Rapperswill, City of Flowers

Saya tiba di Swiss saat periode menjelang musim panas, namun masa transisi ini masih terkadang diliputi hujan dan langit yang mendung. Hari-hari awal di Switzerland merupakan hari yang cukup gelap dengan tetesan hujan menemani hari-hari saya dan teman-teman, saya berusaha keras mendapatkan foto yang menyenangkan namun mendung seringkali menyapa. 

I arrived in Switzerland in a time before summer. Even so, the transition period from spring to summer can sometimes be covered in rain and cloudy skies. The first few days in Switzerland was quite dark, the drops of rain accompanied my friends and I. I tried my best to get a great picture even though the cloudy weather still lingers. 

Namun di kota ini saya disambut dengan matahari yang bersinar cerah, langit yang biru dan suasana yang sangat menyenangkan. Angin terkadang masih dingin namun cuaca saat itu sangat menyenangkan untuk berjalan kaki menyusuri kota. Rapperswil seakan tidak rela jika saya tidak dapat melihat kecantikan sesungguhnya akibat langit yang muram. Langit cerah dan kota yang indah, kota ini merupakan salah satu kota favorit saya di Switzerland! 

Despite everything, in this city I was welcomed with the shining sun, blue skies, and a wonderful atmosphere. The wind sometimes still felt chilly, but it was still the perfect weather to walk around town. It’s as if Rapperswil didn’t want me to see its beauty, because of the fuzzy skies. Clear skies and a beautiful town – this is one of my favorite cities in Switzerland! 

Rapperswil, atau Rapperswil-Jona adalah kota yang terletak di sisi sungai Zürich. Dahulu Rapperswil terpisah dengan Kota Jona yang kini telah disatukan menjadi Rapperswil-Jona, namun sebagian orang tetap menyebut dengan nama Rapperswil. 

Rapperswil, or Rapperswil-Jona is a city located on the side of Zurich River. In the past, Rapperswil was set apart from Jona City, of which are now combined and named Rapperswil-Jona. But some people still just call it Rapperswil.

Hanya perlu waktu kurang dari dua jam perjalanan kereta untuk menuju kota ini dari Stasiun Zürich. Setibanya di Rapperswill saya langsung berjalan kaki ke area sisi danau yang sangat dekat dengan stasiun. Angsa putih dan bebek terlihat berkumpul di sisi danau terutama dekat area Bootsvernietung, di sisi-sisi jalanan yang berbatasan dengan danau terdapat banyak café-café cantik yang semakin membuat Rapperswil memberi perasaan menyenangkan.

It only takes a two-hour train ride to get to this town from Zurich station. When I arrived in Rapperswil, I walked towards the lakeside near to the station. White swans and ducks gather at the lakeside, particularly near Bootsvernietung area. The roadside that is right next to the lake has numerous pretty-looking cafes that adds even more of the wonderful feeling being in Rapperswil

Ada satu hal yang menjadi ciri khas Rapperswil: bunga! Ya, sangking banyaknya tanaman bunga di kota ini, Rapperswil disebut sebagai City of Flowers. Hal ini terasa saat berkeliling kota, saya dengan mudah menemukan balkon-balkon dengan tanaman bunga, mawar-mawar bermekaran di sisi jalan dan tentunya taman bunga mawar! 

There’s one thing that makes Rapperswil unique: flowers! Yes, there are so many flowers in this town, Rapperswil is called the City of Flowers. This phenomenon is seen as we go around town. I can easily spot balconies with flowers, roses blooming at the side of the road, and of course, a rose garden! 

Rose garden!

Sebelum menuju Lindenhof yang berada di sisi bukit Rapperswil, kami berhenti dahulu di taman mawar atau Rose Garden di area kota tua Rapperswil. Saya datang di bulan Agustus, saat yang tepat karena di bulan Juli hingga September adalah musim dimana mawar-mawar bermekaran dan memberi wangi semerbak di taman ini.

Before heading for Lindenhof, located on the side of Rapperswil hill, we stopped by a rose garden in an old area of Rapperswil town. I came in the month of August - the perfect time to be here because from July to September is the season when roses bloom and gives out a wonderful scent in the garden.

Castle of The Counts of Rapperswil

Kami kemudian menaiki tangga ke Lindenhof, di mana cityscape Kota Rapperswil terlihat sangat cantik. Di area viewing point ini kami dapat menikmati beberapa pemandangan di arah yang berbeda, mulai dari Danau Zürich, kota tua Rapperswil hingga ke Castle of The Counts of Rapperswil yang hanya berjarak 5 menit berjalan kaki dari Lindenhoft viewing point.

