Spectacular Switzerland!

Talk about underrated – Switzerland is possibly the prettiest place we have ever seen. It literally leaves you rendered speechless (and not just from the Swiss Doodles).

Today we headed out for a day’s adventure around the Swiss Alps and Lake Lucerne with Michelle’s band. They had organised a day’s excursion and there were two spare seats going, so we jumped at the chance to explore as well as spend some time with the family. We certainly made the right decision!

We set off early morning by coach with our first stop being Seelisberg – a small town in the Swiss Alps, where we were visiting a Swiss Cheese maker. Think Sound of Music meets Heidi meets cheese – that’s Seelisberg for you. To say we saw the most spectacular views is such an understatement, making Switzerland worth every Swiss Franc we spent there (and that’s saying something as it sure isn’t cheap)! The cheese maker (there must be a proper name for them as ‘cheese maker’ just doesn’t quite work) talked us through the process of making Swiss cheese (which is made from pure milk straight from the morning’s collection from the villages cows, bacteria and a touch of redden, which is actually cow’s stomach.... lovely), and we even got to sample his cheese finery. I must admit after hearing about the ingredients I wasn’t looking forward to this part, particularly given the most natural thing I tend to eat is generally if the deep fried variety, but it was delish. We tried cheese that was six weeks, 12 weeks and an entire year old and the difference in flavour was remarkable. Both Brad and I loved the cheese that was 12 weeks old, which should have been sign enough that we wouldn’t be all that fussed on cheese that was an entire 40 weeks older... Nevertheless we bit the bullet (excuse the pun). I’d like to be able to say that this was a case of stepping out of your comfort zone and being pleasantly surprised – a case where you were left smiling sheepishly at how foolish you had been to fear the object in question in the first place... Sadly I cannot, as it literally tasted like mouldy ass. It was horrific! Thankfully I managed to slip mine to their pet cat (who was perhaps the most well-fed cat I’ve ever seen) as did Michelle, but poor Brad wasn’t so quick and had to suffer through the entire thing. Rancid is the word!

Thankfully lunch was straight after so we were able to rid ourselves of the taste of rotting cheese with a traditional Swiss meal of goodness knows what. It was some form of meat in a creamy mushroom sauce, served with the saltiest soup in world history. It was very nice though and quite fun to be eating in such a traditionally Swiss village. Sadly the lunch didn’t extend to a traditional Swiss dessert, so I had to indulge in an ice-cream or two later on in the day.

We then headed down the mountain, to a wee train station where we caught what is thought to be one of the steepest trains in the world, to the edge of Lake Lucerne, where we jumped on the ferry. I’ve said it before and I have to say it again – Switzerland is just stunning and the entire boat seemed lost for words as we travelled across the lake towards Lucerne, where we spent the rest of the day. The pictures just don’t do it justice, but I’ve popped plenty on Facebook regardless!

Back in Basel, we finished the day with a float down the River Rhine (utter bliss), which had the dual purpose of saving our tired feet, as well as cooling us off – as mentioned Switzerland is hot! I had my first ‘near death’ encounter when I was pussy-footing around, too chicken to just jump on in. While I was trying to ease myself in slowly, I slipped on a slimy rock, but thankfully my Superman reflexes kicked in, and rather than slip over and crack my head open/ break my back, instead I skied down the rock face and into the water, just like a Winter Olympian! Knowing how normally uncoordinated I am, my brief display of skill shocked me senseless, although not to worry as my three left feet have since returned with gusto and I managed to splutter and stumble my way through the rest of the trip! Brad was speechless, thinking I was a goner for sure – he who have little faith!

Tomorrow we’re off to Freibourg, Germany with Michelle’s band. They’re performing a mini Tattoo there, as well as marching in a street parade, so we’ll watch that then explore on our own for a bit.

Arohanui xx