The Pumpkin and the Sea

There is a small industrial island in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan that has managed to establish itself as a destination for contemporary art.  Naoshima has been featured in several international newspapers and travel magazines.  By some coincidence, I seem to encounter articles about Naoshima frequently when I am traveling abroad.  From the time I first saw photos of Yayoi Kusama's pumpkin installations on Naoshima, I decided that I needed to go.  Although it isn't too far from where I have family in Okayama, it is still not the easiest place to visit.  Unfortunately I only had enough time to visit the pumpkins, but I plan to go back to stay and visit all the museums.

Scenes from the Steppe

In my youth, I always associated both Siberia and the Soviet Steppe with serious punishment. I imagined scenes from Dr. Zhivago and Fiddler on the Roof with harsh winters, scarce resources, and almost certain death for the exiled. In my adult life, I have been lucky enough to visit both Siberia and the Steppes of Kazakhstan. Although there is no escaping the terrible history and difficult winter conditions, both are among the most beautiful places that I have visited. I have been fortunate enough to accompany my husband on some recent work trips to Kazakhstan. During a recent trip to the Astana, I requested a tour of the surrounding Steppe. My tour guide could not imagine why I would want to take such a drive, and would not let me exit the car as the sun set on our return to the capital. "The wolves in the steppe will eat you alive" she warned. I proceeded to have Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" in my head for the rest of the drive.

Window Seat

My dad taught me to appreciate a good window seat, and he always liked a view of the wing.  When I am traveling alone these days, I prefer the aisle seat on long flights, rather than getting stuck three seats in.  When I do get a window, I am the first person to grab my camera in search of a good view.  I usually get some curious looks from neighboring passengers who probably assume that I am new to air travel.

View from Narita

Sunset at Dulles

Blue Skies

Leaving Narita, United

Airbus 380 at Dulles

View from Frankfurt

A Whole Lotta Swiss Cheese

The Japanese Heidi cartoon was one of my favorite TV shows as a child. I traveled to my imaginary Switzerland (as portrayed by the Japanese anime industry) by asking my Mom for bread and cheese, and milk served in a wooden bowl. My father would travel to Switzerland frequently for work, but I never got the chance to go with him. His regular supply of Swiss chocolate, and photos of beautiful mountains kept Switzerland on the top of my list of places to visit. Now I wonder what took me so long.

Switzerland isn't one of the easier places to visit from Japan. There are no direct flights, and connections are generally through London, Frankfurt, and Istanbul. It may be a long trip, but it's worth it! The great thing about a small country, is the ease of traveling to different cities in a short amount of time. We only had a few days, so we wandered around Zurich, and took a short trip to Luzern.

I had heard that Zurich was expensive, but it was shockingly so - even for someone who spends most of her time in Tokyo, Moscow and London! I highly recommend getting a Zurich Card. You can buy a  card that is valid for 24 or 72 hours.  We went with the 72 hour card for 40 EUR.  The card covers unlimited second-class travel by tram, bus, rail, boat and cable car in Zurich and the surrounding area.

Zurich

We used the card for the train to Uetliberg, the highest point in Zurich with a view over the city.  We went early in the morning, so the sun was glaring over the mountains.  I'm sure the afternoon would have been a better time to take photos.  We also took advantage of a two our boat ride on Lake Zurich, although I miscalculated sunset, and ended up taking a nighttime cruise.  We couldn't see the Alps at night, but the lights and moon were beautiful. The card also covers all city museums.  When you purchase the card, you are given an updated list of stores and restaurants that offer discounts for card holders.

View from Uetliberg

View from Uetliberg

Sunset from the Pier, Lake Zurich

Evening Cruise, Lake Zurich

Reflections of the Moon, Lake Zurich

Zurich is a very walkable city, and we spend hours wandering the hilly streets of Niederdorf  and Löwenstrasse, in the old town.  The Christmas lights were magical.  Particularly on Bahnhofstrasse, the main shopping street, the lights looked like gems suspended in mid-air above the street.  

Bahnhofstrasse

Löwenstrasse

View of Löwenstrasse from Niederdorf

Since it was my first trip to Zurich, I really wanted to try both fondue and racelette.  Racellete is a type of cheese, but also the name of a dish of the cheese is heated, and the melted part scrapped off and served with potatoes or meat, and pickled onions and gherkins.  We had fondue at Zunfthaus-Zimmerleuten.  Although the restaurant has beautiful historic dining rooms, we decided to try to Zunfthaus open air fondue to enjoy the view of Löwenstrasse.  The restaurant offered warm blankets and hand warmers to keep us warm until the fondue arrived.  Our raclette experience was at the Restaurant Swiss Chuchi in the Hotel Adler in Niederdorf.  The restaurant offers free dessert with the Zurich card.  Although I had read about the restaurant, we were mainly drawn in by the colorful paint and unique holiday decorations of the Hotel.  In retrospect, two cheese based meals in three days was probably too much. . .

Zunfthaus Open Air Fondue

Restaurant Swiss Chuchi in the Hotel Adler

Luzern is only about 45 minutes by train from Zurich, and there are about two trains every hour.  We made a last minute decision to visit and forgot our guidebook!  Luckily the train station is in close proximity to the old town and the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower.  As soon as we exited the train station, we crossed the street at took a 2 hour ferry trip.  The view was incredible, even on a cloudy day.  We also wandered around old town, although many restaurants and all stores are closed in Switzerland on Sunday. 

View of Luzern from the Ferry

View of the Alps from Lake Luzern

Mt. Pilate from Lake Luzern

Chapel Bridge, Water Tower, and Mt. Pilate