World Travels

The village is complete tourist mecca, full of hotels, cafés and shops. It was a lovely place to stay, and we had a glorious view of the mountains from our balcony.

At least we did on the evening we arrived... sadly for us, the weather this weekend was going to be appalling, and the rest of our stay here would instead be very grey. Despite being pretty glorious here all summer (unlike it had been at home) for this one week the weather had turned...

Although it had been a long day already - with decent weather this may be our only chance to actually see things, and so we took lots of photos, and went for a short walk up the main road to make the most of what were decent views.

Then at 7pm, some locals arrived to blow their Alphorns and throw Swiss flags into the air.

The next morning we headed down towards the canyon at the bottom of the Kleines Fiescherhorn valley. This canyon has a metal walkway drilled into the side of the cliff edge and allows visitors to enjoy 1km of the canyon.

We walked up and past people doing a jump into the valley, as well as going onto a netting right above the fast flowing stream.

Today the temperature had dropped substantially, and was forecast to be only 12˚C! Despite this being a "summer holiday" we had needed to pack for the autumn too.

We had originally planned to take a visit up the cable car to the top of the mountains on the north side where there were beautiful views of Jungfrau region, as well as a fun cliff walk. However the weather for the entire time this was open was so bad it was completely covered in clouds. Therefore we sadly had to miss out on this fun experience.

Having walked through some of the upper parts of the village, we went back to the hotel and chilled for the rest of the day. In the evening, we tried to dodge the rain showers, and made our way to a restaurant to enjoy some local food.

Oddly, the entire village was absolutely full of Chinese tourists - so much so we almost felt like being in a minority. And it seemed like most of them were all ill with the same cold - coughing around all day long. Unsurprisingly I eventually caught whatever it was, but thankfully it didn't ruin the trip.

The next day, as the weather was not due to improve until late in the day and we didn't have time to wait around, after breakfast we headed to the station to continue our Alpine adventure

We were headed to Lucerne, and there were two options - one was the faster trains back via Bern on a very long winded route; the other was the shorter route past many lakes, but taking just as long. Rather than repeating ourselves we chose the slower route.

I had wondered why this "PE" train would take so long, but as we boarded we realised why - "PE" stood for Panorama Express. It was a sightseeing route.

It had lots of panoramic windows and took a very scenic route including up through a minor mountain pass. Even despite the grey weather, we had some lovely views of the Pre-Alps. Definitely worth taking this option.

Eventually, we arrived in Lucerne. After dropping our bags in the luggage storage, we headed off into the city. The most famous sight is the old wooden bridge, over 650 years old and featuring many 17th century paintings.

After viewing it from afar we then took a walk along it, before crossing back over the river at the similar Spreuerbrücke further downstream, that also had similar paintings.

We then headed into the old town itself, bought a souvenir, before then heading around the corner to the Lion Monument - showing a dying Lion carved into the cliffside.

We then headed back to the station, walking alongside the shore of Lake Lucerne, the country's fourth largest lake.

After picking our luggage back up, we boarded a train heading out to Arth-Goldau, where we changed over to a high speed train that would cut its way right through the middle of the Alps, utilising the recently opened Gotthard Base Tunnel - the longest and deepest train tunnel in the world.

We could have instead used the old route over the top of the mountains to enjoy more scenic mountain views, but by now the novelty had worn off, and after a long day we preferred to shave off an hour from our journey by using the tunnel - though had we travelled three days later, we wouldn't have had a choice, as a freight train derailed and damaged 8km of tracks, closing the entire tunnel and preventing passenger traffic until 2024.

With regular flights to Zurich and Milan, the best plan was to see the northern side, and then cross through the Alps themselves to the southern side. Ending up in Italy, we could see some bits there before heading home, and making this a week long trip.

The weather this summer has been terrible. June had about 3 weeks of decent weather, but July was almost a complete washout - even the middle weekend that is almost always glorious. Thankfully we were headed to Europe where they had decent weather! Or so we thought - in the run up to our trip, the weather took a turn for the worse, and the weather in Switzerland was not much better than it was at home! The third trip this year we'd need to carry our rainmacs with us.

