Don't Trip Over That Mountain - Hiking in Uetilberg Switzerland

View of the Alps surrounding Uetlberg Switzerland

If you have read any of my blogs or if you follow me on Facebook you probably already know that I love Switzerland.  You will probably also know that I have a tendency to trip or fall when I am on a vacation.  I've tripped in Paris.  I've broken my ankle in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  I broke my camera falling over a sand dune in Ocean City, Maryland.  I don't consider myself clumsy.  As a matter of fact I think I am quite agile.   So after three visits to Switzerland it was just a matter of time before I tripped over a mountain. 

We visited Zurich, Switzerland in 2017.   I was excited.  I had first visited Zurich in 2003 several years before I had met Mark.  I fell in love with Zurich.   While there I took the train up to the top of Zurich's only mountain Uetilberg.  I had read there was an easy hiking trail there with a beautiful view of Zurich below.  There was also a famous restaurant at the top of the trail name the Uto Kulm.  Before out trip in 2017 I had told Mark all about Uetilberg and Uto Klum so he too was looking forward to going there.   Our trip to Zurich was part of one of our Virtual Tourist travel group meetings.    Most of our friends in the group had planned a day trip out of Zurich.  We decided instead of taking the planned bus tour we would take the day to hike the trail at Uetilberg and convinced our sister from across the pond, Gillian, to go with us. 

Mark and Gillian on the trail to the top of Uetilberg

It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect for the hike.  It was not a long trail and was an easy hike.  There are other more aggressive trails from the bottom of the mountain that can be taken, but we took the train to the Uetilberg station and walked from there instead.  As you can see I am usually behind Mark and Gillian when we go somewhere taking photos of everything.  I have many photos of Mark's back in cities, trails, and beaches and quite a few of Gillian also.

In the photo of Gillian and Mark walking you will notice some  unusual deer like sculptures with lights on their antlers lining the trail.   I became fascinated with them on my first visit to Uetilberg in 2003.  During our brief train ride up the mountain I think I must have told Gillian and Mark about them too many times and about how excited I was to see them again.  The sculptures are odd and unusual and that's probably why I like them so much.

Bruno Weber Fantasy deer sculpture on the trail in Uetilberg

Bruno Weber was a Swiss artist and architect.  From 1991 to 2003 Weber was responsible for the sculptural decorations on Uetilberg mountain leading up to the Uto Klum.  The decorations include the fantasy deer street lamps and the park benches on the summit.

Larry on Bruno Weber bench 2003 - Uetilberg

Mark, Gillian and I had fun arguing about what the sculptures were supposed to represent.  I said moose.  Mark and Gillian said they were deer.   We decided they were Dermoose's.   When we returned home my internet research proved that I was wrong.  They are fantasy deer and not moose.  But to me they will always be a moose.  Art is how you interpret it. 

After hiking the trail we found ourselves on top of Uetilberg where I had promised Gillian and Mark a beautiful view and a glass of wine at Uto Klum. 

Viewing Zurich from Uetilberg

And there is the view I had promised them.   You can see all Zurich from the top of the mountain and you don't need a drone for the photographs.

Uto Klum - 4 star restaurant and hotel on the top of  Uetilberg

Then to keep my last promise we had a wonderful lunch and that glass of wine at Uto Klum.  It is a beautiful 4 star restaurant with a beautiful view of the Alps behind it and Lake Zurich and the city below it.

Wine with a view - Uto Klum on the top of Uetilberg above Zurich

We took some time to climb the tower on the summit also.  There is a small fee to climb the tower but it is worth the cost for the view.

Larry climbing  the tower at Uetilberg 

After lunch it was time to start our decline and follow the trail back to the train station.   The trail is not too steep.  But still I took my time and was cautious.  With my history of tripping while on holiday I did not want to take any chances.   We laughed at the deer/moose sculptures once more on the way back down.  And we reached the bottom of the trail without incidence.  There were some small steps at the end of the trail which should not have been an issue for any sane agile person.   But we are talking about me here.   I reached the very last small step and turned around to say something to Gillian and Mark and it happened.   The very last step and down I go.   I ripped the knees out of my pants I was wearing and cut and bruised my knees.    Gillian went into the train station to get some wet paper towels and Mark helped my put the wet towels on my sore knees and helped stop the bleeding.   So I spent my last two days in Zurich limping and grumbling about my knees hurting.  But the good part was that I had a great story to share with the other Virtural Tourist friends at dinner that night.  We went out for fondue at a very nice restaurant in Zurich and I got to share the story of me tripping over the mountain in Uetilberg.