We then climbed some stairs towards Lindenhof, where the Rapperswil’s cityscape looks gorgeous. In this viewing point area we enjoyed a different number of views observable from different angles, from Zurich Lake, Rapperswil’s old town, to the Castle of the Counts of Rapperswil that is a five-minute walk from Lindenhoft viewing point.

Michael, guide kami mengajak untuk naik ke atas menara. Saya terengah-engah saat melewati entah anak tangga ke berapa yang seakan tidak ada habisnya. Namun saat tiba di titik tertinggi dengan pemandangan atap-atap bangunan Kota Rapperswil dan kota tua yang terlihat jelas dari jendela, "trekking" ini terbayar dengan view mempesona!

Our guide, Michael invited us to go up the tower. I was trying catching my breath as best as I can, as I pass by an infinite number of staircases. But when I arrived at the highest point with its view of the city rooftops and old town seen clearly from the window, I thought to myself, ‘this climb was well worth it!’ 

Cantik adalah kata yang tepat untuk menggambarkan Rapperswil. Kota yang akan membuat kita senang hati berkeliling, berjalan santai ataupun nongkrong di café dekat Danau Zürich. Rapperswil is beautiful like flowers! 

‘Pretty’ is the perfect word to describe Rapperswil. This is a city that we will gladly stroll around, to walk around casually or to hang out in cafes near Zurich Lake. Rapperswil is beautiful like its flowers!

@marischkaprue - she loves flowers as much as she loves chocolates


RELATED STORIES:

• Matterhorn, The Chocolate Mountain! 
• Stunning view in Gornergrat, Switzerland

 

I Join this Switzerland trip with Qatar Airways, from Jakarta to Zurich then simply traveling by train to other cities, including Zermatt. Anyway, they have a very nice business class with the best lounge in Hamad International Airport, Doha :)

Also the GOOD NEWS is Qatar Airways is having a new year sale, ONLY until 16^th January!

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Fly in Luxury: Qatar Airways Business Class Experience

We gotta admit it, long flight is exhausting. Spending more than 7 hours sitting on the plane is boring, tiring and just something we have to deal when traveling to far destination.

I always consider myself lucky to be able to experience different things in life, including this luxurios flight with Qatar Airways on my trip to Switzerland. The flight from Jakarta to Zürich takes more than 14 hours. It's 8 hours flight from Jakarta to Doha then waiting three hours transit before taking 6,5 hours flight Doha to Zürich.

Happy seats :)

On this trip, I couldn't complaint at all. Why? Business class makes everything different. It's already different in Soekarno Hatta International Airport which all business and first class passenger will have dedicated check in lounge where you don't have to stand waiting. Also, after the check in counter, there is a dedicated immigration line then straight to the executive boarding lounge.

I put a lot of things inside

If you usually fly in economy (which what I normally do), business class is a big deal. Get in and it's hard to hide the happiness and joy of having spacious seat with pleasant entertainment on board. Also, I love that there are lots of small compartments to store our things, like the bags, mini pouch and everything we usually carry on board.

Food will come in a moment, just be patient

Another different thing, of course is the menu. There are more selections of menu, from starters to dessert, I cannot even finish them all, it's a huge meal so on my next flight from Qatar to Zürich, I skipped the starters considering that I don't have that much space on my stomach.

Full reclining seat, just add pillow and blanket :)

Then, my favourite part on being in business class is no other than full reclining seat. This seat makes everything, yes everything, is better, way better! Anytime you feels like wanna go sleeping just push a button and the seat would go full recline, voila! a mini bed ready for you. Or maybe if you just want to straighten your backbone since sitting even though in comfortable seat is tiring when you do it more than few hours.

Doha airport

Food on the restaurant

Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge

Six hours were like a snap moment; I easily fell asleep as well so we arrived in Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar to wait around three hours before boarding to Zürich. Laila from Qatar Airways accompany us to Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge in Doha. It's a wide lounge with all facilities on it, from a game room, restaurant (all free, it's already included on the ticket), baby room, quiet room for sleeping, meeting and even family rooms.

I only use the shower room which is like a shower room in a hotel, so it is more decent and pleasant for showering before taking off again, taking shower always refreshing anyway.

Then the next flight, which is Doha to Zürich, is event more pleasant since I got the seat next to the window and because the plane is smaller than our plane from Jakarta to Doha, I got a private line with nobody beside me, it was only one seat beside the window and also the aisle, best seat I think ;)

Patrick also loves the business class seat, we took this photo during the flight back to Jakarta from Doha

Again, another 6 and a half hours is no problem when you're in Qatar Airways business class. It's comfort, luxury and pleasure on board!

