卢塞恩老城，瑞士 Old town of Lucerne, Switzerland (© Xantana/Getty Images)
卢塞恩老城，瑞士 Old town of Lucerne, Switzerland (© Xantana/Getty Images)
Where the glow of the holidays lingers
On the shores of Lake Lucerne and bestride the river Reuss, you'll find the medieval Swiss city that shares the lake's name. Emerging from a Benedictine monastery founded here in 750, Lucerne is today the largest town in central Switzerland. The central of three ancient, covered wooden pedestrian bridges of Lucerne's Old Town has a unique feature. The interior of the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) is painted with religious scenes and allegories to edify those walking across it to the St. Peter's Chapel. Though we are between holidays, the German-speaking city is just getting started. After Christmas and New Year's Day, preparations begin for Fasnacht, the Swiss-German equivalent of Mardi Gras. Just like that carnival, the streets fill up with hundreds of fantastically masked and boisterous marchers, cutting loose before the fast of Lent.
节日的光芒久久不退
在卢塞恩湖（Lake Lucerne）畔，在雷乌斯河（bestride the river Reuss）畔，你会发现这座与湖同名的中世纪的瑞士城市。卢塞恩是瑞士中部最大的城镇，始建于750年，卢塞恩老城区三座古老的木制人行天桥的中心有其独特的特色。Kapellbrücke（教堂桥）的内部绘有宗教场景和寓言，以启迪那些穿过它去圣彼得教堂的人。虽然我们还处于假日期间，但这座说德语的城市才刚刚开始预热。圣诞节和元旦过后，法斯纳赫特的准备工作开始了，法斯纳赫特相当于瑞士和德国的狂欢节。就像那个狂欢节一样，街道上挤满了上百个戴着面具、喧闹的游行者，他们在斋戒前放纵自己。
戈尔内格拉特火车站和马特洪峰，瑞士采尔马特 Gornergrat railway station and the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland (© coolbiere photograph/Getty Images)
戈尔内格拉特火车站和马特洪峰，瑞士采尔马特 Gornergrat railway station and the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland (© coolbiere photograph/Getty Images)
The view will stop you in your tracks
When it comes to beautiful winter scenery, Switzerland is hard to beat. We're looking at the Gornergrat railway with the peak of the Matterhorn in the background. One of the last great peaks of the Alps to be climbed by humans, the Matterhorn was finally summited in 1865, capping off the decade or so that's been called the 'golden age of alpinism.' The iconic peak is a daunting pyramid of stone and ice, towering just inside Switzerland's border with Italy.
The train goes from the village center in Zermatt (at an altitude of 5,200 feet) to Gornergrat (over 10,000 feet) in 33 minutes, offering incredible views along the way. The train debuted in 1898 as the world's first fully electric cog railway, connecting three existing hotels. The new attraction helped to make Zermatt a popular tourist destination, and by the time the railway began winter operations in 1928, this corner of the high Alps had become a glamorous year-round vacation hotspot.
铁路旅行中令你驻足的风景
说到美丽的冬季风光，瑞士是名列前茅，很难被击败的。 我们正在看到的是戈纳格拉特铁路，背景是马特洪峰。 马特洪峰是阿尔卑斯山最后一个人类需要攀登的高峰之一，它终于在1865年被人类登顶，结束了被称为"阿尔卑斯山黄金时代"的历史。 这座标志性的山峰是由石头和冰块组成的巨大“金字塔”，耸立在与意大利相邻的瑞士边境之内。
火车从采尔马特的村庄中心（海拔5200英尺）出发，经过33分钟即可到达戈尔内格拉特（海拔10,000英尺以上），沿途有着令人难以置信的美景。 这列火车于1898年首次亮相，是世界上第一条全电动的齿轨铁路，连接了三个现有的酒店。 这个新景点使采尔马特成为一个受欢迎的旅游胜地，当铁路于1928年开始冬季运营时，阿尔卑斯山的这个角落已成为全年迷人的度假热点。
伯尔尼老城，瑞士 Old Town of Bern, Switzerland (© Simon Zenger/Alamy)
伯尔尼老城，瑞士 Old Town of Bern, Switzerland (© Simon Zenger/Alamy)
Autumn comes to Old Town
The medieval center of Bern, Switzerland's capital, looks much as it did when most of these buildings were first constructed between the 12th and the 15th centuries. What's now called Old Town was founded in 1191 on a long, narrow peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Aare River. As Bern grew over the centuries, it erected defensive walls and moats only to tear them down again with each successive wave of expansion. In their place are now broad public spaces for outdoor cafes and markets, like the Zibelemärit (Onion Market), an annual fall tradition.
Since at least the 1850s—and possibly much longer ago—the people of Bern have awakened very early on the fourth Monday of November to greet farmers who come to the city offering huge, beautiful garlands of onions and garlic for sale. This year, the coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to the public festival, but we're quite sure that on the streets of Bern's Old Town, the aroma of onion tarts and Glühwein is wafting out onto the streets from these perfectly preserved medieval houses.
日内瓦湖岸上陡峭的拉沃葡萄园梯田，瑞士 Steeply terraced vineyards of the Lavaux region on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland (© Yves Marcoux/plainpicture)
日内瓦湖岸上陡峭的拉沃葡萄园梯田，瑞士 Steeply terraced vineyards of the Lavaux region on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland (© Yves Marcoux/plainpicture)
A crush in Lavaux
The 'crush season,' aka the grape harvest, has arrived in these picturesque Swiss vineyards. The steeply terraced vineyards of the Lavaux region along Lake Geneva's northern shore produce grapes for some of the best wine in the country. The vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries controlled the area. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007, Lavaux is the largest contiguous vineyard region in Switzerland. It's known for producing Chasselas wine, a full, dry, and fruity white wine that's considered the ideal pairing for Swiss raclette cheese. We'll toast to that!
