The Europe Trip: Interlaken

Interlaken was probably a famous destination that I never heard of prior to this trip. It was a small town, even smaller and more laid-back than Geneva, with only one McDonald's to be found. Certainly not a town I'd visit, since I'd always preferred cities. But I'm glad that we spent three nights there. Looking back, it was the highlight of the trip, made possible by my wife's brilliant planning. 

The first half of the day was spent to get there. We headed to Bern and had our lunch in the capital city of Switzerland (teller kebab and two gigantic slices of pizza), then continued our journey to Interlaken. We were lucky that we could check in immediately. Right after that, we explored the town a bit. I thought that would be it for the day, but my wife dragged us to Interlaken Ost and Harderbahn. Thus began the climb to Harder Kulm.

Interlaken, seen from Harder Kulm.

Harderbahn is an inclined railway station and, with the top station at 1322 M above sea level, the funicular ride was too scary for my liking. It was so slanted that it was hard not to stare at the rope and start imagining things. But the view at Harder Kulm was so amazing that it was worth it. You'd immediately understand why the town is called Interlaken. That's because it is between two lakes. 

While we were up there, we had cheese fondue. The food and the magnificent scenery reminded me of Asterix in Switzerland. There was this scene where Obelix got drunk because he drank the whole pot of cheese. You could taste the alcohol in every bite of bread dipped into the cheese!

Linda trying out the cheese fondue.

We got lost as we took the wrong bus on our way back. It was the same bus, but scheduled to go to the opposite direction at that particular timing. Apart from the tiny mistake that I realized only after we approached the second bus stop, day one in Interlaken ended pretty well. 

We went to Jungfraujoch on the second day. On our way up, we took the route via Lauterbrunnen. I lost my rucksack here. I put it on a compartment above my seat and only remembered it after I came out from washroom at the train station. After an attempt to enter the same train that came back an hour later, I simply had to accept that I might have lost the bag and resumed our journey without it. 

Yani and Audrey in Lauterbrunnen.

With a waterfall from the cliff high above and tiny houses scattered on the mountain, Lauterbrunnen was a definitive version of a village from a fairy tale. Coming from Singapore, the landscape was almost unreal! But if there's anything I like the most in Lauterbrunnen, it had to be a pack of pain au chocolat. I finished almost all of them, haha. 

From Lauterbrunnen, we went up to Wengen. Don't recall much about it as we didn't stop there. We alighted at Kleine Scheidegg Station instead. The place was cold, but it was only a prelude of the weather we would face later on. The greenery surrounding us pretty much ended at this level. From here onwards, the view from afar was snow white. We had a coffee break here and off we went to the top of Europe!

Yani and Linda enjoying coffee in Kleine Scheidegg.

And that top of Europe was called Jungfraujoch. The moment I reached there by train, I felt giddy. The same feeling seemed to be experienced by my daughters, too. Linda shared my opinion that the building felt shaky. Audrey even laid face down on floor every time she was left alone. Only my wife Yani was excited to be there. The whole thing, plus the bloody cold wind, was an ordeal. 

But still it was nice to be there. There was a happy feeling as a father to see my daughter playing snow for the first time ever. If it sounded bizarre, I must explain that not all kids from tropical area could have this experience. It was only in year 2023, few months earlier in Japan, that I myself had a chance to throw my first snow ball. 

Linda in Jungfraujoch.

Jungfraujoch was cold, bright and high, so high that I couldn't resist sending a postcard from the top of Europe. After lunch, we began our descent down the mountain. From Eigergletscher, we took gondola to Grindelwald, then boarded the next train back to Interlaken Ost. At the station, I checked if they found my bag, but they didn't, so I filed a lost property report. When we reached the town, we decided to have Chinese food at Vivi's Wok for dinner.

The next day, again we returned to Interlaken Ost. This time was for the lake cruise. It was so tranquil that I remember thinking, how is it possible to be competitive at work when the environment is so relaxing? Not when you open your window and see all this beautiful view. Singapore, with its concrete jungle, is a much suitable place for work, haha.

With Audrey and Linda in Iseltwald.

The boat brought us to Iseltwald, a quiet village with a crystal clear water. I just had to sit down for a while to see the waterfowls swimming gracefully. Then of course the village was famous for Crash Landing on You. God knows what the story is about, but there was a long queue mostly formed by Asians. My wife found it irresistible, so she took her chance when the crowd disappeared. 

From Iseltwald, we continued the cruise to the end of Lake Brienz. The thing is, after Iseltwald, the rest looked less attractive, so the second half of the journey became just another boat ride. We had fish and chips in Brienz, then took the train back to Interlaken. 

On our way back from Brienz to Interlaken.

Since we still got half a day, I did my Strava time in the late afternoon. I stayed not very far from Interlaken West, so I walked to Unterseen, then turned to Höheweg and Interlaken Ost before walking back to Macdonald's. The town was indeed small! We eventually closed the day with dinner at Sri Manee Isaan Thai House for another round of Asian food. 

We left Interlaken on the following day. Our usual routine was to board the morning train from Interlaken West that headed to Interlaken Ost. By doing so, we didn't have much time left at Interlaken Ost, so we quickly boarded the next train to Lucerne. 

On our way to Lucerne.

As the train started chugging, I updated the lost property report so that the bag would be sent to Zürich if they ever found it. I couldn't help wondering, would Switzerland proven to be as safe as Singapore or Japan? That's something that I could only wait and see for now...

