Friday the 13th May
VNO-BGY
The Sound Of Music
I woke up early to perform prayers and rested back after that. Left after showering and breakfast (provided by guest house) and walked to the train station (as advised by the girl at the guest house). It took me 25 minutes of trudging uphill and downhill (the girl told me it’d take 30 minutes and she was right) that by the time I reached the train station, I was all hot and perspiring.
The train to the airport runs every 45-60 minutes and I had planned to take the 0840 train. The cost was only LTL2.5 (less than €1) and the journey only takes 7 minutes. Alternatively, you can take bus no. 2 (not trolley bus) but I don’t know where from and besides the train is faster if you know the timetable.
This was my last flight aboard the cattle airlines (i.e. RyanAir) and after the usual unpacking and repacking, my checked in suitcase was 15.9 kg (RyanAir’s limit is 15 kg) but the eye candy at the check-in counter didn’t say a thing and neither did I of course.
I was surprised to note that some of my fellow travellers had already started queuing at the gate a good hour before flight departure. It never ceased to amaze me to see how kiasu Europeans are when it comes to flying low-cost airlines. As for me, I was aiming to browse the duty-free shops to get rid of my Litas. I finally bought an Amber bracelet using my remaining Litas topped up with some Euros (even then I was a bit short but the kind lady let me have the bracelet anyway. Thanks, you made my day!). I was among the last to board the flight (and guess what, our flight was late in serving from its previous destination so we had to wait while the passengers disembarked before we could board anyway. Oh was I glad I didn’t join the queue an hour before departures!) as I was lucky to get the first available row. Again, I was very glad I wasn’t as kiasu.
It was a long 2.5-hour flight and I couldn’t really sleep because I had a good sleep the night before and because the cabin crew were practically energetic, walking up and down the aisle selling F&B, serving in-flight shopping, attending to passengers, and selling scratch cards, smokeless cigarettes (some nicotine stuff), coach ticket to Milan Centrale, etc.
We finally landed at 1240 but our bags were late in appearing. After performing prayers, I bought a coach ticket to Central (€9.90 single but €15 if you are planning to return back to the airport). The journey took a good hour. From Milan Centrale Stazione, I walked to Milan Porta Garibaldi and bought a regional train ticket to Domodossola near the Swiss border (€7.95). We reached Domodossola after two hours and there, I bought a ticket to Bern via Brig (Domodossola-Brig ticket cost €11 while Brig-Bern ticket cost a whooping €35.20). The Intercity train from Domodossola left 3 minutes late and I started to panic as I had only four minutes in Brig to change trains. It’d be worse if I had to change to another platform because that would mean hauling my bag down and up to another platform. Fortunately, the train to Bern was on the platform across so I just ran across to the awaiting train. The trip took us through amazingly picturesque Swiss countryside. It makes you want to suddenly shout out ‘The hills are aliveeee with the sound of musiccc!!!’
We reached Bern at 2023 but I was engrossed in typing that I didn’t realise where we were until other passengers who were also stopping at Bern had left the train. I only realised we were in Bern when there was an announcement as to the next station the train would call. I managed to leave the train before it continued on its journey and ran off to buy the 2046 train to Wichtrach (CHF10). I reached the platform just as the train pulled up. Phew!
We reached Wichtrach 18 minutes later and Lin and a colleague were already waiting. We waited four minutes for the local bus to take us to Gerzensee (Baren stop). The fare was CHF4 but if you buy your ticket from Gerzensee Baren to Bern, the bus-and-train ticket cost CHF10 (which was the cost of the Bern-Wichtrach train ticket anyway).
It had been a long day of travelling: walking, taking the train, plane, coach and train again and dealing with train connections and my confused state at Bern.
Saturday, 14 May 2011
It was predicted to rain from today until next weekend and the weather forecast was disappointingly accurate today. We took the bus to Wichtrach and then train to Bern and reached the city after 9. Walked around the Old Town (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) then returned to the station to catch the train to Schönenwerd. Unfortunately some idiot pulled the emergency brake when the train was in a 6-km tunnel and we stopped at a screech in the tunnel. The problem was fixed some 15 minutes later and it caused us to miss the train connection at Olten to Schönenwerd. We had wanted to check out the Bally Factory Outlet and the Fashion Fish shopping outlet at Schönenwerd hence the trip. It started raining earnestly as we left Olten.
We only reached Schönenwerd at 1515 and had less than two hours to shop. The Bally outlet was quite big but I couldn’t quite find anything to catch my fancy save for a belt and some small leather items. In the end, I only bought the belt. We then walked back to Fashion Fish and spent the last 20 minutes of shopping hours to browse. I’m a fast shopper but I cannot shop under pressure. Still, I managed to grab two Pepe Jeans tops.
We took the 1743 train back to Olten and this time the train connection was better; we only waited 5 minutes for the train back to Bern. Reached Bern at 1830 and had just enough time to buy the ticket back to Gerzensee.