With it being summer holidays, the airport was pretty busy - taking an hour to get through security. So much so that we had to rush through our dinner before boarding commenced.

When I checked in, we had been given seats in the first row, despite not paying the hefty surcharge for the privilege. Extra legroom was great, but it meant we also had to put all or bags in the overhead lockers - kind of annoying with a window seat. As we hadn't paid for Speedy Boarding, I wanted to make sure our bags were close to our seats. When we got to the gate we showed our passes and were directed to the Speedy Boarding queue - we'd now be first on the plane!

Having boarded and flown to Switzerland, disembarking we were one of the first off the plane, and with the flight having been on time, we thankfully weren't arriving too late - just as well as we had to wait in the slow Brexit queues at immigration.

Once through, we made it out of the airport and boarded the next tram, headed the short distance around the corner to our hotel for the night. Due to the late time, we were staying the night near the airport before we would get to start properly enjoying our trip the next day.

The next morning we grabbed breakfast, before heading off just before 10am back to the tram stop. A few stops later and we had arrived at the local train station, where we waited to board the next train heading north to Schaffhausen. Schaffhausen is the northernmost canton of Switzerland, and just to the south of the eponymous town are the Rhine Falls - the largest waterfalls in Europe.

Shortly before arriving at the station, we emerged from a tunnel with an amazing view overlooking the entire waterfall area - both the falls themselves and the castle above.

We then pulled into the station, and made our way down the hill, and across to the railway bridge on the higher section of the river above the falls. We walked across the bridge and then up to the top of the castle complex.

Up here it was very busy, and after buying entrance tickets for the falls, we made our way across and down the lift to the riverside.

There were many opportunities here to get close to the waterfalls themselves. There were many lookout positions, and a small deck that protrudes out into the falls themselves.

From here you can literally face into this wall of water. Slightly scary, but incredibly unique!

With such a long day ahead, we didn't have much time to stay here, which was a pity. It was very busy here, and the lift back to the top was packed - a very sweaty experience.

After buying a souvenir, we headed back across the river and to the station in time for the next train south. Once there another tourist stopped us and asked us where Platform 1 is. There is only one platform at the station, and so we told her - this is it! "No this is 1A" she said - misunderstanding that in Switzerland, the platforms are subdivided into lettered sections which the boards then identify as to where each carriage will be. Despite this, she still looked confused and went hunting for the missing platform...

On the way back to Zurich, interestingly the trainline passed through a small salient of German land, completely disconnected to the rest of German rail network. Two stations are situated on this line, which we stopped at before we re-entered Switzerland.

Once arriving in Zurich, we had around 15 minute to transfer between platforms, so we took a quick look at the pretty building housing the National Museum, opposite the station.

The train on to Bern was pretty busy, but we managed to get seats. It took around two hours following the River Aare before we reached the Swiss capital.

After putting our luggage into storage, we then went for a wander around the city. We headed south and over to the parliament building. Although there are four larger cities in the country, this is it's capital. The building as sadly being renovated, and was covered in scaffolding.

We then headed over to the nearby bridge, where the scale of the city's imposing view over the meandering river was clear.

After this, we headed eastwards, past the cathedral and towards some of the beautiful views off the Nydegg Bridge.

Having done a fair bit of walking, primarily downhill, we jumped on the next trolleybus and headed back up into town. We then jumped off a few stops later and wandered between the parallel streets, viewing the town hall before heading back to the main road, grabbing a souvenir.

Adjacent to the shop was the Einstein house, a museum in the flat that Einstein lived in between 1903-1905. Today it had free entry, so I took a very quick look, including seeing the lovely view of the city from the balcony.

We were now heading back to the station, walking past the clock towers. We grabbed some dinner and then headed to grab our luggage and take the next train to Interlaken.

We made our way south, passing several Swiss towns, before entering the more mountainous areas and passing Lake Thun. On the other side of the lake was the town of Interlaken, which its sandwiched between Lakes Thun and Brienz.