Liburan Ke Eropa: Interlaken

Interlaken adalah tempat wisata terkenal yang tidak pernah saya dengar sebelum liburan ini. Kota ini sungguh kecil, bahkan lebih mungil dan santai dari Jenewa. Hanya ada satu McDonald's di tengah kota. Dari karakteristiknya, Interlaken bukanlah kota yang akan saya kunjungi karena saya lebih suka kota besar. Namun saya senang kita menghabiskan tiga malam di sana. Kalau dilihat kembali, Interlaken adalah tujuan wisata yang paling berkesan, yang terjadi karena direncanakan dengan baik oleh istri saya.

Setengah hari pertama digunakan untuk mencapai Interlaken. Dari Jenewa, kita bertolak ke Bern dan makan siang di sana (pesanan kita adalah teller kebab dan juga dua potong pizza berukuran besar). Sesampainya di kota, kita beruntung bisa langsung mendapatkan kamar meski belum waktunya. Sesudah itu kita berjalan-jalan di Interlaken. Saya mengira hari itu akan berakhir begitu saja, tapi Yani lantas membawa kita ke Harderbahn di samping Interlaken Ost. Dari situ perjalanan ke Harder Kulm pun bermula. 

Interlaken dilihat dari Harder Kulm.

Harderbahn adalah stasiun kereta yang menanjak ke atas dan dengan stasiun berikutnya yang berada di ketinggian 1322 M di atas permukaan laut, perjalanan ke puncak terasa agak mengerikan. Posisi kereta mungkin lebih miring daripada 45 derajat sehingga sulit untuk mengalihkan pandangan dari kabel dan mulai membayangkan yang tidak-tidak. Akan tetapi pemandangan di Harder Kulm sangatlah indah. Begitu sampai di sana, saya langsung mengerti kenapa kotanya disebut Interlaken. Ini karena posisinya yang berada di antara dua danau. 

Selagi berada di sana, kita mencicipi fondue keju. Makanan dan pemandangannya lantas mengingatkan saya pada cerita Asterix di Swiss. Ada adegan di mana Obelix jadi mabuk karena menenggak langsung sepanci keju. Kandungan alkoholnya sungguh terasa di roti yang saya celupkan ke keju!  

Linda mencicipi fondue keju.

Kita sempat tersasar dalam perjalanan pulang. Di Interlaken Ost, bis yang sama dijadwalkan ke arah yang bertolak belakang dari tujuan saya. Beda jam, beda arah. Namun terlepas dari kesalahan kecil yang baru saya sadari setelah bis hampir mencapai halte kedua, boleh dikatakan hari pertama di Interlaken berjalan lancar. 

Keesokan harinya, kita pergi ke Jungfraujoch. Kita ke sana melalui rute via Lauterbrunnen dan pulang lewat Grindelwald. Di Lauterbrunnen, saya kehilangan ransel. Saya menaruh ransel di atas tempat duduk saat kereta berangkat dan baru menyadarinya setelah saya tiba dan keluar dari toilet stasiun. Setelah saya coba cari lagi di kereta yang sama saat kereta tersebut kembali ke Lauterbrunnen satu jam berikutnya, saya pasrah dan melanjutkan perjalanan tanpa ransel saya. 

Yani dan Audrey di Lauterbrunnen.

Dengan air terjun yang mengalir dari tebing tinggi dan rumah-rumah mungil di lereng gunung, Lauterbrunnen mirip desa kecil dari dunia dongeng. Bagi saya yang datang dari Singapura, pemandangan ini terasa seperti cerita fantasi. Tapi yang paling saya sukai dari Lauterbrunnen adalah pain au chocolat. Satu bungkus croissant coklat yang dibelikan istri hampir saya habiskan sendiri, haha.  

Dari Lauterbrunnen, kita pindah kereta ke Wengen. Kita sekedar melintasi desa ini saja. Di stasiun berikutnya, Kleine Scheidegg, barulah kita turun. Tempat ini terasa dingin karena angin yang menderu-deru, tapi semua ini hanyalah permulaan dari dinginnya iklim di puncak gunung. Hijaunya pemandangan berakhir di sini. Apa yang terlihat selanjutnya adalah gunung yang diselimuti salju. Kita berhenti untuk minum kopi sebentar di Kleine Scheidegg, kemudian lanjut ke puncak tertinggi di Eropa! 

Yani dan Linda menikmati kopi di Kleine Scheidegg.

Dan puncak ini terkenal sebagai Jungfraujoch. Saat tiba di sana, entah kenapa saya merasa pusing. Hal yang sama juga dialami oleh dua putri saya. Linda juga merasa bahwa gedungnya kurang kokoh dan agak bergoyang setiap kali kita melangkah. Audrey bahkan sampai terkapar setiap kali kita berhenti berjalan. Hanya Yani yang bersemangat di sana. Fenomena yang saya jabarkan di atas dan juga angin dingin di dalam lorong membuat Jungfraujoch agak sulit dinikmati. 

Namun tentu saja masih ada kesan positifnya. Ada rasa senang sebagai seorang ayah saat melihat Linda bermain salju untuk pertama kalinya. Jika pernyataan ini terasa membingungkan, perlu saya jelaskan bahwa tidak semua anak dari kawasan tropis memiliki kesempatan ini. Bahkan saya sendiri pun baru pertama kali mencobanya di awal tahun 2023, saat berada di Jepang bersama teman-teman. 

Linda di Jungfraujoch.

