountain where you could ski to a quad lift to begin skiing. So maybe I'm painting an adequate picture that I'd catch a bus to catch a train to catch a train to get on a bus to catch a lift to catch another lift to get on a lift to start skiing. This process usually took 2 hours, so I had to remember that as I was coming down, too. I didn't want to get caught out there after dark (4:30) when the schedules would change. So I timed it that I could ski from about 9:30 until 4 comfortably. And I ate a good breakfast, usually skipped lunch, and then had a big supper while skiing to utilize all the time I could with skiing.

What is some other transportation news? Oh! Here's a good one. I saw a sign coming in on the train that anyone caught without a validated ticket would be fined, and then if it happened a 2nd time they would be fined more and possibly given a trial. But I never saw people inside of Zurich (the large town) be asked for their tickets. I wondered if they did check tickets. I found out on Monday that they do! There was a random stop that our tram was at. Five ticket agents boarded the tram to ask passengers for their tickets. I proudly showed mine and watched as I counted 6 people escourted off the tram to pay a fine through their computer scanner, which scanned credit cards. People using public transportation without paying for tickets is a problem in Zurich. There weren't 15 people on the tram, and for 33% of our population to be traveling without a ticket spells a problem.

I was overall very impressed with the transportation in Switzerland. If I lived there I would not own a car. You can go anywhere you want to go in high class comfort on the trains, trams, and buses. This is what I would wish the States would be able to adopt. It would take years and billions of dollars to grow, but once it was established, there would be minimal problems. The trains are electric, so there are no pollutants coming from them. Also, it's very relaxing to read a book, talk with a neighbor, or look at scenery while you're riding.