Here we then swapped to a much smaller train that headed up the mountains towards our final place for the day - Grindelwald.

We had originally planned to visit on the Saturday, but for the first time in years, the middle weekend of July had atrocious weather - Friday being a complete washout, and Saturday even having a weather warning for extremely gusty wind, so we cancelled our trip. It was only on Saturday itself that we decided to resurrect our plans and go the following day instead.

The benefit of going on a Sunday was that we could see the Changing of the Guard, which I'd always missed before, as I'm never there at the right times.

We made sure we got an early train so that we'd be in London in time. After swapping to the Underground, we arrived at Victoria, and had a quick look at Westminster Cathedral.

This is the mother church for English & Welsh Catholicism, and arriving just after 10am, a service was in progress. The building has a very unique design, and inside had a very dark ceiling. Quite bizarre for an English building.

We then made our way around the corner to Buckingham Palace, which was already packed. Changing of The Guard wasn't for another 40 minutes, but already we had to make do with standing behind several people.

The weather was nice, a little too hot when the sun did come out, but cooled by the passing clouds. It didn't take too long before the preparations for the parade started in advance of the actual ceremony

The guardsmen came over from St. James' Palace, marching to music and then performed a ceremony at the very front of Buckingham Palace. It was interesting to watch, but with the additional 45 minutes needed to get a pot to view it makes it quite a long time to stand in one space. Nice to see it but I wouldn't rush back to see again!

Our next activity was to go inside the palace itself. We'd managed to book some tickets for 11am, and the entrance was just around the corner. We headed over, went through the security search, picked up our audio guide and then were inside.

The palace is only open in the summer months when the royals are in Scotland, and this year featured a fascinating additional display of the outfits and items involved in May's Coronation.

We took a look at those, as well as the beautifully decorated rooms. The most shocking thing is just how small the palace actually is. We got to look at around half of the back of the palace, and yet we were only inside for around 90 minutes.

We headed out into the garden, and after popping into the gift shop, walked through the Palace Gardens, exiting through the back entrance.

We then caught a bus from Victoria and headed across the river to Battersea, where we walked over to the Power Station. This art deco building was constructed in 1929, and powered up to a fifth of London before it was eventually closed in 1983. Due to the architectural value, it was Grade II listed, despite no one knowing what to do with it.

After many years of hopeless proposals, in October 2022 it was finally reopened, this time as a mixed use development of flats and an entertainment complex. We took a look around the vast space, both outside and in, before getting on the newly constructed Battersea Power Station tube station, and heading north towards to Archway.

I normally spend all my time in Central London, having seen places like Tower Bridge, Covent Garden and Westminster loads of times. But rarely if ever have I seen any of the sights just outside.

Once we arrived at Archway, we took a bus up the hill and walked through Waterlow Park before arriving at Highgate Cemetery. This cemetery is the final resting place of many famous people, and is separated into two different sides.

We started at the older and quite landscaped West side. It's quite hilly, and as we walked through the trees, we passed George Michael and Alexander Litvinenko's graves.

We then arrived at the Egyptian Avenue - a vaulted gateway, which leads on to the grand Circle of Lebanon, a circular sunken tomb complex.

Having looked around this side, we then made our way back to the East side, the newer and more structured part, which bizarrely includes the Tomb of Karl Marx. The tomb is also many times larger than those around looking completely out of place!

By now it had been quite a long day, so we decided to head back to King's Cross to grab some dinner, before we then made our way home.

With many more places in London to still see - particularly on the south side of the river, I'm sure there'll be another visit sooner or later!

After a busy day yesterday, today we continued with a trip to Ronda. We did at least get a small lie in before we headed towards the bus station on the other side of the city. It was just as quick to walk, so we made our way through the Old City, through Plaza Nueva before reaching the bus station.

It was a two hour trip to Ronda, through the flat plains of the Guadalquivir Valley, before reaching the winding roads climbing into the Baetic Mountains that divide northern and southern Andalucia.