Mark and I are traveling with Gillian in November 2019 to Hawaii.  I am requesting she bring bubble wrap for me so she and Mark can wrap me up for protection.

Larry with the Bruno Weber deer in 2003

Larry with the Bruno Weber deer in 2017

Train travel in Euorpe - Traveling from Munich to Zurich May 20, 2017

I love riding the trains in Europe.  They are clean, efficient, relaxing and fun.  Our trip to German and Switzerland included many train rides this year and each one was pleasant.  Our first train ride of the vacation was from Munich to Zurich.   We flew direct from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Munich.  We spent two days there before going to Zurich to meet up with some travel friends we have know for many years that we met on the former Virtual Tourist web site.  Although the web site no longer exists the friendships made there continue

1.       We started out leaving Munich the early afternoon of May 20 to head to Zurich.   We bought our tickets the day before but it wasn’t necessary as we could have bought them the day of the trip and still have no problems.

Italian restaurant in the Munich train station

1.       I took some photos in the station when we arrived.  We were early enough for an early lunch at the station.   Luckily there were some good choices for food and not just fast food.   We found a nice Italian restaurant where Mark ordered a salad plate which was huge.  I asked about the size of the pizza.  The waiter told me it was good for one.   When it arrived it was good for one full table.  So Mark helped me finish it.

1.       Our jet lag had gotten better after two days in Munich so we were not zombies and could enjoy the ride. And also our cell phones.

1.  The train took us from Munich, down into Austria, and then back to German in the city of Lindau where we changed tracks.   We never had to change trains.  Our train just changed directions.  

1.       Near Lindau the motion of the train got the best of Mark and he fell asleep.  I was too curious to give into the rocking motion and stayed awake to take photos along the way.

1.          We saw many  small towns and interesting stations like this small one with men sitting at a train station in Turkheim.

1.       We also got to see  Lake Constance (also called Bodensee) in Bavaria.  The lake is a  63km-long central European lake that borders Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Fed by the Rhine River, it’s composed of 2 connected parts, the Untersee (lower lake) and the larger Obersee (upper lake).  

Finally we got to see the beautiful and majestic Alps.   I love the Alps and have been fascinating with them since the first time I saw them in 2003.   As the train moved the mountains seem to change with each curve of the tracks.

There were many small towns along the route.  I enjoyed watching them roll past.   They were all picturesque.  I particularly like the many small churches I got to see in the distance.

Our good friend Sonja

1.       Finally we arrive in Zurich.  We were not expecting a welcoming committee but our friend Sonja, who lives in Zurich, was at the station to meet us.  I was walking down the platform looking at the station and trying to get myself acclimated when I heard a familiar voice and found someone running up to me and hugging me.  What a nice welcome to Zurich.  Like I said earlier.  The Virtual Tourist web site may no longer exist but the beautiful friendships we made there are a bond that will never be broken.

1.       Entering the train station I once again saw the Guardian Angel to those visiting Zurich suspended from the ceiling of the station.  I first saw this in 2003 on my first visit to Zurich.  So it was a great pleasure to see it was still there all these years later.  The guardian angel was designed in the style of the colorful, voluminous “nana” figures for which the artist was world famous. They stand for joyful, liberated, self-confident women. Initially ridiculed by fellow artists, Niki de Saint Phalle's works are now one of the most popular works of contemporary art. .    The Guardian Angel was even mentioned by Ric Steves in his PBS travel series.   I liked her 2003 and even more now.

 Sonja helped us find our hotel and then left us to rest and plan the rest of our night.  Our hotel with the Ibis Zurich West.  It was not city center but was in the Technopark area.  It was a very short tram ride Zurich's city center.

After resting we ventured our for our first tram ride in Zurich.  We went down the city center and found a wonderful Italian restaurant which was both affordable by Zurich standards, which are high, and very comfortable.  

Then I was finished.  The pasta and dessert had gotten the best of me and I was tired after a very long and enjoyable day.  I stretched back in my chair in the restaurant and took a moment to close my eyes before heading back to the tram and our hotel.