Jungfraujoch bisa dideskripsikan dengan kata dingin, terang-benderang dan tinggi, begitu tinggi sehingga saya jadi spontan tergerak untuk mengirim kartu pos dari puncak tertinggi di Eropa. Setelah makan siang, kita pun memulai perjalanan pulang. Dari Eigergletscher, kita naik kereta gantung ke Grindelwald, lalu lanjut dengan kereta dan kembali ke Interlaken Ost. Di stasiun, saya bertanya kepada petugas, apakah ransel saya berhasil ditemukan. Karena ransel sepertinya hilang tanpa jejak, saya akhirnya disarankan untuk membuat laporan. Saat tiba kembali di pusat kota, kita makan masakan Cina di Vivi's Wok.

Di hari berikutnya, kita kembali ke Interlaken Ost, kali ini untuk naik kapal di danau. Pemandangannya begitu rileks dan damai. Saya jadi berpikir, bagaimana bisa termotivasi untuk berkompetisi kalau tempatnya sesantai ini. Begitu buka jendela, yang terlihat itu hijaunya gunung dan birunya danau. Singapura yang dipadati gedung pencakar langit lebih cocok untuk kerja, haha. 

Bersama Audrey dan Linda di Iseltwald.

Kapal membawa kita ke Iseltwald, sebuah kampung sunyi dengan air danau yang jernih dan transparan. Saya jadi tergerak untuk duduk sejenak melihat unggas air berenang dengan tenang. Di Iseltwald juga ada lokasi yang muncul di serial Crash Landing on You. Saya tidak tahu cerita drama Korea ini, tapi ada antrian panjang yang hampir semuanya berwajah Asia. Istri saya juga tergoda, lalu turut berfoto di sana setelah antrian bubar. 

Dari Iseltwald, kita lanjut ke ujung Danau Brienz. Masalahnya adalah, setelah Iseltwald, pemandangan selanjutnya terlihat kurang menarik sehingga sisa perjalanan kita hanya terasa seperti naik kapal feri menyeberangi danau. Kita makan kentang dan ikan goreng di Brienz, lalu pulang menggunakan kereta ke Interlaken. 

Dalam perjalanan pulang dari Brienz ke Interlaken.

Karena masih sisa waktu setengah hari, saya beraktivitas menggunakan aplikasi Strava. Tempat tinggal saya tidak jauh dari Interlaken West, jadi saya berjalan ke Unterseen, kemudian berbelok ke Höheweg dan Interlaken Ost sebelum kembali ke Macdonald's. Ternyata memang kecil kotanya! Dan hari itu pun ditutup dengan santap malam di Sri Manee Isaan Thai House. 

Kita meninggalkan Interlaken di pagi berikutnya. Selama di sana, kita menaiki kereta pagi di Interlaken West yang menuju ke Interlaken Ost. Oleh karena itu, tidak banyak waktu yang tersisa dan kita lekas berganti kereta yang lanjut ke Lucerne. 

Saat menuju ke Lucerne.

Saat kereta mulai berjalan, saya memperbaharui data laporan saya supaya tas yang hilang bisa dikirim Zürich. Saya jadi kepikiran, apakah Swiss akan terbukti seaman Singapura atau Jepang? Ini adalah sesuatu yang belum ada jawabannya dan saya pun hanya bisa menantikan kabar... 

The Europe Trip: Lyon

Our train ride in Europe began with Lyon. It was an entirely new experience but I did my homework the day before, when we did the sightseeing and stopped by the Geneva railway station. I knew now that Platform 7 and 8 are dedicated for trains to France. 

You'd think that the ticketing system in Europe will be high-tech, but no, it is still using a dial and buttons, not touch screen like what we normally see in Singapore. As I was trying to figure out how to buy my tickets, a kind passer-by noticed that I was confused and he gestured that I should rotate the dial, haha. By the way, like I said previously, credit or debit cards are the way to go in Western Europe. Purchasing tickets was much easier with cashless payment. 

At the Geneva railway station, waiting for the train to Lyon. 

After getting our tickets, we made our way to Lyon. It took about two hours to get there. The landscape view during the journey wasn't exactly brilliant, certainly nothing to shout about if I were to compare it with what I would see throughout Switzerland, but Lyon was a much livelier city than Geneva. There was a big city vibe, the rowdy and dangerous feeling, in Lyon. 

We arrived at Lyon Part-Dieu and already we could see the crowd. When we stepped out, there are high-rise buildings. Right across the street, there is this mall called Westfield. It was dark and quiet. I thought we were too early, but I'd learn later on that is how Sunday looks like in Western Europe. No shopping, only restaurants and cinemas are open.

nouilles au saumon.

We walked from Westfield, following the route on Google Maps and heading to Hard Rock Cafe. When we passed by Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, it looked interesting that we decided to enter. It turned out to be an indoor market. I had nouilles au saimon (salmon noodles) as it looked Asian. My wife got herself a box of strawberries for breakfast. When in France, we also bought macarons and another local delicacy called pink praline tart.

We continued our journey afterwards, crossing Pont Lafayette (it's a name of a bridge) while enjoying the beautiful view of Rhône and the Old Town. But Hard Rock Cafe wasn't open for another hour when we reached there, so we walked towards the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. 

Emily in Lyon, enjoying croissant at Maison Antoine.

There was another river named Saône before the Old Town and we were already on the bridge, but as I looked back and saw those roadside coffee shops that reminded me of Emily in Paris, I just had to sit down for a while to enjoyed a cup of coffee and a croissant. I went back and did just that. My daughter's middle name is Emily, so as I watched people passing by, I said to her that this is a scene from Emily in Lyon, haha.

