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My travel in Europe:
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Studies and relaxing in Switzerland:I and my work friend needed to take some courses in metering technology. It was a three day course and we added one more day over the weekend to investigate the country. Google Map over Switzerland:The map to Emosson Dam is not correct, but this was the best I could get it. Switzerland is a small but rich country, it has also a skilled high tech industry which was the reason for this travel. |
Switzerland:
We took a flight from Arlanda airport in Stockholm. Here we are closing in to Switzerland. We landed in Zurich and then took a bus to Zug where the course was held. At Wikipedia you find more information about Switzerland:
Zug:
After we arrived to Zug we check in to the hotel, this is the view from my room and the lake is Zug, same name as the city. Just walking distance from where the course was held the coming days. 
Later that day we meet the other attendants of the course, most of the people came from other power companies in Sweden. Good to let to know them for future contacts. 
After we had meet them we took a walk to a nearby park, they had a lot of animals in this park. 
The city Zug is located at the lake Zug. Interesting to read that they have traced the human history 16'000 years back in time in this area. 
In the park we also found this big foot walking bird, a swan, we have them in Sweden too. Don't stick your fingers in his beak ! 
Close to the hotel we had the old part of Zug, here we find the restaurants and pubs. 
The police lady control the traffic, I have the theory that she was only here for the tourists, or ? 
Water canals to stop flooding from heavy rains or when the ice in mountains melt. We don't have anything like that in Sweden, but maybe we should. At Wikipedia you find more information about Zug:
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Emosson Dam:Included in the course which was a metering course was of course included a visit to a hydro power plant and the dam that belong to it, that's where the electricity come from. On the bus travel to the dam we passed a tunnel close to Montreux, after that the landscape changed totally, now we had palm trees and wine yards. 
First we travel by bus up to the railway station Salvan, it's placed below the mountain where the dam is located. Here we changed to a rack railway. I had never seen that kind of railway before. At Wikipedia you find more information about rack railway:
The rack railway took us to the station Le Chatelard. Now we enter an even stranger vehicle. It looked like a "tilted" elevator. It was a cable railway or funiculars as they called it. For tourists it's this place is known as the Vertical Alp place. The photos of it I have seen today it's totally rebuilt and the cable railway goes all the way up to the restaurant. I have found more information about funiculars at another place:
I found a list of funiculars in Switzerland at Wikipedia:
After cable railway had lifted us a couple of hundred meters we come to Les Montuires station. Here we have a narrow-gauge railway waiting for us. The wagons was open and you can barely sitting two people side by side. When the train started we had a view over the landscape, very beautiful. The railway was placed about 0.5 meter from a very steep cliff, and when the train rolling over the railway we could see how the railway sunk down a couple of centimeters. Some of the passengers said, it's not fun anymore !
It's so sad that I didn't take any photograph of this. 
The last part we have to climb up the mountain. This man was our guide and leader, very funny man. 
At last we come to this point, wow, snow in the middle of the summer ! 
The mountains in the background are over 3000 meters above sea level. The place we standing at are 2000 meters above the se level. The dam is 560 meter long and 180 meter high. The turbines and generators which is down in the valley has a power of 351 Mega-Watt. I had a little problem to find which of all dams in Switzerland we visited, my friend David find it for me.
We have just eaten a delicious dinner, after we take a rest and looking out over the landscape, I like this ! 
I remember this was my birthday, it's in middle of the summer and I had never before thrown snowballs at my birthdays. More to read about the hydro plant at Wikipedia:
David also found a page with the train and vertical elevator: How Emosson Dam and the train looks today:
Now we just have to get down again, all the way. But that was not very difficult, the bus was waiting for us around the corner.
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Montreux:
The Emosson Dam was 250 km away from Zug and we stayed one night at Montreux. Montreux is for me most famous for the beautiful landscape and the lake. Didn't know very much more than that at that time. The lake has the name Lake Geneva and we have found a steam ship with paddle wheels, no propeller. We get onboard that ship for a cruise later. 
It always comes water from the mountains and it has to flow through somewhere. That's why they build these canals through the cities. 
This steamship was popular, always people waiting to get onboard. 
The name of the paddle steamship is Geneve. It took us around the lake with a lot of historical building to look at. At Wikipedia you find more information about the steamship:
After the cruise we took a walk in the town. 
After a while we found the Casino, my work friend followed me. More to read about Montreux Casino at Wikipedia:
No, we didn't gamble anything but got a tasty beer. I can read that they have arranged a lot of concerts at this place, among others Deep Purple with Smoke On the Water. |
The evening comes and we have to go back to the hotel, tomorrow we go back home. 
More to read about Montreux at Wikipedia:
Zurich:
A short stop in Zurich before we go to the airport. 
The last thing we did was to visit a church, I don't remember why, maybe good to have some talk with him in heaven before enter the aircraft home. More to read about Zurich at Wikipedia:
Sitting on the aircraft on way home, a bit boring to come home to Stockholm again. But just in a few weeks I and my friends took a long car travel through Germany and Austria and after that one more visit to Austria. I was very active this year. The END
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