Switzerland

Switzerland hit differently from what I expected. Coming from Kathmandu, I thought I knew mountains — but the Alps have this cold, immovable quality that's nothing like the Himalayas. The Bernina Express ride was the thing that got me. Sitting in that panoramic carriage watching snow-covered peaks slide past the glass, the train crawling through switchbacks over a viaduct at altitude — it was genuinely one of the quietest, most focused hours I've spent anywhere on this trip.

Zurich itself surprised me too. The old town is compact and walkable, and the streets along the Limmat river have this unhurried rhythm — stone buildings, church spires, window boxes, the whole thing. I spent a lot of time just wandering around the Grossmünster area, through the alleyways where Swiss flags hang from every second building, past the statues of reformers in the squares. The city feels like it takes itself seriously without being stiff about it.

The nights in Zurich were cold and sharp, and the old streets lit up differently once the tourists thinned out — quieter, the stone turning golden under the lamps, the church tower lit against a dark sky. I ate well, walked a lot, and took the Bernina Express twice because once wasn't enough. Switzerland is expensive and it knows it, but the landscape earns it.