MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Transportation/ hiking advice in Switzerland
-
<<“Ah Slowpoke, I would have pegged you as a Tesla man not a Mazda”>
I wish!
I also wish that my particular Mazda model came with the turbo engine. My Saabs used to.
The factors that led me to the Mazda are, fun to drive, cheap, and fun to drive. “Cheap” means that I can afford to visit Switzerland more often.
Some have said that it is more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow. I recite that mantra while enjoying pushing the Mazda.
I don’t know where I could drive an R8 without getting ticketed.
Slowpoke
Thanks for the note and well wishes; In Sils Maria, which is surrounded by lakes in either side, you can almost blindfold yourself, spin around in any direction, and follow the hiking signs. My favorite, other than following the trails and places Nietzsche marvels at (eg, the chaste peninsula, viewable from Waldhaus Sils) is Val Fex, which continues up into mountains on the road past the Waldhaus. I don’t if you have looked at, but this roundshot live panoramic camera is on roof of Waldhaus Sils. I pretty much check it out daily (honestly, more often than daily 🙂
<<“We love hiking ( 5-9 miles typically). Any suggestions ? Anyway I’m
keeling my fingers crossed but it doesn’t look too promising.”>>
Just because it is easy does not make it less enjoyable:
http://www.myswissalps.com/hiking/muottasmuragl-alplanguard
The views along the chain of lakes from near Muottas Muragl toward Sils can be quite nice, too.
And, there are some variations that can add length and character. The regional route #25, Senda Segantini , is detailed nicely in SchweizMobil:
http://www.schweizmobil.ch/de/wanderland/routen/regionale-routen/route-025.html
http://www.schweizmobil.ch/de/wanderland/routen/route/etappe-01586.html.
It takes a higher route, compared to the route shown in My Swiss Alps:
Slowpoke
Hi Slowpoke and Maloja Snake
Thanks for the hiking suggestions in Sils. I haven’t started researching the hikes near Sils yet but will as the time nears. Your suggestions will be a good starting point.
Slowpoke, as I age my priorities and goals have changed significantly and tend to align more and more toward your viewpoint (I turn 67 next month). Shorter and easier, but still scenic hikes are becoming more desirable letting me start happy hour sooner. In my younger years, a fast sports car was high on my list. Now a good nap and a cold martini have taken it’s place. i would like to attribute this change in priorities to maturation and wisdom but I can’t with certainty rule out senility.
Mark
When I had trouble remembering something in the past, I used to claim “premature senile dementia.”
It is no longer premature.
Slowpoke
Hello Mark and Speed-demon,
I am quite impressed by your driving machines. I have a 14 year-old Volvo S60 AWD with over 340,000 kilometres on it. I take photos of what I think are interesting sequences on the odometer. One was when it was at Pi and the more recent one was 333,333 with 333.3 on the trip odometer, at 3:33 in the morning. Next one will be at at 345,678 and 901.2 and hopefully, later on at 444,444 kilometres.
<<“I have a 14 year-old Volvo S60 AWD “>>
Does it have a “Heads-Up” display?
Ha ha ! Heads-Up on a 14 year old Volvo ? No way, not even built-in GPS. Not even the Swedes were that far ahead of things. But I do have my faithful TomTom which I mount just to the left of my rear-view mirror or down in pretty much the same location as your hi-tech display.
Actually, most of the time my TomTom is under the passenger seat, as I only use it when in unfamiliar territory. It did serve me well when one day I was going to a bookstore in Milano. I was advised to park my car a bit out of the city, in Abiategrasso, and take the train in, but I ignored this advice and drove straight into the city. If you think navigating around Zurich can be difficult, then don’t try Milan. Luckily, my GPS got me to the bookstore, where I found a place to park, and I left the car there for the rest of the day, opting instead for one of the public transportation day passes.
Hi Peterli
I am quite impressed with your impartiality. Being Swiss I might have expected some bias toward German (think Audi, BMW, or VW) or perhaps French (Citron?). Not Swedish. However, last time I was in Japan I saw 1 or 2 Ford Escorts. Who would have thunk it !
I confess I love it when we occasionally get “ off subject “. At my age it is my version of living dangerously, waiting on the moderators to chastise me or threaten to move me to a new thread. Oh well we are indeed living in exceptional times.