格里姆瑟尔山口Totesee山地湖中倒映出的星星，瑞士伯尔尼 Stars reflecting in Totensee, a mountain lake at Grimsel Pass, Kanton Bern, Switzerland (© magodevita/Getty Images)
格里姆瑟尔山口Totesee山地湖中倒映出的星星，瑞士伯尔尼 Stars reflecting in Totensee, a mountain lake at Grimsel Pass, Kanton Bern, Switzerland (© magodevita/Getty Images)
Reflections of the night sky
We're featuring this video of the whirling Milky Way over the Totensee, a small natural lake in Switzerland, to remind you that August is a fantastic time for stargazing. In the Northern Hemisphere, the nights are still long and remain warm, so if you're lucky you can catch the always thrilling sight of a falling star. Tonight would be a good night to look for one because we're at the tail end of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Like most predictable meteor showers, it occurs when the Earth's orbit intersects with the long elliptical path of one of the millions of comets that orbit the Sun. It is called the Perseid meteor shower because the bulk of the meteors will appear to originate out of the constellation Perseus. So, turn out the lights, head outside, and look up!
Artist Saype's 'Beyond Walls' installation in the Parc de la Grange, Geneva, Switzerland (© Valentin Flauraud/Shutterstock)
Artist Saype's 'Beyond Walls' installation in the Parc de la Grange, Geneva, Switzerland (© Valentin Flauraud/Shutterstock)
'Beyond Walls' for World Refugee Day
For World Refugee Day, we're featuring an aerial view of 'Beyond Walls,' an art installation by the French artist Saype. In the span of five years, he aims to create the longest symbolic human chain around the world by constructing outdoor designs of interlaced hands just like this in over 20 cities. The first four were completed in 2019 in Paris, Andorra, Berlin and Geneva, Switzerland, shown here.
His series hopes to promote unity and kindness, which seems an apt message for World Refugee Day. According to the United Nations, which established World Refugee Day in 2000, every minute some 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution, or terror. Today's observance is intended to raise awareness of their plight.
莱辛巴赫瀑布，瑞士伯尔尼高地 Reichenbach Falls, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland (© Chris Milne/Alamy)
莱辛巴赫瀑布，瑞士伯尔尼高地 Reichenbach Falls, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland (© Chris Milne/Alamy)
The scene of a literary crime
Remarkable enough in itself, this 800-foot mountain waterfall is also the site of one of fiction's most enduring showdowns between good and evil. Just outside Meiringen, Switzerland, the Reichenbach Falls are the backdrop for 'The Final Problem'—the 1893 Sherlock Holmes story where, on a precipice near the falls (which in the 19th century gushed with far more power than our recent image shows), the genius detective enters a death duel with the criminal Professor Moriarty. In the end, both men plummet to their presumable doom.
Though the action in 'The Final Problem' was set on May 4th, it's May 22 that's celebrated as Sherlock Holmes Day since it's author Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday. The doctor-turned-author created Holmes with 'A Study in Scarlet' in 1887 and intended to kill off his famous protagonist with 'The Final Problem' to move on with his literary life. Nonetheless, pressure from Doyle's anguished, sleuth-starved public led him to 'resurrect' Holmes (but not Moriarty) a decade later with 'The Adventure of the Empty House.' In all, Doyle issued four novels and over 50 short stories starring Holmes over four decades—and they've inspired countless other books, plays, radio dramas, movies, TV shows, comics, and video games that feature the super-sleuth.
朗德瓦萨桥上的贝尔尼纳快车，瑞士格劳宾登 Bernina Express on the Landwasser Viaduct, Graubünden, Switzerland (© Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images)
朗德瓦萨桥上的贝尔尼纳快车，瑞士格劳宾登 Bernina Express on the Landwasser Viaduct, Graubünden, Switzerland (© Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images)
Taking the scenic route
Often called the most beautiful train ride in Switzerland, if not the world, the Bernina Express offers spectacular views on its sightseeing routes that connect towns in southeastern Switzerland to Tirano, Italy. It's been in operation here since the late 1800s. The classic route takes about four hours and departs from Chur, Switzerland. Outfitted with panoramic windows, the train passes through 55 tunnels and over 196 bridges, some over 100 years old, like the Landwasser Viaduct pictured on our homepage today. The cheerful train winds its way up and over the Bernina Pass in the Alps, reaching an elevation of 7,392 feet. Pay special attention on the stretch from Thusis to Tirano—this portion of the route was designated a World Heritage Site in 2008. Reservations recommended!
蒙特勒和日内瓦湖，瑞士 Montreux and Lake Geneva in Switzerland (© Westend61/Getty Images)
蒙特勒和日内瓦湖，瑞士 Montreux and Lake Geneva in Switzerland (© Westend61/Getty Images)
Montreux, Switzerland, and all that jazz
We're looking at Lake Geneva and Montreux, Switzerland, where the Montreux Jazz Festival begins today. Despite its name, the festival isn't just about jazz. It highlights different styles of music across multiple venues over two weeks. This year's lineup includes three farewell-tour stops (Elton John, Anita Baker, Joan Baez) and big names in jazz (Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin), as well as young artists representing a variety of genres. The festival began in 1967 at the original Montreux Casino, which famously burned down during a December 1971 Frank Zappa performance. The fire was memorialized by Deep Purple in their hit 'Smoke on the Water.' A monument commemorating the band and their song can be found next to the rebuilt casino.
