A return to Switzerland – land of mountains, museums and moos! COMPLETED 12/4 - Page 63 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Cool way to end the visit to the museum, with the airplanes! Memo noted - do not let Mark fly a plane for me. Got it. I remember that SwissAir debacle. I was still a travel agent at the time. We didn't have too many clients flying them, but I still remember being sad about the whole situation - such a dominant airline for the country ceasing operations just didn't seem right.
You guys lucked out again with a fantastic view from your room! Heck, the whole room is fantastic. I wouldn't complain if I spent my birthday in a room with a view like that. At least the accident didn't look too serious. Especially with that photo you took....
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Cool way to end the visit to the museum, with the airplanes! Memo noted - do not let Mark fly a plane for me. Got it.
Quote:
I remember that SwissAir debacle. I was still a travel agent at the time. We didn't have too many clients flying them, but I still remember being sad about the whole situation - such a dominant airline for the country ceasing operations just didn't seem right.
From what I read, it did seem so sad.
Quote:
You guys lucked out again with a fantastic view from your room! Heck, the whole room is fantastic. I wouldn't complain if I spent my birthday in a room with a view like that. At least the accident didn't look too serious. Especially with that photo you took....
It was an amazing room - we've said we'd go back there again and stay in one of those rooms again.
The aviation portion of the museum looks very interesting, too. I'm sure flying a plane is not easy, and Mark's poor plane does seem sure if it wants to go up or down. Great room with an awesome view.
The aviation portion of the museum looks very interesting, too. I'm sure flying a plane is not easy, and Mark's poor plane does seem sure if it wants to go up or down.
You hit the hotel jackpot this trip. More stunning views!
It's a good thing I wasn't drinking anything or I would have spit it out when I saw that last picture. I laughed outloud before even reading your caption. That is just so funny!!!!!
You hit the hotel jackpot this trip. More stunning views!
We certainly did!
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It's a good thing I wasn't drinking anything or I would have spit it out when I saw that last picture. I laughed outloud before even reading your caption. That is just so funny!!!!!
Wednesday 4 September – part nine: now that’s a spectacular sunset!
We headed down for dinner at around 6:40pm, as we’d been given 10 CHF/person discounts off the price of a meal in the restaurant downstairs.
When we got down there, we did ask about eating inside, as people could smoke outside, but we were reassured if we sat at one end of the restaurant, we’d be fine, as there wouldn’t be many people around us. Well, in one respect we were fine, that is no-one lit up, but by the time we left, the place was packed, with all the tables near us taken.
When we first sat down, the sun was still burning hot, but thankfully its strength soon quickly sapped. Otherwise, I could’ve ended up even more sunburnt.
I opted for the four course regional and home grown menu, which started with a platter of dried meat and cheese, but I got just the cheese, and wow, what a platter I got!
Mark confused things totally by trying to order off the four course gourmet menu, but he then swapped his appetiser, didn’t explain he wanted steak, rather than fish, and ended up without his second course. I have to say I was totally confused, never mind our poor server.
He did at least get the appetiser he wanted, which was fruity tiger prawn cocktail with honey mead and black pepper.
He didn’t get a second course, but I got vichyssoise with oregano oil and it was lovely, although Mark tried a mouthful and hated it!
In between courses, I nipped out to get some shots of the sunset. We had heard that it was spectacular here, and boy they weren’t joking.
For entrée, I got the pan-fried char fillet with baby lettuce and a mango vinaigrette and seasonal fruits. Well, as you’ll see from the photo, I don’t know about baby lettuce, it took over half the plate! I left that, and just concentrated on the fish, which was very nice, and the fruit. It was an unusual combination, but a pleasant one.
Mark’s entrée was a pan-fried beef fillet with a dried tomato and nut crust in whiskey jus with homemade potato cep croquettes and seasonal vegetables. He seemed to enjoy his a lot, particularly the fact that no steak knife was needed to cut the beef, which I’m told is always a good sign…
Now dessert is where it got interesting. I was supposed to have the chilled berry soup with thyme ice cream and poppy seed cake, but when it turned up, the guy who brought it out (who wasn’t our server) said “kirsch” and then “cherry”, so I assumed that was Mark’s dish, and he had it:
I ended up with the cherry-vanilla parfait with macadamia brownie and mandarin compote. It was only when we were about halfway through our respective desserts that we realised the mix-up, me with horror, as of course I was now eating cherry, one of the fruits I’m allergic to. Mark tasted it and he couldn’t taste the cherry at all, and I seemed to be Ok, so lucky escape…
After that, we got our bill, which came to 170 CHF (c. $181). I know it’s a lot of money, but heck, it was a special occasion, the location was amazing, the sunset brilliant, and the food had been pretty darned good too.
Seerestaurant
Appetiser 1 9 9
Appetiser 2 8 N/A
Entrée 8½ 9
Dessert 8½ 8½
Service 9 9
Atmosphere 10 9
Value for money 8 8½
Average score: 8.77
With that, we headed back to the room, and had a look at the view from our balcony. Despite the sun had set maybe 50 minutes or an hour earlier, there was still a lovely hue in the sky.
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the mid 80s. The best thing today was the sunset over Lake Lucerne. The worst thing today was my favourite souvenir shop from Interlaken having closed down since we were last there. The funniest thing today was what happened to the piglet when he ran over to see mum! Today we tried going to the Swiss Transport Museum And the result was it’s an amazing place to visit. The most magical moment today was getting up close and personal with the cows!
Next: you don’t mind driving when you have views like this!
Those are some of the most amazing pictures yet!!! That sunset is stunning and the shots you took of people on the lake is just amazing! I had seen them when you post them to facebook and was in awe then too.
Those are some of the most amazing pictures yet!!! That sunset is stunning and the shots you took of people on the lake is just amazing! I had seen them when you post them to facebook and was in awe then too.
I must admit, after Montreux, I didn't think we'd ever see a better sunset, but my goodness I was proved wrong that night!
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I remember that SwissAir debacle. I was still a travel agent at the time. We didn't have too many clients flying them, but I still remember being sad about the whole situation - such a dominant airline for the country ceasing operations just didn't seem right. 
At least the accident didn't look too serious. Especially with that photo you took....
Great room with an awesome view. 
Mark tasted it and he couldn’t taste the cherry at all, and I seemed to be Ok, so lucky escape… 
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