Travel

A week in Cambodia

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Jenn and I just spent a month in Asia. We haven’t planned a trip of this length for a very, very long time. We used a travel agent VIVE to help plan the trip and it went pretty well. Our first week was in Combodia. After visiting Mayan temples, Angkor Wat joined the list of ancient places to visit. We stayed in Siem Reap at a lovely hotel, Shinta Mani. Our guide for the week, Bun, was very knowledgeable and incredibly helpful.

On to the Temples! Most of our time in Cambodia was spent at Angkor Wat and the nearby temples. The temples here were built generally between 800 and 1200 AD. I was a little surprised to learn that some had been built so ‘recently’. Many include what I would consider modern bricks in their construction (versus the large stone blocks seen in older construction). While the newer temples are Buddhist, the older ones are Hindu (and many of these have been converted- there have been Buddha statues added to many of the temples). They are covered in intricate carvings, and (maybe) kilometers of carved walls depicting stories from the Khmer Empire.

We also did a few cultural activities. We rode an ox cart into town one day and visited a local market. I got the feeling no one else rides an ox cart but the local market was very interesting. Our guide told us everyone was yelling out (in a local language) “the tourists are coming”. We had soup for breakfast at the market where our guide said this was his most common breakfast. We had sticky rice from a roadside vendor. We took a boat to Tonle Sap, the largest lake in Cambodia that in the rainy season can grow 4 times it’s size. Near the river the houses are on stilts because the water level change is so dramatic. On the lake itself are floating houses and villages.

I feel like we could have used a few more days in Siem Reap. We really enjoyed Cambodia and would love to go back some day. The people were really nice, the food was very good and we had a great time.

A week in Iceland

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Jenn and I spent a week in Iceland for her birthday. Since we haven’t gone on any major trips in the past two years, we were a bit out of practice even in the planning stage. We booked a guided tour from nordic visitor. The tour was decent but the weather didn’t fully cooperate.

We arrived in Reykjavik and did the FlyOver iceland experience. This was great! It’s an indoor movie/ride similar to something we’ve done at Europa Park. It’s sort of like a roller coaster in an IMAX theater but the seats move in 3 dimensions rather than riding on a track. The movie that plays for the ride was spectacular and showed off different environs in Iceland. Naturally, we checked out the grocery store. Prices are a little higher than Switzerland (particularly for anything imported).

The next morning our planned whale watching trip was cancelled so we wandered the streets of Reykjavik and met the yule cat. Apparently, if you do not receive any clothing for Christmas the cat eats you. We headed to the towering Lutheran church for a view over the city.

All morning, Jenn was putting in calls to get us on an afternoon whale watching trip. She managed to get us seats an a 3 hour tour. The weather started getting rough…. and they gave us sea sickness tablets. In any case, we saw some sea life and I managed to get a few pictures.

The following day our guided tour began and we drove a few hours to a black sand beach in southern Iceland. Iceland is an island composed of lava fields so vegetation is primarily mosses. The basalt columns on the beach were neat. There were warning signs for strong currents and unexpected waves around the beach. Several people distracted by personal videography got wet.

We were supposed to hike a glacier and an ice cave the next day but high winds caused road closures. I was pretty bummed as the ice cave was one of the major highlights for me. Instead, we visited several lovely but forgettable waterfalls. That evening we stayed at Magma Hotel out in the country and had a fairly clear night for viewing the northern lights. The forecast was weak for lights but we did spot a green glow in the sky. The following few nights had stronger lights but were cloudy, so this was the only night we actually spotted anything. The rainbow clouds really looked that way.

We also went to a glacier lagoon and diamond beach. The glacier lagoon is filled with icebergs sheared from the glacier. They float out to sea and some get beached nearby. The clear ice glistens, reminiscent of diamonds.

We left Magma and headed back to Reykjavik. On the way, we stopped by Geysir (the original geyser) and a few more waterfalls. We also saw the North Atlantic ridge and walked between the continental plates.