In the Old Town, we visited Musée Cinéma et Miniature. It's a museum for French and Hollywood movies. Didn't see much of it as my daughter Audrey was kind of bored with it after a while. After that we walked to Metro Vieux-Lyon to take the funicular to the top of hill. It was worth the time. This Notre-Dame was the most beautiful church throughout the entire trip. We also saw the city of Lyon from the hill. 

Lyon, as seen from Fourvière.

We completed Old Town just in time for Hard Rock Cafe. When we came down using the funicular, we could walk directly to the metro platform. This is where it is different than Singapore. In Lyon, it seems like you pay only for the entrance. We could get out from any station as there isn't a need to tap the metro ticket anymore. 

The visit to Hard Rock, a tradition started back in 2018, was a quick one. We returned to metro station and made our way to Westfield. In the late afternoon, it felt weird that to see a mall so dark with most of the shops closing. So odd that it occurred to me such a thing would never happen in Singapore. 

Hard Rock Cafe Lyon.

We had Vietnamese food there, while we could. It was sickening to have too much French fries, so anything different than that was much welcome. I also met my old acquaintance Vincent while I was there. Nice guy, someone I knew almost 10 years ago during his stay in Singapore. I was curious why a person living in Lyon was working in Geneva, so we spent my last hour in Lyon catching up and talking about that, haha. 

Lyon Part-Dieu station was crowded and chaotic, so Vincent offered to bring us to the correct platform. That was very nice of him. Then the train came, quite on time, but not as punctual as the train system in Japan. As we boarded the train, we waved goodbye to Lyon and returned to Geneva...

With Vincent at Lyon Part-Dieu.

Liburan Ke Eropa: Lyon

Perjalanan menggunakan kereta antar kota dalam liburan kali ini dimulai dengan kunjungan ke Lyon. Ini adalah pengalaman yang sama sekali baru bagi saya, tapi saya sudah mengerjakan PR saya sehari sebelumnya, sewaktu kita berjalan-jalan dan singgah di stasiun Jenewa. Dari situ saya tahu bahwa hanya Platform 7 dan 8 yang melayani tujuan ke Perancis. 

Jadi kita mungkin berasumsi bahwa sistem tiket di Eropa seharusnya canggih, tapi ternyata tidak begitu. Mesin tiketnya masih menggunakan tombol tekan dan putar, bukan layar sentuh seperti yang biasa kita lihat di Singapura. Saya baru mengetahui hal ini setelah pengguna kereta yang kebetulan lewat melihat saya kebingungan. Dia lantas dengan spontan memutar tombolnya untuk memberikan contoh, haha. Seperti yang saya beritahukan sebelumnya, akan lebih baik bila menggunakan kartu kredit atau debit di Eropa. Membeli tiket sangatlah praktis dengan pembayaran non-tunai. 

Di Stasiun Jenewa, menantikan kereta ke Lyon. 

Sesudah membeli tiket, kita pun menuju ke Lyon. Kira-kira butuh dua jam lamanya untuk sampai ke tujuan. Pemandangan selama perjalanan tidaklah begitu menakjubkan bila dibandingkan dengan apa yang akan saya lihat saat menjelajah Swiss. Kendati demikian, Lyon jauh lebih hidup daripada Jenewa. Ada nuansa kota besar yang ramai dan rasa kurang aman di Lyon. 

Kita tiba Lyon Part-Dieu dan stasiun tersebut dipadati oleh penumpang yang berlalu-lalang. Di depan stasiun ada mal bernama Westfield. Gedung ini terlihat gelap dan sunyi. Awalnya saya sangka bahwa kita datang terlalu awal, namun kemudian saya menyadari bahwa memang seperti inilah situasi hari Minggu di Eropa Barat. Tidak ada toko yang buka. Yang ada hanya restoran dan bioskop. 

Mie salmon.

Kita berjalan dari Westfield mengikuti rute di Google Maps dan menuju ke Hard Rock Cafe. Di kala kita melewati Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, tempat ini terlihat menarik sehingga kita pun masuk untuk melihat. Ternyata Les Halles adalah semacam pasar. Saya mencicipi nouilles au saumon yang artinya mie salmon karena terlihat Asia. Istri saya ke supermarket dan kembali dengan sekotak stroberi untuk sarapan. Karena ini di Perancis, kita wajib membeli makaron. Kita juga membeli kue lokal yang disebut tar pralin merah muda. 

Perjalanan pun dilanjutkan dan kita menyeberangi jembatan Pont Lafayette sambil menyaksikan indahnya sungai Rhône dan Kota Tua. Akan tetapi Hard Rock Cafe belum buka, jadi kita berjalan ke arah Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. 

Emily in Lyon, bersantai menikmati croissant di Maison Antoine.

Kita harus menyeberangi sungai bernama Saône sebelum kita mencapai Kota Tua. Saat kita sudah di jembatan, saya menoleh kembali dan melihat toko kue dan kopi yang mengingatkan saya kembali pada serial Emily in Paris. Saya jadi ingin duduk sebentar di sana untuk menikmati croissant dan secangkir kopi. Nama tengah anak saya adalah Emily, jadi saya pun berguyon dengannya bahwa ini adalah adegan dari Emily in Lyon, haha.

Di Kota Tua, kita masuk Musée Cinéma et Miniature. Ini adalah museum untuk film Perancis dan Hollywood. Saya tidak sempat melihat-lihat banyak di sini karena putri saya Audrey mulai rewel. Dari museum, kita lanjut ke Metro Vieux-Lyon untuk naik trem ke atas bukit. Perjalanan ini tidaklah sia-sia, sebab Notre Dame ternyata merupakan gereja terbagus dalam perjalanan kali ini. Pemandangan seluruh kota Lyon dilihat dari bukit pun sangat memukau. 

