I took the train from Bologna (via Milan) up through the Swiss Alps. The first thing that struck me was that the Swiss landscape is very similar to the South Island of New Zealand. They have the same mountains and lakes, and we even went past a fair amount of farms!
Needless to say it was pretty spectacular, and struck me as a place that I could live in (as opposed to most other area's I've been to in Europe, which are great to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there). Unfortunately I couldn't get a direct train to Bern and had to go via Zurich. I was very amused that the train from Zurich to Bern left EXACTLY on time.
[pic: the view from outside the window of the train, somewhere between Lugano and Zurich]
Bern is a quiet town that is very pretty. There isn't much to see there, but its in the centre (more or less) of Switzerland so is surrounded by mountains and has a river that runs through it.
[pic: Bern from a good vantage point on my first night]
My first night at the hostel was typical. When you arrive they gave you the linen to make up your bed. I did so and went to sleep early that night. Our room was divided by a wall that went through the centre. On one side there were two bunk beds and on the other there was only one bunk bed. Being unlucky I got landed in the side with two bunk beds and the guy sleeping in the bunk undearneath me snored (of course). At about midnight I'd had enough so decided to crash in the other area of the room with the spare bunk beds (which appeared to be empty).
I got to the spare bunk beds and I noticed that there was linen that was folded on the table next to the bed. So I took it, quickly made up the bed and went to sleep. After about an hour it then dawned on me that as we get our linen when we arrived the likelihood is a person WAS sleeping in that bed, but just didn't bother to make up the bed before they went out. So they would come back and see me sleeping in their bed, with their linen!
In the end I decided to risk it and fortunately no one was sleeping there so i got a good night's sleep!
The next day I discovered a favourite pasttime of the Swiss that live here is to jump into the river (at a chilly 19 degrees celsius) and let the very strong current take you down stream. I was told when I arrived there that, although fun, the river is very dangerous and each year about 10 people die swimming in it (mainly, because if you miss the last area to "bail out" there is nothing to stop you except for the dam further down stream...). Also, when you get close to the river there are signs in every language under the sun that you swim there at your own risk.
Because of this I decided to give it a miss, but I got some great photo's of people being taken downstream by the river. In all about 1,000 were all doing it at the same time. Looked like a lot of fun (and if I'm being honest I kinda wish I'd given it a go)!
[pic: a lady contemplating whether to jump into the river at Bern. If you look closely you can see people in the river floating downstream]
After Bern it was a two hour trip to Geneva where I met up with Mel and her family. After a month by myself it was terrific to see a familiar face! Also, staying in a proper house, in a cool, dark room by myself, is absolute luxury. Mel's family are great value and have been very acommodating. One thing which made me laugh is Colin (Mel's Dad) remembers fondly that fateful golf game with Dad in Malaysia...
I had an explore around Geneva and found it to be different to what I had pictured. I thought there would be at least some high rise buildings, and have more intimidating architecture. I found it to be very quaint and modest. It looks to be a really nice place to live. We have done the touristy things, like taking pictures in front of the the Jet d'eau (water fountain), visiting the cathedral, taking pictures in front of the cannons, seeing the UN building and seeing the flower clock.
[pic: me posing in front of the Jet d'deau]
[pic: me posing on a cannon...and mel put me up to doing that!]
[pic: at the top of the cathedral with geneva in the background]
There is also a music festival on here atm and we are hoping to go to that tomorrow and also have a day trip up the Swiss Alps. Should be a lot of fun!
Fortunately Mel hasn't yet got me completely drunk and taken pictures but I'll keep you posted...
Talk soon
Anthony
No comments:
Post a Comment