On our last day we went to Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa. The spa/pool is rather large, and water is piped from deep in the earth. The water is a seawater/freshwater mix that is cloudy with mineral deposits. And it’s quite warm!

Overall, I enjoyed our trip to Iceland. We booked a 5 day tour and I think there was enough to do that we could have used two more days- or a day or two free to make up for bad weather. I hadn’t anticipated losing important parts of the itinerary due to weather and that was me being uninformed. Still, I’m disappointed to not have had a better aurora viewing and missing the glacier and ice cave was sad, too. It’s a small country so a trip much longer than a week might be hard to fill without a great deal of driving time. I think we’ll try a different country (and timing) for our next northern lights trips. (hello finland 2025)

Half a week in Handegg

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We spent a few days at Hotel and Naturresort Handeck in Handegg. It was a great little trip. We were up in the mountain a little bit, right next to the Gelmerbahn. The Gelmerbahn is an old funicular they used when they were building the dam at Gelmersee. It is the steepest funicular in Europe. (every funicular is the something-est) It was super steep though it’s hard to tell form the pictures. (I forgot my camera this trip!)

We did two different power plant tours in the region. There is an extensive underground network of pipes that connects water from dams and lakes in the mountains to a couple of power plants and other lower elevation lakes. They even sometimes pump water back up to the higher elevation lakes when they needs to bleed power off the grid. The first tour was of the oldest power station with vertical generators. The second used horizontal generators and also showcased a 14 meter cave of quartz crystals. The second tour actually put us in a van and we drove to different location in the underground power plant. It’s insane how big these stations are, all underground. There is 160 km of underground piping/tunnels for water flow to and from the dams. Probably what I found the most interesting is that they build their generators by hand on site. During the tour we happened to walk past a couple workers mixing ceramic for the insulator caps. There’s also a tiny battery powered train they can use to reach the higher station during winter when the roads are snowed out.

There were also some nice hikes from our hotel. Both that we did were fairly short but after sitting at home for a year during the pandemic, I think we were all a bit out of shape and wouldn’t have wanted to hike much longer than we did!

We had a great time and I would definitely consider going back. We had really excellent food at the hotel and we barely touched on the great amenities. They have a small heated pool, a hot tub, sauna and they even let you use their electric car for the day.

A week in Grindelwald

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Mid August we spent a week in Grindelwald. It’s a lovely little town with cable cars that go to the nearby mountains of Männlichen, Pfingstegg, and First. We had a nice Airbnb not far from the Terminal station. Though the hill the Airbnb was on was brutal- by the third day, Walnut would do his business in the driveway, not wanting to traverse the hill to the garbage can.

From the patio of our Airbnb

Naturally, we visited Gletcherschlucht. This is river of glacier water running from the Eiger. We’ve visited a number of these in Switzerland. It’s very cool so it’s a wonderful visit on a hot day. This one was unique in that it had a number of activities including a giant swing and a net you could walk on over the river.

We took the cable car up to Männlichen and hiked the Panoramaweg to Kleine Scheidegg. Though we’ve done this hike before, it’s one of Jenn’s favorites. It’s a great hike with awesome views and a wide path. Of course, there’s always the chance to meet livestock and a cow wanted to figure out what Walnut was.

We also visited First and hiked to Bachalpsee. This was supposed to be an easy hike but by the time we actually went up here, we were a little wore out from the other hiking we had done this week. The hills on the way to Bachalpsee were a little rough on us.

