The next day was return day. Our flight back to Amsterdam was at 9pm so we had to reach the airport by 7:30 max and return the car. We planned t to roam around Interlaken. But the cruise is closed in winter and so is many view points. The locals advised to go to Beatenberg to get a view of the lake from. The drive to Beatenberg was just awesome. Sharing few pics from that route.
The location was some dreamy location, everything was white. The little town looked so beautiful from top. Beatenberg was covered with snow too. The weather being cloudy and foggy we could only see a section of Interlaken from top. Everything seemed so different from what I have seen from other peoples Switzerland album.
After roaming around in that empty town we came back to Thun. We had a little shopping to do and heard that Thun had a christmas market. Christmas market was very common this time of the year.
Switzerland is expensive and so we end up buying only one large fridge magnet with 13 euros. Had MacD's burger and started for Zuirch. As the trip was coming to an end we felt we should have stayed a little longer. Two and half day for this beautiful country is simply injustice. We didnt go to popular hiltops such as Titlis (Everyone knows this place because of Shahrukh Khan). We should have stayed in Zermatt for a day. We were having such thoughts without knowing what was going to happen next.
We got a massive traffic jam due to snow. I had 2 hours in hand to visit the famous Rhine falls, but this traffic jam wasted my efforts. When we reached Rhine it was already dark. We could see the falls from distance but couldnt take any good pictures.
Around 7-7:30 we reached Zurich and returned the car. Came downstairs to the check-in area and saw something unusual. There were thousands of people standing in queue. Without knowing what exactly had happened I opened my email and got a email from Swiss Airlines -" You flight to Amsterdam has been cancelled". That was Sunday.
This was the first time in my life that my flight got cancelled and that too in Europe. Later I came to know that due to snow storm Amsterdam airport was literally closed and there were no flights coming or going there. We stood in the queue for hours to know what to do next. Apparently someone from the service desk came and asked us to get a hotel and sleep. They didnt know when the next flight to Ams would be operational. And due to large number of passengers that day they couldnt provide hotel themselves but asked us to look for ourselves. They would refund they said. Finally booked a hotel nearby, had some unauthentic thai curry and rice and left for the hotel. That night I got another email saying we were rebooked in another flight the next evening at 7pm. We got a sigh of relief and slept well that night.
We got an entire day to spend in Zurich. We got up pretty late that day. Had our free breakfast at the hotel and went to Zurich HB. A friend of mine used to stay in Zurich for long and she is the one who told me what to visit. I contacted her and she told me to go to Bahnofstrasee to do little shopping. She also asked me to visit Zurich Lake, but that day I didn want to. That was Monday, the start of a week, so deep in my mind I was thinking about office. And when my bosses came to know that I was stuck (again, apparently twice this year) they had no words. May be it is in my luck to get stuck.
Bahnofstrasee is the main shopping area in Zurich. After roaming around we found that things are little expensive and they are also available elsewhere, so there was no point wasting money. We went to Zeughauskeller which is supposedly the best Swiss restaurant in town. And it surely was. I wasnt driving anymore so a beer wouldnt harm. The house beer was one of the best I ever had (The last good beer I had was in Scotland).
It was almost time to end this trip and then it happened again-
Flight was cancelled.
Hopelessly we went to the airport again. But today there were less number of passenger. We were arranged another hotel near Zurich HB (a 4 star one) and sent back to hotel. We were also given 20 euros each for food, which we spend drinking at the the hotel bar. We were already having swiss food continuously for last 3 days, so now it was time to have something which my stomach would love - Indian dish. I found a restaurant which was 20 minutes walk. Had something called biriyani and a lamb side dish. Though my wife hated that food, I simply loved it.
On tuesday morning when we woke up it was raining. We had no interest of roaming around Zurich again but we had to checkout at the hotel. Our flight was again rescheduled to 9pm that day. So wihtout having too many options we went to Zurich Lake. Took the tram from a nearby tram station. The city Zurich itself is very beautiful town. We didnt include Zurich in our initial plan. So luckily we got 2 days to explore Zurich.
Finally when we are done with the lake we went for lunch at an Italian restaurant and the safest thing to have there was Pizza. Italian knows how to make Pizza. Their pizza is so different from ours and light to the stomach too.
We almost forgot the most important thing - Swiss chocolate. While walking back to HB station we found a Frungli store, one of the best swiss chocolate.
And once the last item was checked out we moved towards the airport. We still had plenty of time. There is a intercity available from Zurich HB station which takes you directly to airport. After reaching airport found out that the flight was still on. We spend rest of the time at a lounge at the airport (benefit of holding a diners club credit card).
One way car rent is possible throughout Europe (you pick up from country A and drop in country B). On Monday when our flight was cancelled for the second time I went to Avis to ask about the rent. The rent was 1300 Euros for a day if I pickup a car from Zurich and drop at Schiphol. Which was way out of my budget. Hence had to spend another day in Zurich. Anyways it was not that bad in Zurich and we got to see the city closely.
So this was out little story of Switzerland drive. Next week we are driving to Prague to Germany and this time no flights..
And my camera's battery died on day 1, so 99% of the photos are from mobile.