Once we reached Ronda it was clear how much difference the mountain made, cooling the temperature by around 5˚C. In hindsight the shorts weren't the best idea...

We wandered into the town, just a short walk away, passing down the main shopping street, and Plaza del Socorro before reaching Puente Nuevo, the iconic bridge spanning the famous gorge.

The bridge sits 120m above the bottom of the gorge, and we spent some time wandering around different views of the bridge, before we took a walk through the old town, crossing the gorge and walking back up through the Jardines De Cuenca.

After enjoying the views of the bridge across the gorge, we made our way back up to Plaza España, before heading over to the bullring where we took a look around to understand more about this historic tradition.

This bullring has existed for almost 250 years. Whilst not on the same scale as some of the huge ones in the bigger cities, it was still in very much the same style. The Ronda School of Cavalry, the oldest in Spain, still has stables and a riding school next to the bullring which we could also view.

After some time taking in the culture, we went and grabbed an early dinner, with views over the area. Ronda sits atop a plateau, and before heading back to the bus station, we went for a walk around some of the footpaths on the cliff edge.

The coach station was pretty busy, with many of the day trippers on holiday excursions boarding their coaches back towards the coast. Unlike the one we arrived on, our coach made a few stops at some of the villages en route, which were actually quite pretty.

Once we arrived back in Seville, we then had a walk back through the city. We walked a different route than the one we made this morning, stopping at the Setas de Sevilla, a wooden structure somewhat resembling mushrooms.

In the basement of the structure are Roman and Moorish remains, which could be seen through the glass windows by the entrance. There is the ability to walk along the roof of the structure, but as it was a combined entry with an exhibition and entry to the ruins, we gave it a miss - it had been a busy enough day so far as it was.

We then made our way back to the hotel for our last night. Enjoying a bit more time up at the roof bar, before getting our stuff together before tomorrow's early start.

With a late afternoon flight, our trip over to Cordoba was both quick and early. We got up and went down for breakfast before checking out, dropping our bags in the luggage storage, and then made it to the station for the 8:43 high speed train.

I normally wouldn't pay extra for expensive high speed trains, but as we were pushed for time we went for it. In fact we got quite a posh journey in luxury seats for the 45 minute journey.

Cordoba normally has the highest average temperatures in both Spain and the whole of Europe. But today was a pretty cloudy day with constant threats of rainfall, reaching the dizzy heights of... 23˚C!

We left the station and then headed over to the icon of the city, the Cathedral. It was originally built as a mosque in 785AD, and was progressively expanded over time before being converted to a cathedral in 1236 after the Reconquista. It therefore is an excellent example of Moorish architecture embodied by the beautiful arches.

We pre-booked our tickets, which were for entry at opening time - 10am. A mass was just finishing as we were allowed in, so we got to witness that, as well as a relatively quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

After taking a look around, we left the complex and went for a walk around the riverside behind, and then along the beautiful Roman Bridge, looking back on views over the cathedral and cityscape.

We then made our way back towards the station, via the Jewish Quarter and leaving the old town through the Almodóvar Gate.

As we walked along the lush boulevard back to the station I received an email from Renfe, the Spanish Railways, to advise me of a delay to our train. We initially had 3 hours from our arrival back in Seville before our flight was due to leave. But as time went on, the train was progressively further delayed, before it eventually arrived in Cordoba almost an hour late.

By the time we got back to Seville, it meant we had to do a mad dash back to the hotel to collect our luggage, before returning and catching the airport bus. Thankfully our delay wasn't enough to cause any problems, and the worst thing about our arrival at the airport was the huge rainstorm that had just started. Having threatened all week, it finally rained. And it pretty much continued the whole time we were in the airport. Our flight was ultimately delayed because of the threat from lightning preventing take off.

For the first time ever, I boarded a Ryanair flight through a jet bridge! Together with the shelter at the airport bus stop, and having carried our raincoats with us everywhere, it meant we didn't actually end up getting wet.