Lyon dilihat dari bukit Fourvière.

Jalan-jalan keliling Kota Tua berakhir dengan kunjungan ke Hard Rock Cafe. Dari stasiun trem, kita bisa langsung turun ke bawah tanah untuk menaiki metro. Sistem transportasi di Lyon ini berbeda dengan apa yang saya kenal baik di Singapura. Di Lyon, sepertinya kita hanya membayar untuk masuk. Kita tidak memerlukan kartu lagi untuk keluar dari stasiun mana pun. 

Kunjungan ke Hard Rock, sebuah tradisi yang dimulai sejak tahun 2018, tidak berlangsung lama. Dari situ, kita menuju ke stasiun metro terdekat dan berjalan kembali ke Westfield. Di sore hari, aneh rasanya melihat mal yang gelap dan tutup toko-tokonya. Begitu janggal sehingga saya pun membayangkan bahwa hal ini tidak pernah terjadi di Singapura.

Hard Rock Cafe Lyon.

Kita menyantap makanan Vietnam di mal, mumpung lagi ada. Kebanyakan kentang goreng membuat saya kapok, jadi makanan apa pun yang berbeda akan disantap dengan senang hati. Selagi di restoran Vietnam, saya juga bertemu dengan Vincent, orang Perancis yang saya kenal di Singapura sejak satu dekade yang lalu. Saya penasaran kenapa orang yang tinggal di Lyon mau bekerja di Jenewa, jadi saya banyak bertanya kepadanya di satu jam terakhir di Lyon, haha. 

Stasiun Lyon Part-Dieu sangat ramai dan hirup-pikuk di sore menjelang senja, jadi Vincent menawarkan diri untuk mengantar kita ke platform kereta. Sistem kereta di Eropa cukup tepat waktu, namun tetap kalah bila dibandingkan dengan ketepatan waktu di Jepang. Beberapa saat kemudian, kita telah berada di kereta, meninggalkan Lyon dan kembali ke Jenewa...

Bersama Vincent di Lyon Part-Dieu.

The Europe Trip: Geneva

Geneva was... an expectation mismatched. Prior to the visit, my first and only impression of big cities in Europe was London and Paris. Since it was famous for Geneva Conventions and known as the home of the United Nations office, I imagined that Geneva would be on par with the two cities I saw back in 2016. But no, Geneva was, as it turned out, a small town.

We landed in Geneva quite early in the morning. The airport was small, slightly old-fashioned but cozy. After figuring out how to buy the bus tickets to the city (I wasn't charged even though I tapped my debit card to purchase them, so I'd reckon the ride was free), I had my first glance at Geneva. From the airport to Meininger Hotel, the view was kind of suburban.

The ride from airport to hotel.

I booked a room for a family of four. The check-in time was 3pm, so we stored our luggage and began our holiday in Geneva. Since the distance between hotel and Palais des Nations was only about 2.5 KM, I decided that we should walk.

I expected to see a city with grand and high-rise buildings, but it was nothing like that. The road to the United Nations was considerably quiet. We were supposed to have breakfast, but we saw none that was attractive enough for us to stop by. Lots of McDonald's ads, but the fast food restaurant itself was not found. We saw quite a fair bit of pizzerias instead. We hadn't eaten anything by the time we reached the Broken Chair and Palais des Nations.

Audrey and the Broken Chair behind the fountain.

From there, I thought we should walk to Java Nations, an Indonesian restaurant. A bit hard to find, as it was apparently nestled inside the apartment complex. When we got there, the owner told us that she only opened at 12pm. The owner was from Pangandaran, so we chatted a bit before continuing our journey. On our way out, I saw the menu on the blackboard. Indeed things are expensive in Switzerland! A plate of fried rice was CHF 23!

As we couldn't find any suitable eateries, we headed to the Old Town. This area looked more like those pictures I saw on Google. We had McDonald's there, the first of many throughout the trip. At CHF 29.70 for the whole family, it was not cheap for fast food. But as our first meal, even my daughter Linda made a comment that the food was surprisingly fresh in Switzerland.

Family picture in front of Jet d'Eau.

After lunch, we walked a bit to see Jet d'Eau, the famous water fountain in Geneva. That's when I noticed how clean the water is in Geneva. I could see the bottom of the lake! 

We went back to hotel after that. We didn't have a proper sleep in the plane and the timezone difference only made it worse, so we just had to rest a bit. My wife Yani asked me to buy some stuff at the supermarket nearby because we were told that in Switzerland, we should cook to save cost. We lazed around in the room and what was supposed to be a short nap turned out to be quite a long sleep. We woke up at around 11pm! Only managed to get some sleep again much later on.

Breakfast time in the kitchen.

The next day, Yani made breakfast for us (and I had a banana for the first time in a very long time). We took the bus to this place called Quartier des Grottes, which turned out to be just another neighborhood, since I couldn't really appreciate the building architecture. A bit about taking the public transport, it makes more sense to buy a 24-hour ticket as it's more economical. It's also interesting to note that nobody seemed to be asking or checking the tickets in Switzerland.

Not very far from Quartier des Grottes is the train station. We went there as I'd like to understand better how to buy tickets and depart from the station to Lyon. We also walked around and it was good to see Pret again! I loved it since the first time I tried it in London! 

Pret a Manger.

From the train station, we walked to Monument Brunswick, then continued to Ile Rousseau, a small island where we could sit for a while to see ducks and swans swimming. Just a stone's throw away was the Old Town. Again! I was like, "oh my, this town was so small that on the second day, I had gone back to the same place."