Mark
Hi Mark, << I confess I love it when we occasionally get “ off subject “. At my age it is my version of living dangerously, waiting on the moderators to chastise me or threaten to move me to a new thread. Oh well we are indeed living in exceptional times. >>
So true, and these days when we are pretty well cooped up 24/7 we need more outlets to keep our sanity. Even in the best of times, I must plead “guilty” to running off on numerous occasions, sometimes not just off the subject of the thread, but sometimes right out of Switzerland. I feel that the moderators have been very tolerant, and I believe this adds some spice to the forum. Once in a while I will mention something about nearby France or Italy or Germany. Mentioning Yvoire on a thread about the Lake Geneva region seems to be quite acceptable, and I have done this several times. But I do not write stuff about Bordeaux or the the Pyrenees, nor about Sicily or norther Germany. The other day I had my fingers slapped by a regular contributor because I was going on a bit about ferry boats in Scandinavia. I still haven’t responded and will probably just let it drop, since it was not a moderator admonishing me.
<<“The other day I had my fingers slapped by a regular contributor because I was going on a bit about ferry boats in Scandinavia.”>>
Unless your fingers are too sore to type with, it seems that the actual damage was inconsequential.
Keep up the good work. 😉
Slowpoke
Hi Mark –
<<“I am quite impressed with your impartiality. Being Swiss I might have
expected some bias toward German (think Audi, BMW, or VW) or perhaps
French (Citron?).”>>
The Swiss auto market is actually quite impartial and not protected by tariffs. That is because there is no Swiss manufacturer of cars. You could have mentioned Skodas, Ssongyangs, Peugeots, Hyundais, Chevrolets ( although they got out of the market, I think). Too bad…the Chevrolet badge is a stylized map of Switzerland. Gaston Chevrolet was Swiss. Peterli may correct me…there seems to be some ambiguity about his nationality.
http://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2402/gaston-chevrolet
Less true these days, when bilateral accords with the EU countries forces open the doors, but, historically, foreign wines were taxed (tariffs) substantially, in order to protect the Swiss wine industry.
Thus, automobiles are different. The playing field is leveled. Value for price can be determined by the buyer, as opposed to the politics.
Slowpoke
Hi Slowpoke
I guess I was referring more toward a cultural bias (somewhat tongue in cheek)rather than a financial incentive bias.
Being a Ford truck owner, I can attest that there is a large segment of US pickup truck owners that have an almost fanatical allegiance to a brand and an equal animosity to it’s competitors. (way beyond any reasonable qualifications)
Mark
Hi,
<< Being a Ford truck owner, I can attest that there is a large segment of US pickup truck owners that have an almost fanatical allegiance to a brand and an equal animosity to it’s competitors. (way beyond any reasonable qualifications) >> Yes, I have heard about “First on Race Day” or “Four Old Rusty Doors”
<< Too bad…the Chevrolet badge is a stylized map of Switzerland. Gaston Chevrolet was Swiss. Peterli may correct me…there seems to be some ambiguity about his nationality. >>
Chevrolet’s first name was Louis, and he was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, canton de Neuchâtel. He lived in France and Canada before going to the USA, where he pursued his passion with the automobile. The Chevrolet badge is actually a stylized Swiss cross.which is a reminder to people of the origin of the Chevrolet name.
Nice to have a knowledgeable forum member from Neuchatel.
Thanks.
Slowpoke
Always Citroën (founder André Citroën), never Citron (lemon) 🙂
It is interesting that Chevrolet left a vibrant industrial Swiss town to emigrate.
Another famous son of La Chaux de Fonds was architect Le Corbusier
<<“Always Citroën (founder André Citroën), never Citron (lemon) :-)”>>
Some would say that the DS-19 was so complex as to be lemon, although it had many fans for its revolutionary design.
😉
Slowpoke
<<“It is interesting that Chevrolet left a vibrant industrial Swiss town to emigrate.”>
You might find a clue in the current sizes of the major auto manufacturers in the world.
Mr. Chevrolet went where bigger is better. Neuchatel may have been vibrant, but it was not big.
He was a visionary. I’m guessing that he realized that Switzerland was too small for his dreams.
Even Great Britain could not sustain its auto manufacturers.
Slowpoke
- The thread ‘Transportation/ hiking advice in Switzerland’ is closed to new replies.