On our last day we went back to Pfingstegg to ride the Rodelbahn and the Luftseilbahn. if you go to the area, definitely do this! I would recommend buying the 3 hour package ticket. The ticket includes the cable car and as much Rodelbahn and Luftseilbahn you can do in 3 hours. At the time, it was 96chf and we bought a 6 ride Rodelbahn and 2 rides Luftseilbahn with the cable car (with our halbtax card!) for 84chf. We’d never experienced the Luftseilbahn and it was awesome. It’s a bit like a zip line but you sit in the harness and it hangs from a monorail system they’ve suspended from the trees. As we came to the Luftseilbahn, I asked the people on their way out if it was everything they’d hoped and they replied, “Yes, it’s like you’re a little elf flying through the forest.”
I thought it was a pretty good description. I definitely could have done that a few more times. It made for an excellent last day of our trip.

St. Gallen, Unterterzen and a little bit of Liechtenstein

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We spent a week in St. Gallen- half in Unterterzen near Flumserberg, and the second half in St. Gallen proper. Flumserberg was fantastic. I feel like I run out of words to use to describe the natural beauty in Switzerland. In my daily life, I just say it’s very Swiss. We go to these lovely mountains with amazing views, brilliant flowers, burbling waterfalls and great trails all over Switzerland and it becomes hard to describe one in a different way than another. So far, every one we’ve been to has been incredible. And I’ve probably said that before.

While in Unterterzen, we stayed in the Marina hotel. The room was a touch small (also known as normal for Switzerland) but we had a great rooftop patio. The hotel restaurant was practically the only one in town- thankfully the food was pretty good. We did some hiking in Flumserberg. There was a an alpine floral trail and a seismic trail highlighting the Glarus Thrust. The hotel was right on the lake, and had we more time (and warmer weather) we would have been swimming.

We visited a couple castles in Liechtenstein, including the Prince’s castle. We couldn’t enter any. We also went to the abbey in St. Gallen and saw their amazing library. No pictures allowed, but it was fantastic. I’m told it’s in the top ten most beautiful libraries in the world. Cause I guess that’s a real list somewhere.

JnR’s trip to Athens, Greece

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We spent Christmas week in Athens, Greece with a friend of Jenn’s. It was amazing! Athens and Greece overall, was awesome. For better or worse, we were nearly always surrounded by really incredible food.

On our first day after arriving in Athens, we visited the Acropolis. We hired a guide on site and spent two hours learning about the ancient Greeks. Our guide was super knowledgeable and extremely talkative but sadly I had a lot of trouble understanding her accent. The Acropolis complex was very large and overlooked the sizable Agora.

Later that day, we watched the changing of the guard which is a special event on Sunday.

The next day, we hired a car with a guide to take us on a full day Argolis tour. It was fantastic! Our guide, Aver, and our driver Costas were very knowledgeable and made for a great day. We first stopped at the Corinthian canal before continuing on to Ancient Corinth and the citadel of Mycenae. We then went to Nafplion for lunch. Afterwards, we headed to Epidaurus before heading back to Athens. Apparently, the Mycenians had regular trade with Egyptians and in the citadel one of the royals found buried had Egyptian artifacts with them.

We went to the Acropolis Museum the following day. It’s a lovely museum with many different artifacts though mostly it’s filled with sculpture (pieces) from the Parthenon. Since the Parthenon was virtually blown up by the Venetians in the 17th century, leaving almost nothing of the beautiful pediments surrounding the building. The museum was built over neighborhoods of ancient Athens and some of it is excavated.

Our friends took us to Cape Sounio to see the Temple of Athena there, though it was closed (day after Christmas; we knew it was closed). The cape was beautiful and we stopped for lunch at Xristoforos on the way back.

The next day we went with HP again for a full day tour to Delphi. We had a private guide for the museum and the ruins at Delphi. This city was incredibly rich due to offerings given to the oracles. Again we see pieces with Egyptian influence on Ancient Greek art. Some of the statues are really lifelike. It was amazing to see just how skilled they became as sculptors (and architects, and city planners, and….) In ancient Delphi, there was a bronze statue The Serpentine Column- today we saw a reconstruction- that was later moved to Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 324; that Jenn and I saw on our trip to Istanbul! I recognized and was a little blown away.