My wife dragged us to Caran d'Ache again. It's a shop that sells coloring pencils. She was there yesterday and she came back for more. The kids and I waited for so long that we ended up eating at the restaurant next door: Chez ma Cousine. The poulet looked tempting and was indeed delicious! On top of that, it was very much affordable!

Audrey at Chez ma Cousine.

After lunch, we walked to Muséum d'Histoire naturelle. The museum was decent, but the kids weren't interested. Linda preferred to go back and play Zelda instead, but her mom wasn't done yet. She insisted that we should not skip the boat ride while in Geneva, so we went to Port Noir, missed the boat right in front of us, waited for another 30 minutes, then eventually made it. 

Once the wish came true, we walk back to where we came from: the train station. We bought KFC and brought it back to our hotel room. Then, on the floor, we had our dinner together. Simple but yet a memorable ending for our second day in Geneva.

The boat ride. 

When the rest of us retired to our bed, Yani still did some grocery shopping at Centre Commercial Planète Charmilles, a tiny shopping mall within the walking distance from our hotel. Being a great mom and wife that she is, she was determined to ensure that we had something for breakfast before our trip to Lyon early in the next morning!

Liburan Ke Eropa: Jenewa

Ada perasaan tidak sesuai harapan kalau saya berbicara tentang Jenewa. London dan Paris adalah kesan pertama dan satu-satunya yang saya miliki tentang kota-kota besar di Eropa. Sebagai kota yang terkenal dengan Konvensi Jenewa dan kantor PBB, saya awalnya membayangkan bahwa Jenewa akan mirip seperti dua kota yang saya kunjungi di tahun 2016. Tapi tidak, Jenewa sungguh berbeda jauh dan ternyata hanya sebuah kota kecil. 

Kita mendarat di Jenewa di pagi hari. Lapangan terbangnya kecil, tidak terlihat modern, tapi cukup elegan. Setelah memahami cara membeli tiket bis ke kota (saya tidak membayar sepeser pun walau saya menggunakan kartu debit, jadi sepertinya memang gratis), saya pun melihat Jenewa. Dari bandara ke kota, pemandangannya seperti daerah pelosok. 

Perjalanan dari bandara ke hotel.

Saya memesan kamar keluarga untuk empat orang di Hotel Meininger. Jam masuk adalah pukul tiga sore, jadi kita lantas menitipkan koper dan mulai menjelajah kota. Karena jarak dari hotel ke gedung PBB hanya sekitar 2.5 KM, saya putuskan untuk berjalan kaki.

Saya membayangkan kota dengan gedung-gedung pencakar langit yang menakjubkan, tapi Jenewa tidak terlihat seperti itu. Jalan ke kantor PBB pun tergolong sepi. Kita ingin bersantap pagi, tapi tidak ada yang terlihat menarik. Ada banyak iklan McDonald's di jalan, tapi entah di mana restorannya. Yang terlihat justru tempat-tempat makan yang menjual pizza. Bahkan saat kita sampai di Broken Chair dan Palais des Nations pun kita masih tidak menemukan restoran yang mengundang selera.

Audrey and the Broken Chair behind the fountain.

Kita lantas berjalan ke Java Nations, restoran Indonesia yang tidak jauh lokasinya dari gedung PBB. Agak susah ditemukan karena lokasinya yang menjorok ke dalam kawasan apartemen. Setibanya kita di sana, ternyata restoran baru buka jam 12 siang. Pemiliknya berasal dari Pangandaran. Sewaktu kita berjalan keluar, saya melihat harga yang tertera di papan tulis. Sungguh benar bahwa semuanya serba mahal di Swiss! Sepiring nasi goreng harganya CHF 23 alias 380 ribu rupiah! 

Karena tidak menemukan tempat makan yang cocok, kita pun mengunjungi Kota Tua. Kawasan ini lebih mirip dengan apa yang kadang saya lihat di Google. Kita akhirnya menyantap McDonald's di sana, McD pertama dari sekian banyak yang kita santap dalam dua minggu ke depan. Fast food seharga 494 ribu rupiah terasa melubangi kantong, tapi makanannya terasa segar. Bahkan putri saya pun bisa merasakannya dan berkomentar tentang hal yang sama. 

Foto keluarga dengan latar Jet d'Eau.

Setelah makan siang, kita berjalan ke arah danau untuk melihat Jet d'Eau, air mancur terkenal di Jenewa. Air danaunya begitu jernih. Sungguh mencengangkan. Saya bahkan bisa melihat sampai dasar danau!

Dari situ kita kembali ke hotel. Susah bagi kita untuk tidur selama di pesawat dan perbedaan zona waktu membuat jam tidur semakin kacau, jadi kita pun cape dan mengantuk. Yani meminta saya untuk membeli bahan makanan di supermarket terdekat karena sangat dianjurkan untuk masak sendiri di Swiss supaya menghemat biaya. Kita bersantai di kamar dan ketiduran sampai jam 11 malam! Butuh waktu lama untuk bisa tertidur lagi setelah terbangun. 

Sarapan pagi di dapur hotel.

Keesokan harinya, Yani menyiapkan sarapan untuk kita (dan saya makan pisang untuk pertama kalinya setelah sekian lama). Lalu kita naik bis ke Quartier des Grottes yang merupakan kawasan pemukiman dengan arsitektur yang cukup unik. Oh ya, tentang sarana transportasi umum, lebih praktis dan ekonomis bila kita membeli karcis 24 jam. Menarik untuk dicatat pula bahwa tidak ada mengecek apakah kita sebenarnya memiliki karcis atau tidak. 