@marischkaprue - experiences during travel is the luxury on her life

 

Thanks to Qatar Airways for this super comfortable and pleasant experience

For similar experience, you can see Qatar Airways website here, Qatar serves about 142 route destination.

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Feeling Malificent at Gornergrat, Switzerland

Saya berdiri memandang pegunungan es yang terbentang luas. Beberapa burung hitam tampak bertengger di bebatuan yang memagari area dengan tebing.

"I feel like Malificent here, ready to cast some dark spell," saya bergumam sendiri di dalam pikiran saya. Apa yang saya lihat sangat mempesona, beyond reality dan saya merasa seperti ada dalam scene film dengan set yang dahsyat. Well, itulah kata yang cocok untuk menggambarkan Gornergrat, area yang merupakan salah satu highlight kunjungan saya ke Switzerland.

Lokasi ini merupakan area dengan pemandangan paling spektakuler yang dapat dengan mudah dijangkau dari Kota Zermatt di Switzerland. Anda hanya perlu naik kereta dari Station Gornergrat, duduk manis sambil terus menerus melihat pemandangan indah ala Swiss dan sampai di ketinggian 3.089 meter di atas permukaan laut dalam waktu yang singkat. Easy breezy!

white fog covering the view when we arrived

Suddenly remember Beethoven!

Saat saya melangkah keluar dari kereta di Gornergrat, saya hanya melihat putih dimana-mana. Cuaca berkabut sehingga gunung es tidak terlihat sama sekali, hanya selimut kabut putih dan cuaca dingin yang menemani. Namun perhatian saya langsung tertuju pada makhluk berbulu lebat dengan wine barrel di lehernya. Saint Bernard! Jenis anjing yang terkenal karena film Beethoven ini ada di depan kami, sedang berdiri di depan pria yang rupanya fotografer.

Briskett is the star, she's the one having all the attention :)

Slowly the sky is clear and we can see the mountains!

Saya dan Andhini teman saya yang notabene pecinta anjing langsung mendatangi Saint Bernard lucu ini, puas bermain-main kami juga berfoto dengan Saint Bernard bernama Briskett ini. Kami dihibur Briskett yang dengan manja selalu minta dipegang tangannya hingga kabut putih perlahan bergeser dan kami langsung dapat melihat pemandangan spektakuler, rangkaian pegunungan es di sekeliling kami!

The sky, the rocks and the snowy mountain :)

Kami segera naik ke atas mengikuti platform jalanan yang menanjak, melewati bangunan Observatorium yang menurut teman saya mirip dengan kastil pelatihan Batman, ah ini memang tempat yang membuat semua orang berimajinasi dengan referensi scene film-film Hollywood :))

Choose your spot!

View from Aussichtsplatform

Tempat terbaik untuk menikmati rangkaian pegunungan es ini adalah di area viewing platform di ketinggian 3.131 meter di atas permukaan laut, dengan 270° area ini dikelilingi pegunungan dan batuan yang diselimuti salju, area putih yang menakjubkan!

Snow path

Glacier lake

snow everywhere

Simply stunning :)

And it was a warm sunny day! :)

Aussichtsplatlform ini membuat saya tidak dapat berhenti mengambil gambar, kemanapun kamera bergeser sepertinya adalah frame yang tepat dan foto ala kartu pos langsung saya dapatkan. Namun tentu saya sediakan momen untuk duduk diam melihat rangkaian pegunungan salju ini, menikmati dengan mata langsung tanpa melihat layar LCD di kamera, such a breath taking view that deserves moments of admiring, with no camera in framing your view, just eyes, just eyes :)

@marischkaprue - loves the white snowy mountain but she loves to be tan also

NOTES:

• Gornergrat dapat diakses dengan kereta melalui Station Gornergrat di Zermatt, Switzerland.
• Untuk berfoto dengan Saint Bernard di Gornergrat anda harus membayar 10 Franc yang dapat dibayarkan di dekat Stasiun Gornergrat untuk mengambil foto yang sudah dicetak.

RELATED STORIES:

• Matterhorn, The Chocolate Mountain! 
• Breakaway To Switzerland, FREE! 

You can win a free trip to Switzerland, free with one of your friend. See here for details. Competition opens until 14 December 2014!

I Join this Switzerland trip with Qatar Airways, from Jakarta to Zurich then simply traveling by train to other cities, including Zermatt. Anyway, they have a very nice business class with the best lounge in Hamad International Airport, Doha :)

Best way to enjoy long flight!

Read Full Story...