At the National Archeological Museum, we saw pieces from all over. They had a significant section dedicated to the artifacts from Mycenae and that fleshed out the picture in my mind from our visit to the citadel early in our trip. In this museum it was easy to follow Greek art chronologically and it was cool to see it’s evolution. I was surprised to see so many depictions of octopi and lions. The last thing we saw at the museum was the Antikythera Mechanism. It was a complex mechanism generally referred to as the first analogue computer. It could show phases of the moon, positions of the planets in the sky and more. It just really shows how advanced the Greeks were.

On our last evening we went to Don Carlos at the new opera house in Athens. The performance space was fantastic and I even enjoyed the opera very much. Normally Im not a fan but the screen for the subtitles was in the back of the chair ahead of me, a bit like the screen in an airplane. It was a great design and a beautiful opera house. If I lived in Athens, I have no doubt I’d be there a lot!

I loved Greece and I’m really looking forward to a return trip. The food was amazing everywhere and the country has so much colorful history that I’d really like to go back and see more, especially the Peloponnese Peninsula.

Spectacular South Africa!

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Jenn and I went to South Africa for the last week or two of November. Jenn had a work conference in Cape Town so I followed her a few days later. The trip was absolutely incredible!

Cape Town is a large city, not unlike many others we’ve seen. There is quite a bit of beautiful old Dutch architecture alongside more modern skyscrapers. Naturally, one can see a large income disparity in the city, with parts being beautiful and clean and other areas pretty sketchy- not so different from Chicago or any other large, bustling city.

On my first morning in the city, I walked to the V&A Waterfront. It’s a lovely part of the city along the docks. I’d guess it’s pretty new and wealthy part of town. The aquarium is here, along with a massive ship repair yard. The Watershed Market has many merchants with handmade goods. Later in the day, Jenn and I took a ‘Three Bays tour’ helicopter ride from the Waterfront. This took us south past Hout Bay and back north behind Table Mountain.

The next day we took the cable car up Table Mountain. We were lucky to visit on the only clear day we were in Cape Town. We also stopped by Signal Hill to hear the noon gun (canon firing at noon) before passing through the Bo Kaap neighborhood, known for it’s colorful houses. For dinner, we went to Gold Restaurant and enjoyed a fantastic dinner comprised of dishes from many different countries in Africa. They also performed traditional dances and sang during the meal. It was a really neat experience.

On Saturday we did a driving tour to the Cape of Good Hope and Hout Bay. We managed to see baboons not far from the cape! After the cape, we went to see an African Penguin colony.

The following day we spent at Kirstenbosch gardens. The botanical gardens were incredible. There were so many different types of flowers and trees (and even birds!). I never remember in the planning stages of our trips how much I enjoy botanical gardens. Thankfully Jenn makes sure we see them. Near Kirstenbosch was a Sunday market in which we spent a few hours browsing.

Monday, we headed to Hermanus for whale watching. Sadly, the weather was against us and none of the boats went out. We walked along the shore at Hermanus for a bit, before heading to another penguin colony and Monkey Town (where a monkey stole Jenn’s phone!) before heading back to Cape Town.

On Thursday, we left Cape Town and flew to Kruger National Park for our Safari. We were very excited as we’d not yet experienced a Safari. It was everything we could have hoped for. The lodge we stayed at, Klaserei Sands, was amazing- the accommodations were great, the food was incredible and our Tracker and Ranger were a fantastic team that lead us to every animal we’d hoped to see and much, much more. Over the next four days we were able to see a dizzying array of animals including Elephant, Giraffe, Kudu, Impala, Wildebeast, Buffalo, Hyena, Zebra, Spitting Cobra, Lion, Leopard, Painted Dogs, Hippo, Rhino, Duiker, Cheetah and more, as well as countless different birds.

It was an amazing trip! We would love to go back some day.

