By the time most of you in Trains Nation read this, I will be in Switzerland for a Trains tour. (Book now for 2019)
In my preparations, I've pored over maps of Swiss Railways, looked into the engineering of famous places and even considered which camera lens I should take with me.
But I had not considered anniversaries.
It turns out that 2018 is the 150th anniversary of Queen Victoria's (Yes, that Queen Victoria) trip to Switzerland in 1868.
Back then, she needed a month of vacation to work through personal grief and ongoing political stress from being sovereign of the most powerful country on earth.
And so Her Majesty visited Furka Pass — and so will we!
Victoria visited Lucerne and the famed Mount Pilatus — and so we will. The list of places we’ll both visit, it seems, is long and impressive.
But today we begin our tours in Zurich, Switerland’s largest city and its banking center. There’s scant evidence Her Majesty visited here, but if she did, — railfan that she was — she would likely have stayed in a place as lovely as our first hotel tonight: the Hotel Schweizerhod Zurich — overlooking the train station.
Tomorrow: We head south by train to Italy and Lugano!
See you then.
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