The rain continued well into the night. It didn’t deter us to venture out for an evening walk later though. We returned back to the room at 2215 and rested.
VNO-BGY
The Sound Of Music
I woke up early to perform prayers and rested back after that. Left after showering and breakfast (provided by guest house) and walked to the train station (as advised by the girl at the guest house). It took me 25 minutes of trudging uphill and downhill (the girl told me it’d take 30 minutes and she was right) that by the time I reached the train station, I was all hot and perspiring.
The train to the airport runs every 45-60 minutes and I had planned to take the 0840 train. The cost was only LTL2.5 (less than €1) and the journey only takes 7 minutes. Alternatively, you can take bus no. 2 (not trolley bus) but I don’t know where from and besides the train is faster if you know the timetable.
This was my last flight aboard the cattle airlines (i.e. RyanAir) and after the usual unpacking and repacking, my checked in suitcase was 15.9 kg (RyanAir’s limit is 15 kg) but the eye candy at the check-in counter didn’t say a thing and neither did I of course.
I was surprised to note that some of my fellow travellers had already started queuing at the gate a good hour before flight departure. It never ceased to amaze me to see how kiasu Europeans are when it comes to flying low-cost airlines. As for me, I was aiming to browse the duty-free shops to get rid of my Litas. I finally bought an Amber bracelet using my remaining Litas topped up with some Euros (even then I was a bit short but the kind lady let me have the bracelet anyway. Thanks, you made my day!). I was among the last to board the flight (and guess what, our flight was late in serving from its previous destination so we had to wait while the passengers disembarked before we could board anyway. Oh was I glad I didn’t join the queue an hour before departures!) as I was lucky to get the first available row. Again, I was very glad I wasn’t as kiasu.
It was a long 2.5-hour flight and I couldn’t really sleep because I had a good sleep the night before and because the cabin crew were practically energetic, walking up and down the aisle selling F&B, serving in-flight shopping, attending to passengers, and selling scratch cards, smokeless cigarettes (some nicotine stuff), coach ticket to Milan Centrale, etc.
We finally landed at 1240 but our bags were late in appearing. After performing prayers, I bought a coach ticket to Central (€9.90 single but €15 if you are planning to return back to the airport). The journey took a good hour. From Milan Centrale Stazione, I walked to Milan Porta Garibaldi and bought a regional train ticket to Domodossola near the Swiss border (€7.95). We reached Domodossola after two hours and there, I bought a ticket to Bern via Brig (Domodossola-Brig ticket cost €11 while Brig-Bern ticket cost a whooping €35.20). The Intercity train from Domodossola left 3 minutes late and I started to panic as I had only four minutes in Brig to change trains. It’d be worse if I had to change to another platform because that would mean hauling my bag down and up to another platform. Fortunately, the train to Bern was on the platform across so I just ran across to the awaiting train. The trip took us through amazingly picturesque Swiss countryside. It makes you want to suddenly shout out ‘The hills are aliveeee with the sound of musiccc!!!’
We reached Wichtrach 18 minutes later and Lin and a colleague were already waiting. We waited four minutes for the local bus to take us to Gerzensee (Baren stop). The fare was CHF4 but if you buy your ticket from Gerzensee Baren to Bern, the bus-and-train ticket cost CHF10 (which was the cost of the Bern-Wichtrach train ticket anyway).
It had been a long day of travelling: walking, taking the train, plane, coach and train again and dealing with train connections and my confused state at Bern.
Saturday, 14 May 2011
It was predicted to rain from today until next weekend and the weather forecast was disappointingly accurate today. We took the bus to Wichtrach and then train to Bern and reached the city after 9. Walked around the Old Town (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) then returned to the station to catch the train to Schönenwerd. Unfortunately some idiot pulled the emergency brake when the train was in a 6-km tunnel and we stopped at a screech in the tunnel. The problem was fixed some 15 minutes later and it caused us to miss the train connection at Olten to Schönenwerd. We had wanted to check out the Bally Factory Outlet and the Fashion Fish shopping outlet at Schönenwerd hence the trip. It started raining earnestly as we left Olten.
We only reached Schönenwerd at 1515 and had less than two hours to shop. The Bally outlet was quite big but I couldn’t quite find anything to catch my fancy save for a belt and some small leather items. In the end, I only bought the belt. We then walked back to Fashion Fish and spent the last 20 minutes of shopping hours to browse. I’m a fast shopper but I cannot shop under pressure. Still, I managed to grab two Pepe Jeans tops.
We took the 1743 train back to Olten and this time the train connection was better; we only waited 5 minutes for the train back to Bern. Reached Bern at 1830 and had just enough time to buy the ticket back to Gerzensee.
The rain continued well into the night. It didn’t deter us to venture out for an evening walk later though. We returned back to the room at 2215 and rested.
To be continued
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