Stasiun kereta terletak tidak jauh dari Quartier des Grottes. Kita pun mampir ke sana karena saya ingin tahu cara membeli tiket dan berangkat ke Lyon. Kita juga melihat-lihat stasiun dan akhirnya menemukan Pret lagi! Saya suka tempat makan ini sejak pertama kali saya coba di London! 

Pret a Manger.

Dari stasiun kereta, kita mampir ke Monument Brunswick, kemudian lanjut ke Ile Rousseau, sebuah pulau kecil di mana kita bisa bersantai menyaksikan bebek dan angsa yang berenang ke sana kemari. Lokasinya tak jauh dari Kota Tua. Saya jadi merasakan betapa kecilnya Jenewa karena di hari kedua, kita sudah kembali ke tempat yang sama. 

Yani singgah lagi ke Caran d'Ache, toko pensil warna yang dikunjunginya kemarin. Anak-anak dan saya menanti lama di depan toko, sampai-sampai kita akhirnya makan di restoran sebelah yang bernama Chez ma Cousine. Ayamnya terlihat menggiurkan dan ternyata memang enak! Harganya pun terjangkau!

Audrey di Chez ma Cousine.

Setelah makan, kita berjalan ke Muséum d'Histoire naturelle. Museum ini lumayan, tapi anak-anak tidak tertarik. Linda lebih memilih untuk pulang dan main Zelda, tapi Yani masih ada satu tujuan lagi. Mumpung sudah di Jenewa, kita wajib menaiki kapal di danau. Kita pun berangkat ke Port Noir. Setelah ketinggalan kapal dan menunggu lagi selama setengah jam, kita akhirnya menyeberangi danau. 

Setelah keinginan Yani terpenuhi, kita pun berjalan kembali ke stasiun kereta. Kita membeli KFC untuk disantap di hotel. Saat tiba di kamar, kita makan malam ala lesehan di lantai. Momen sederhana tapi berkesan itu mengakhiri hari kedua di Jenewa. 

Naik kapal menyeberangi danau. 

Selanjutnya kita bersantai di kamar. Yani sendiri lanjut ke Centre Commercial Planète Charmilles, pusat perbelanjaan kecil di depan hotel, untuk membeli bahan makanan lagi. Sebagai istri dan ibu yang baik, dia memastikan agar sarapan pagi siap sedia di meja besok pagi, sebelum kita memulai perjalanan ke kota berikutnya: Lyon!

The Europe Trip: How It Began

Switzerland had always been in my wife's wishlist long before she started seeing the country's photos and reels on the feed of her Instagram. On the other hand, I was also inspired by my friend Isaac. He brought his family to France last year and it got me thinking that at least once in my life, I wanted to bring my family to Europe while I could. It'd be nice to look back and reminisce these memories and togetherness one day.

Geneva, Switzerland.

And so we listed down the places we were going to visit. I read about the cities on Wikivoyage and all the outdoor destinations for nature lovers were planned by my wife. Since I included the need to get a Hard Rock t-shirt or two, Lyon was part of the itinerary since the beginning. I also wanted to go to Hard Rock Hotel in Davos and this small country called Liechtenstein, but my wife reasoned that it didn't make sense to waste time traveling a rather similar route two days in a row. 

Eventually I decided to forgo Davos. We'd go to Vaduz in Liechtenstein instead. As I looked at the map, I began thinking, "what if we visited Austria, too, since it's already so close to Liechtenstein?" There was this town called Feldkirch nearby and I told my wife that it'd be cool to go to a rarely visited town in Austria.

Salzburg, Austria.

She, of course, didn't think it was a cool idea. If we were expanding our itinerary to Austria, then we might as well visit the country properly. This is why Salzburg was included. My wife loves the Sound of Music since she was a little girl and the city was the birthplace of Mozart, too. I concurred, but with one condition: let's stop in Innsbruck for another Hard Rock t-shirt.

We continued to refine the details of our itinerary, but it was more or less fixed since then. Once the schedule of school holiday 2023 was out, I booked the tickets in November 2022. I checked the flights with one stop over. Emirates was excellent but a bit on the high side, so I decided that we should try Qatar Airways instead. 

Since this would be a trip to Europe, I had no misconception that everything was going to be pricey. Hence I spent bit by bit in the coming months. In December, I bought the travel insurance. In January, I booked the hotel in Geneva and so forth. That's when I realized that there are a lot of Meininger Hotels scattered across Switzerland and Austria. Since the price was very reasonable, it became my preferred hotel. Turned out to be good, except the last one in Salzburg.  

A typical family room at Meininger Hotels.

In the meantime, my wife also got busy. She worked on the cost comparison between Swiss Travel Pass and Eurail Pass, then cross-referenced it with places she'd like to visit such as Jungfraujoch to see if it was covered by the pass. Quite an impressive spreadsheet, I would say. As luck would have it, by the time we bought the pass, there was a promotion of 4+1 days going on!

Apart from changing cash to CHF and EUR, I also topped up my UOB Mighty and Youtrip cards. As a back up, I also brought my Instarem along. Had been loving debit cards since my last trip to Japan! Much to my surprise, it happened to be very useful in Europe. Cards are the preferred method of payment these days!

Last but not least, I activated my Airsim and bought one for my wife, too, so that she could stay connected while traveling. It's very convenient to travel using Google Maps in 2023, therefore having the internet is a must! At the same time, I was toying with the eSIM technology as well. After comparing few options, I went for Airalo. It worked well in Europe. Airalo's data subscription price is competitive for European countries, but more expensive for Asia.

