Yesterday I arrived back in Siena after a week’s ‘sojourn’ in beautiful Switzerland. It started at 6.20am on Sunday morning when I caught the bus from Siena to Florence. There I connected with the train and after two changes (in Milan & Zurich) I finally arrived in Lausanne – a small city in the French-speaking part of the country. How can I summarise this week? Let’s break it up into Pictionary categories…
PERSON/PLACE/ANIMAL
The person who inspired this trip was my brilliant friend, Sandy. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while will recall that she is the Swiss girl I met at my language school when I first arrived in Siena. Before she left (back in June) we planned this week together and it all came together beautifully!
The next day we headed for Bern; an interesting and notoriously slow city. No one could ever explain to me why Bern has this reputation, but the story was verified by the number of snail-paced pedestrians we impatiently over-took. Bern – not Zurich – is Switzerland’s capital and takes it’s name from the word for bear. I don’t really know the details, but I think it has something to do with the guy who founded the city having hunted and killed a bear in the area. Whatever the reason, Bern has a long-standing tradition of keeping bears in a city enclosure. Sandy informed me that, in the wild, Switzerland has only one or two (let’s say, one-and-a-half) bears. HOW STRANGE. The bears in Bern, however, have recently been given a new enclosure along the Aare River. Coincidently, this river was my favourite on account of its beautiful colour and velocity. Actually, all the rivers I observed in Switzerland seem to be in a great hurry! Maybe it has something to do with their vicinity to the mountains. I’m no natural scientist, but Australia’s rivers seem remarkably lethargic in comparison.
The next stop was Interlaken to conquer Jungfraujoch – Switzerland’s most famous mountain. At the bottom I was wearing a sleeveless top and skirt but by the time we got to the top I had progressively undertaken the metamorphosis into full winter apparel: gloves, beanie, three jackets and thermal socks. There was snow, people. In summer. But the view was stunning… even if I was freezing my Australian butt off.
Two days, and two massages, later we left Interlaken and took in Luzern on our way to Glarus. Luzern was a very cute city and I’m sure that if I’d stayed there longer I would have liked it even more. However, we were en route to Sandy’s hometown in the mountains! Rainy Glarus! They try to defy the weather by holding open-air concerts (like the one we went to on Friday night) and walking to places instead of driving (like we did, to the concert) but the reality comes driving home when you’re umbrella is so soaked that the INSIDE of it has become wet enough to transport the occasional water drop onto your head, and your shoes are so soaked that your socks chafe against the soles of your feet. At least there were tents for shelter at the concert. The music was… (fill in the blank with your choice of lacklustre adjectives)… but the company was great. Sandy’s partner and friends were all lovely people.
For my sister’s sake, we visited “Heidi’s House” where I took some photos and bought her a souvenir! She’s eleven-years-old and has read the book, probably more than once. (I must do all I can to encourage her book-worm tendencies so I have someone to discuss classic novels with when I’m an old lady).
Saturday morning I left Sandy and headed to Basel where I met up with Shadi. I loved Basel! Maybe it was mostly because Shadi was there and I love her to bits, but Basel had something different. To be honest, I found Luzern and Bern more beautiful, however, Basel had character and a bit of alternative charm. For instance, there is a point at the Rhein River (which separates the two sections of Basel) where you find a very unique sight. It’s a king’s face mounted on a building with a mechanical tongue that pokes in and out. Why? Well, on behalf of one side of Basel, he is poking is tongue out at the other side! Moreover, once a year, there is a day when three men get dressed up in traditional costumes, float down the river with their (clothed) butts facing the king’s side and do a little dance to wiggle their bums in his face. When I heard this story,
I. Could. Not. Stop. Laughing.
This is the kind of age-old tradition they uphold in Basel! I want to go back in January just to see that man in a bird costume wiggle his behind down the river! HA! Oh I could write a whole article just on Basel… Maybe I will. Stay tuned for Basel next time. For now I will press on with my closing Pictionary categories.
OBJECT
Chocolate.
Very, very good chocolate.
That is the most important object to report on. The excessive rain in Glarus must give way to boredom at times, and everyone knows that boredom gives rise to the craving for, and ingestion of, chocolate. Perhaps we can therefore thank the rain for the invention of Läderach chocolate; Glarus’ finest creation. There are no words to describe the bliss produced by this Swiss masterpiece.
ACTION
Train Travel.
You sit for hours in a carriage that lulls you to sleep with it’s side-to-side rocking motions and monotonous sounds; you do absolutely nothing; and yet for some reason you are so uncontrollably exhausted by the end of every journey. Why?!
DIFFICULT
Leaving good friends.
The uncool thing about travelling the way I am is that you meet amazing people and inevitably, one of you has to leave for some other place. On the other hand, it means that I am making wonderful friends all around the world! Still, it’s strange to think of all the people I would love to have around me all the time. Like the Swiss girls, my loved ones at home in Melbourne, my cousin and his wife from Brisbane. If only I could create my own little community of awesome people, pack them up, and take them with me wherever I go!
ALL PLAY
Everyone grab your pen and paper. The word we are drawing is: Nanny.
Now the question every good Pictionary player asks themselves before the little plastic hourglass flips over is, “How can I draw this simply enough to save time but amazingly enough to make my teammates guess the word?” In this case the answer is simple, draw a cute little bambino named Niccolò and me trying to keep him entertained all day. I’ve only spent two days living with this family but they’re great people. I will give the full report after I’ve spent a bit more time here!
And so ends the most gigantic blog I’ve ever written! Ciao!
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