As we flew back home, the whole of Spain was pretty grey, hidden behind the clouds, but not far beyond the French border the clouds cleared and there were beautiful blue skies for the whole of Northern Europe - bizarre!

It had been a very busy few days, and in hindsight probably a bit much. But it had been a lovely trip and interesting to see some of Spain's culture rather than just the beaches!

I've been to Spain many times, but only on a few occasions gone to see more of the culture. This would be an opportunity to see some of the beautiful places in Western Andalucia. But frustratingly, with just two flights a week and a bank holiday coming up, we were limited to which flights we could book and how long we could be away, in order to avoid the severe summer heat in this part of the world. With 4 cities to see over two and half days, this was going to be a busy trip!

Bizarrely, despite being the end of May, the weather in the whole of Southern Europe was currently terrible - literally raining all the time. Meanwhile all of Northern Europe was basking in glorious sunshine - so we'd need to take raincoats with us everywhere...

For the first time, I flew out on my new Irish passport, and when we landed in the airport I was able to fly through the non-Brexit queue. We grabbed our onward tickets and then boarded the next bus headed for the city.

By this time it was already getting late and we eventually arrived it was almost 11pm. We were staying in a hotel themed on Seville's most famous export - Oranges.

The hotel was a short walk from the station, and after breakfast the following morning we headed over to catch the train to Cádiz. As we were pressed for time, all our transport connections had already been booked, and I'd made sure this first morning wasn't too early given our late arrival.

Cádiz sits on a spit jutting out into the Atlantic, and is also the port for Seville. Just around the corner from the station are the docks where the huge cruise ships pull in. We only had just over an hour to look around, so we only made a quick stop in the main square before continuing around the corner to the winding pedestrianised streets.

It didn't take long to arrive outside the Cathedral, and just behind it were the huge seawalls. From here there were lovely views of the domes of the cathedral surrounded by the city.

We then walked along the southern coast of the city, before finally arriving at the city beach - well it's a shame not to visit a beach in Spain.

We didn't have long to hang around though, with just half an hour before our train was leaving. We made a quick dash back along the same route and back to the station in just enough time.

The train headed back inland, crossing the isthmus to the mainland, and then through some beautiful Moorish train stations, such as Jerez - the city made famous by the fortified wine, Sherry.

We arrived back in Seville by early afternoon, and had tickets booked for entry to the Alcazar. With a bit of time yet, we got off a station early and made our way over to the iconic Plaza de España - a huge public square built for the Ibero-American Expo of 1929.

It's a beautiful semi-circular building full of baroque and renaissance architecture decorated in a Moorish style, overlooking a huge plaza surrounded by a moat.

It was pretty hot here with blazing sun, so we didn't hang around too long. We made our way towards the city centre, towards the gate for entry to the Alcazar. We were a bit early, so went for a short walk around the area - past the Cathedral, and to see the La Adriática Building, a beautiful building not unlike the Flatiron building in New York or the Metropolis Building in Madrid.

Finishing our loop around the cathedral we took a brief look at the enclosed Plaza del Cabildo

We then finally joined the queue to enter the Alcazar. This former royal palace is like the other sights in the area built in the Mudéjar Moorish style, and features some unique sights.

We took a look around the palace, and then headed down below to the beautiful baths that collect the rainwater.

The gardens of the Alcazar were beautifully landscaped and we enjoyed this lovely cooler area, away from the heat of the city squares.

By now it was getting very hot and we'd seen an awful lot. We headed towards the riverside, saw the Torre del Oro before grabbing food.

Enjoying our sit down, we then made the half hour walk back through the city centre, down some of the winding streets of the Jewish Quarter passing numerous Orange trees.

We then walked past the remaining parts of the Aqueduct, before heading into the supermarket for our first opportunity to buy some supplies - thankfully the hotel had free water fountains so we'd not been too desperate for drinks at least!

Finally arriving back at the hotel after a busy day around two cities, we took a quick look up on the hotel roof where there were lounging sofas and a pool to dip our feet whilst overlooking views of the station and cityscape.