At Hamad International Airport in Doha.

Now that all were set, a new adventure finally began when the day came. We flew to Doha at night. I was curious to see Hamad International Airport, the best airport in 2022, but it didn't turn out to be fantastic. I don't know, may be it's because I didn't had a chance to explore much during the layover. After an hour or so in Doha, I boarded the plane again. Next stop: Geneva!

Liburan Ke Eropa: Asal Mula Cerita

Swiss sudah dari dulu menjadi tempat yang ingin dikunjungi oleh istri saya Yani, jauh sebelum foto dan video singkat tentang Swiss bermunculan di akun Instagramnya. Di satu sisi, saya juga terinspirasi oleh teman saya Isaac yang membawa keluarganya ke Perancis tahun lalu. Semenjak itu, saya berangan-angan untuk berlibur bersama keluarga ke Eropa selagi saya bisa. Pasti berkesan rasanya bila kebersamaan tersebut dikenang lagi suatu hari nanti. 

Geneva, Swiss.

Jadi saya dan Yani pun membuat daftar tempat-tempat yang ingin kita kunjungi. Saya membaca Wikivoyage tentang berbagai kota di Swiss sementara istri saya merencanakan kunjungan ke tempat yang indah pemandangan alamnya. Karena saya ingin membeli kaos Hard Rock, Lyon menjadi bagian dari destinasi. Saya juga ingin pergi ke Hard Rock Hotel di Davos dan juga negara kecil bernama Liechtenstein, tapi istri saya menyarankan pilih salah satu saja, soalnya rute ke dua tempat ini hampir sama, sebelum akhirnya berpisah ke jalan yang berbeda. 

Akhirnya saya memilih ke Vaduz di Liechtenstein dan melupakan Davos. Sewaktu melihat peta, saya jadi berpikir, bagaimana kalau kita main ke Austria juga, mumpung sudah dekat? Ada kota bernama Feldkirch di samping Liechtenstein dan kita bisa ke tempat yang jarang dikunjungi turis ini. 

Salzburg, Austria.

Setelah mendengar usul saya, Yani justru berpendapat, kalau sungguh mau ke Austria, mungkin sebaiknya ke tempat yang lebih berkesan. Dari diskusi inilah Salzburg akhirnya masuk ke rute perjalanan. Yani suka the Sound of Music dari sejak kecil dan lagi pula kota ini terkenal sebagai tempat kelahiran Mozart. Saya setuju dengan idenya, tapi dengan satu syarat: kita singgah ke Innsbruck untuk membeli kaos Hard Rock.

Meski detil rute perjalanan masih berubah, secara garis besar sudah dipastikan kota tujuannya. Begitu jadwal liburan sekolah 2023 dirilis, saya lantas membeli tiket di bulan November 2022. Saya cek penerbangan dengan sekali transit di Timur Tengah. Emirates memang bagus dan sudah saya coba sewaktu ke Inggris, tapi lebih mahal juga tiketnya, jadi kali saya putuskan untuk membeli tiket Qatar Airways.

Karena tujuan liburan kali ini adalah Eropa, saya tahu ongkosnya tidak akan murah. Oleh karena itu saya cicil biayanya di bulan-bulan berikutnya. Saya membeli asuransi perjalanan di bulan Desember, lalu memesan hotel di Geneva di bulan Januari dan seterusnya. Di saat itu saya menyadari bahwa ternyata ada banyak Hotel Meininger di Swiss dan Austria. Karena harganya yang bersahabat, saya akhirnya memesan hotel tersebut. Hotelnya bagus, kecuali yang terakhir di Salzburg. 

Kamar keluarga di Hotel Meininger.

Sementara itu, istri saya juga mengerjakan bagiannya. Dia membandingkan harga Swiss Travel Pass dan Eurail Pass, lalu dicek lagi apakah tempat yang ingin dikunjunginya, misalnya Jungfraujoch, juga sudah termasuk. Perbandingan yang dibuat olehnya di Excel sangat informatif dan mudah dimengerti untuk membuat keputusan. Saat kita beli, kebetulan ada promosi harga 4 hari plus gratis ekstra satu hari pula! 

Selain menukar uang tunai dari SGD ke CHF dan EUR, saya juga mengisi kartu UOB Mighty and Youtrip. Sebagai cadangan, saya juga membawa kartu Instarem. Saya suka kartu debit sejak liburan terakhir saya di Filipina dan Jepang! Ternyata di Eropa juga sudah lebih condong menggunakan kartu, bahkan untuk transaksi seharga dua franc dan euro. 

Saya juga kembali mengaktifkan Airsim saya dan membelikan satu lagi untuk istri saya supaya dia tetap memiliki internet. Berkelana di tahun 2023 sangatlah praktis, tapi dengan catatan harus memiliki internet! Selain itu, saya juga mencoba teknologi eSIM juga. Setelah mengamati pilihan yang tersedia, saya akhirnya mencoba Airalo. Jaringannya bagus di Eropa. Harga pun bersaing, tapi lebih mahal bila digunakan untuk internet di Asia.

Di bandara udara Doha.

Setelah persiapan beres, liburan pun dimulai. Ketika tiba harinya, kita terbang ke Doha di malam hari. Saya penasaran dengan Hamad International Airport, bandara terbaik di tahun 2022, tapi ternyata tidak sebagus Changi. Mungkin juga ini dikarenakan saya tidak sempat menjajaki lebih lanjut di saat transit. Namun setelah sejam lebih di sana, saya pun meneruskan perjalanan lagi. Pemberhentian berikutnya: Geneva!