We didn't think that our niece and nephew could handle a trip to the mountains right after they arrived in Switzerland. They spent almost 11 hours on road, came late in the evening and had a short night as they were not sleeping in their own beds. We decided that it would be better to do something fun around our home instead. We still had a couple of days ahead of us, so we had enough time to go to the mountains, and we wanted them to get some rest before. Of course, we went down to the Rhine falls as it's a must when we have visitors, but we also wanted to do something inside, and Smilestones was the right choice.
It's a miniature world showcasing many important landmarks of Switzerland. Their work goes into crazy details, and I could spend hours and hours looking at the models. There are countless houses, trees, trains, cars and more than 20,000.00 tiny people doing various activities. Actually, there is so much more and I hope that you will like what I'm about to show you.
Let's start!
Honestly, I couldn't decide which photo I should choose as cover image for this post. In the end, I decided to go with the market square of Stein am Rhein as it's in fact one of my favourite places in Switzerland. The scale of models is 1:87, so all these people are about 2 cm tall. Imagine the precision and the hand steadiness of their creators. There are lights in the houses too and every now and then the room goes dark and the scenery changes into night. I love this project as you can see many places in Switzerland in a short time, and decide if you want to visit them in real life too.
The Swiss are proud of their railway system, so it isn't a surprise that there are over 120 tiny models of trains going up and down the landscape. In addition, there are even more models that are in a glass vitrine. I think our nephew likes these the most.
We recognized so many places when we walked around. Here we have Grindelwald that we visited last year with our family on the way to Jungfraujoch. We parked in the parking garage next to the train station. You can see both of them here!
There were many buttons that you could press and see what would happen. One of them made this helicopter fly away. I guess it's picking up a wounded tourist. I hope they had a travel insurance as you wouldn't want to pay for this in Switzerland 😊
Not all details reflect reality as there should be some fun part too. Who can see the genie from Aladdin?
Interlaken is another place from where you can start your trip to Jungfraujoch like we did two year ago. There is a bar on top floor of that high-rise building where we had a drink one night.
Victoria-Jungfrau hotel is one of the most expensive hotels in Interlaken. No, we didn't stay there, but we did treat ourselves to dinner at one of their fancy restaurants.
And this is what I mean when I say that the scenery changed to night. You can see the street lamps too! It really looks like the city at night.
Alphorn is a traditional Swiss instrument which is 3 to 4 meters long. It makes a special sound that I can't really describe. Normally, I don't enjoy wind instruments, but this is an exception. One of our friends joined a club and regularly performs at various events, and I love listening to her.
Swiss cities are typically this quiet - unless there are tons of tourists.
I told you they go into crazy detail - look at this chimney-sweep!
Yes, the lakes are really this clear. I'm not sure if we have submarines though...
Watch out! The groom is running away!
In winter you enjoy skiing, in summer a good toboggan ride...
Some people are sunbathing, others are kayaking, and then you have those two on the bridge watching them...
Here you can see the size in comparison to people...
Grimsel funicular (the red cabin) is the steepest open-air funicular in Europe with its gradient of 106 percent. It will bring you up the mountain to a lake. I knew that there was a place like this, but I didn't know where, so now we have to go there this summer 😊
My lovely Säntis - I don't even know how many times I've been there...
A regional train speeding through the Alps...
The sign says that on the 15th of May 1765 happened exactly nothing in this place 😊
Castle Hohenklingen is another place where we bring all our visitors. There is a great restaurant at the foot of the tower from where you can see the entire region and the Alps.
I wonder if some people recognize their houses when they see the exposition...
Yes, there is always some sort of maintenance going on. One project finishes, another one starts. There is not one quiet day over here. And furthermore, this company is helping us with our house too.
Munot is one of the most important landmarks of Schaffhausen. It is a pain to walk all the way up those stairs, but it is worth it. You can park your car next to the fortress, but why would you do it when you can sweat instead, right?
Press the button to move the balloon - so cool!
IWC means International watch company and it's a luxury watch manufacturer based in Schaffhausen. Each watch is made there and it is a must to purchase one when you live here. Once a year you can visit their production and admire those engineers assembling watches with laser sharp precision. My hands were shaking just looking at them.
Our typical Saturday farmer's market in Schaffhausen...
This bus was so fast, and I wish that their big brothers would be that fast too 😊
The Rhine falls - in the last ten years, the landscape here changed so much that I can't recognize it back. There are many new buildings and many more people living in Neuhausen. It became a different place to the one that we chose for our life almost one decade ago.
These two lifts make our lives easier as it's so much faster to take the lifts instead of walking up the hill...
And now in it's full glory...
We used to come to the Rhine Falls at least once a week, but now I only go there when we have visitors. People from all over the world travel here to see them, so I should probably make a bit more effort and walk down more often...
Now it's time to show you some random detail...
Somebody is working hard...
People came to an exhibition of sport cars...
Sunflower field AND some romance in grain fields...
A typical bistro in the middle of nowhere - you can find plenty of them in the mountains.
It's the harvest time!
And the last, but not least - a little bit of romance!
The kids enjoyed Smilestones, but after a while they became impatient, so their parents left to play with them. We stayed a bit longer as we loved the exposition.
See you next time...
