Our last full day in Switzerland , Day 8. FULL being the appropriate word!
After breakfast with our bags packed we were back to riding the rails.
Craig’s plan was to maximise our ticket and we were off to Zurich via St Gallen
with the turnaround point of Romanshorn.
Just a little portion of the cathedral of St Gallen.
We boarded our train and settled in for the ride when the conductor
appeared as always to check our tickets. He suggested I may have to leave to
train as I had failed the ticket completion test on the last day! I had not
filled out the date. He offered to give me a second chance and would check my
ticket on his return through the carriage. As he walked away I grabbed the pen
out of my pocket and completed the section. He duly returned and advised I could
now stay on the train. Did I mention, the conductors on Swiss Rail had great
personalities and senses of humour.
Our train journey was interrupted by another bus ride but this was a little more difficult. Though the train conduct explained what was happening and we connected to the bus without problems. The station, where we disembarked the bus at had a station attendant who didn’t speak English but instead yelled in German. We worked out which train to catch and boarded.
Due our little detour we found ourselves at a station next to Lake Zurich. A change of plans and we went to our Zurich hotel, the Hotel Montana and left our luggage. All went well with our new plan and were travelling to St Gallen with just our daypacks.
St Gallen is a treasure, a wonderful old city with fascinating sights. Lots of church and little cobblestone streets. The gluvine from one of the street stall definitely didn’t hurt and was a perfect partner to the brätwurst. We returned to the station to catch our train to the planned turnaround point of Romanshorn.
David at St Gallen
At Romanshorm, I decided to catch the next train to Zurich and Craig was going to do some exploring. I think some old woman was trying to chat me up on the platform but she only spoke German and I only spoke English. I escaped her by boarding the train and after about 5 minutes, I had Craig sitting next to me on the train.
On our return to Zurich we took the 5 minute walk from Zurich HB to our overnight accommodation Hotel Montana.
We walked to a supermarket and I bought the souvenirs; chocolate, chocolate, things with emblems of Switzerland and some more chocolate. I handed over my credit card and made a discovery. You cannot sign but have to use the PIN number. Oh no, I didn’t know the PIN as I have so many other numbers to remember. I resort to using the cash I have left.
Craig with Giant Chocolate Balls at St Gallen
We then go looking for a restaurant. We found a place which is a mixture of takeaway and dine in.
We ordered at what looked like the takeaway counter then were directed to a table. Great food. Craig had to pay as I still have no idea of my PIN number.
We return to the Hotel Montana. The hotel has a boutiqueness about it and the location to the station is fantastic. From our original stay on Zurich, I remembered we are also near the bus terminal from where our Zurich city tour had departed. As I had discovered from my encounters in the other hotels, the staff are friendly and so helpful.
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