Ever since I walked through Belvoir Park with the Women’s Club walking group, I’ve been back a number of times. When I blogged about the wisteria there, the irises were not quite ready. Slowly, over the month of May, more and more irises have opened up.
There are several sculptures in the garden, as well.
Such a lovely place.
More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.
As of last week, I have almost completed my tram challenge.* I have ridden through every tram stop except for the newest line, Number 20 (the Limmattalbahn). It started running on Dec. 11, 2022. I’ll do that one very soon.
One thing I liked seeing were the tracks on the north side of the city – in the suburbs (if you will). Many tracks run through the grass and flowers.
I think the 12 Tram is the only one that does not go through the middle of the city. It does, however, go to the airport.
I have just started following an Instagram account called zurichbytram.ch. The pictures are lovely, and the not typical ones one sees.
*A few of the tram stops are under construction and will not be open until after we leave. I did not count those as part of my challenge.
Many Thursday mornings I walk with a group from the American Women’s Club. We enjoy each other’s company as we wander along the lake, the river, or into beautiful gardens. Last Thursday we were treated to a rare occurrence, the blooming of the Amorphophallus titanum. Also known as the Stinky Corpse Flower.
Our walk took us to the Botanical Garden where we waited in this line. I think it took us at least 30 minutes to reach the flower, but it was probably longer. I did not keep track. Too busy socializing.
The Amorphophallus titanum is the largest blooming flower in the world. It has a putrid odor, like rotting flesh. Various sources have it blooming every 2-3 years, or up to every 8 years. I heard that this one last bloomed 4 years ago.
Here’s a close-up.
The line was even longer when we left.
More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.
I’m maybe halfway through my tram challenge. I have to say that when the weather is warmer, I am more inclined to go out in the afternoons.
Several tram lines go through Oerlikon, a city that comprises the 11th district of the city of Zürich. Many trains from the airport stop in Oerlikon on their way to the HB. My first trip to Oerlikon in 2015 was to the Freitag Factory which you can read about here.
Near the Oerlikon train station is the MFO Park (Machinenfabrik Oerlikon), the site of a former factory. It was transformed in 2002 into a space for events as well as for soaking up the nice weather.
This was my first peek into the park.
I noticed there were platforms you could walk up to. You can even go up to the very top.
Geometric patterns abound.
And wisteria right now, too.
More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.
It’s purple bloom time here in Switzerland. Here are some recent shots.
In my neighborhood, near my tram stop.
In Belvoir Park.
More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.
All I knew about the Bosco Verticale was that it was a high-rise apartment building with trees growing on every balcony. As we were heading to the train station at the end of our stay, we decided that we had enough time to stop by to see this sight. The Metro could take us there.
(Side note: We loved riding the Milan Metro. There is no need to actually buy a ticket. If you have a credit card, just tap it on the gate when you enter the station, and tap when you leave. At the end of the day, the Metro calculates your fare and charges you once. Each tap is good for 90 minutes.)
When we reached the building, it was more magnificent than the photos I had seen.
Now that I am home and reading about the building, I see that there are actually two of these vertical forests. The other one was behind this one.
You can read about this project here.
What we were unprepared for was the beautiful park where these apartment buildings are. It is near the Porta Nuova area, a business district of skyscrapers.
So many beautiful flowers were blooming.
If we’d had more than 26 hours in Milan, we would have spent an hour here, enjoying the surroundings.
More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.
The forecast suggested rain for Sunday, but the closer Sunday came, they anticipated less rain. Mr. Glamper said, “Mountains.” Swiss Family Fun to the rescue, and the Sattel Engelstock hike looked good. It was only an hour from Zürich. The gondola ride up (and back down) the hill was not too expensive (CHF 19 with our GA cards). Not too much elevation gain with stunning views of the Mythen Mountains in the canton of Schwyz.
The hike was everything we had hoped for. Except for the views. Click here to see what we missed. We did have a nice view from the gondola of the Ägerisee.
There were many yellow wildflowers that were not dandelions.
The hike goes by many family farms. Here is one of the places where you could buy treats. Just leave your cash in the box. There were also places with cheese to buy.
There were some stations of the cross along the way.
And lots and lots of cloudy, foggy views.
Despite these obscured views, we enjoyed the hike very much. It was refreshing to once again be in the mountains. In addition to nature, it’s great to be greeted by other hikers with a happy “Grützi Mittenand.” (Hello, all y’all.)
I hope we have time to go back on a sunny day.
More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.
Just down the street from the Villa Patumbah is another free garden to explore. I had been here in 2014, and I’m not sure why I hadn’t been back this time. Spring is definitely a good time to visit the University of Zürich (UZH) Botanical Gardens.
I was there on a sunny day, but the three greenhouses would be a perfect place visit on a cold or rainy day, too.
So many lovely textures.
And patterns.
Even though we were too early for tulips in the Netherlands, I’ve been seeing many around Switzerland.
More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.
Having a GA card, and being able to travel on any train throughout the country, makes it easy to visit places that we wouldn’t necessarily go out of our way to see.
Last weekend rain was forecast, but we hadn’t really been on a Swiss train in a month. Between our trips to Morocco and the Netherlands and Belgium, then that dang Covid, it was not possible. Now we are making up for lost time.
We didn’t want to go too far, and we hadn’t really done anything in Basel this year. I discovered that the University of Basel has a free botanical garden. This website says that the garden goes back to the 16th C, making it one of the world’s oldest. It features plants from all over the world.
With a number of greenhouses, it was perfect for the drizzly day.
We were surprised to see a giant sequoia from California.
As well as petrified wood from the Petrified Forest in Arizona.
If I lived in Basel, I would probably wander through here several times a year, at least.
More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.
Easter Sunday was the day we chose to ride bikes through the colorful flower fields near Lisse, Holland. Because I was not sure what my energy levels would be as I recover from Covid, we decided to rent a Tandem E-bike.
Having never ridden a tandem (that I can recall), I wondered how we would do, but I needn’t have worried. It was easy. Besides, Mr. Glamper did most of the work.
We read this website about what to do. We reserved our bike ahead of time and decided to ride in the afternoon. (Good thing, as instead of an hour to get to Lisse, it took almost 2 ½ hours because of that train accident. We rode the train all the way back up to the Schiphol Airport to catch a bus.)
Anyway, the routes are marked pretty well. Choose which color you want to ride, and follow those arrows. Many of the fields are off the road a little way with barricades. Apparently way too many people do not respect signs to stay out of the fields.
The hyacinths and daffodils were out in full force.
But. We were a little too early for the tulips. We did see these red flowers.
Turns out that everyone in the area must have thought to do the same thing on Easter Sunday. By the end of the ride, we were tired of dodging all kinds of traffic, foot, bike and car.
We did not go into the Keukenhof Gardens where I suspect we would have seen tulips. They were sold out that day, anyway. However, I saw these beauties when we went back to Schiphol to catch the train back to Delft.
More photos at glampinginswitzerland’s Instagram.
Glamping in Switzerland 