A few days in Valencia

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We spent a few days in Valencia and met up with one of our friends, Alexis. It was nice to see Lexi again and Valencia was a fantastic spot to spend a few relaxing days enjoying Spanish culture (and cheap prices!)

Valencia is a beautiful city with all the charm you’d expect from an old Spanish city. Gothic, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Modern architecture all shine in this unique city; from Mercat Central, the Cathedral, to the Silk Market and the City of Arts and Sciences.

Naturally, there is much more to Valencia than architecture. The city has a unique crest that includes a bat. Once we realized it, we started seeing the bat all over town.

Valencia has a lot of green space and parks. We visited the Royal Gardens and Walnut was really intrigued by the aviary.

Of course, you can’t miss the amazing street art in Spain!

Valencia was fantastic and I would really like to go back. It reminded me a bit of Madrid, with it’s museums, architecture and green space. More relaxing than Barcelona, with all the good food, great prices and chill vibe that makes Spain what it is.

Plaffeien Alpabzug

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This past weekend we went to Plaffeien for the Alpabzug. It’s a festival celebrating bringing the cows down from the mountains for winter. Plaffeien is a small town not far from Geneva. I was surprised how many people showed up for the festival!

The cows are given floral hats and decorations to wear (and of course they have their deafening bells!) The hats seem to be made of small pine trees or branches with a floral arrangement.

After the festival, we stayed at an airbnb about a mile out of town so we had to do a bit of hiking to get there. We’d hoped there would be some nice hiking trails near the airbnb but the trails we hiked were not our favorites. Maybe it just wasn’t our weekend for hiking.

All told, the festival was interesting and Jenn is planning for us to see it in another town next year!

Milan and Cinque Terre by train

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Walnut and I rode the train from Basel to Milan while Jenn flew in a day later after a work conference. I went down early to spend a day at the Science and Technology Museum of Milan. The museum was huge- I couldn’t get through the whole thing in one day. They had a great display regarding particle accelerators and another regarding materials (plastics, rubber, aluminum, steel) It was really excellent.

  • Leonardo da Vinci
  • early generator at Museum

After Jenn arrived, we did a half day walking tour that included the Milan Duomo and a visit to the Last Supper. The walking tour was very good- we were fortunate and it ended up as a private tour. Jenn managed to book us for a special once-a-month viewing of the Last Supper which gave us 30 minutes with a small group rather than the typical 15.

After Milan, we spent several days in Cinque Terre. We’d been looking forward to this trip for a long time. A travel blog we follow https://www.gocurrycracker.com/ suggested three places that would be fantastic to retire to and we’d already been to two of their suggestions and loved them. Unfortunately, though Cinque Terre was beautiful and quaint…. it is a hilly motherf@#$er. Part of the draw to the region is the cliffside hiking trails- and the 3 major ones were all closed due to damage. Walnut and I did one hike that was recommended. It was 7 km with 700m of elevation change and where there were steps, they were big ones. Great views but tough on the knees (and puppy legs!).

Cinque Terre was lovely but with the trails closed, it left some to be desired. The views were incredible, but it was very touristy even though we were there so early in the season.

On our way back to Switzerland we stayed a night in Varenna to help split up all the train rides. Varenna was an incredibly beautiful little town. We both said we may have been happier had we spent our time here rather than in Cinque Terre. Varenna was by the water and very flat- this might be why we were a little happier.

We took the poor man’s Bernina Express home (not express!). It’s a train that takes a specific path that crosses the Swiss Engadin Alps. It was a great trip! We even managed to get Super Saver tickets for our ride.

All told, it was a great week in Italy and we found we could take the train the whole way. It was a little long, so it was nice that Jenn broke it up into smaller train rides with an overnight here and there. Varenna was amazing, Milan has so much to offer that we didn’t get to, and Cinque Terre would be great to visit once the trails open back up. We’d love to go back and spend more time in some of the pretty little villages in northern Italy/southern Switzerland.