Well as the title suggests there is nothing at all neutral about Switzerland and given it’s our second time here, I think we can safely say that it is the prettiest country we’ve been to. It really has everything – mountains and snow in winter, sun and crystal clear lakes in summer. It also has the purest drinking water in the world, which is never a bad thing. The only fly in the ointment – the fact you pay NZ$10 for a can of Diet Coke!
After leaving Paris at 7am, we arrived in Interlaken in the Jungfrau region of the Swiss Alps at around 5pm. It was a long bus journey but the time flew by as we chatted amongst ourselves, watched DVDs and stopped every few hours. We were all also feeling a little nervous as for many of us, it was the first time that we were trying snowboarding or skiing – particularly the South Africans as snow isn’t exactly in abundance in their neck of the woods! Sharing ‘friend of a friend’ horror stories really sucked up a couple of hours!
As its pitch black by 4pm, we didn’t really get a feel for the town until the following morning – that is, until we woke up and realised that we were surrounded by beautiful snow covered mountains. Very surreal and exactly as you can imagine – think Heidi in winter! So despite a late night spent drinking French red wine (we have built up quite an impressive collection) and playing cards, we had a relatively early start so we could hit the mountains early and make full use of the precious day. Because the Swiss Alps are so big, (i.e. there’s not just one mountain like Ruapehu) , you have to allow for an extra hour or two to get where you need to go, as well as hire your equipment of course.
Originally, we were tossing up whether or not we would actually give the whole snow sports thing a go as not only is Switzerland notoriously expensive, we also knew we weren’t exactly going to be experts after a few days and could potentially just be paying a lot of money to break a leg or arm. In the end though we decided that if you don’t take up the opportunity to ski while you’re in the Swiss Alps, which is possibly the best place to ski in the world, then you’re an utter fool, and fools we are not, which is how we found ourselves standing there like possums in headlights, slipping and sliding around, while Swiss experts swizzed expertly around us!
Alicia was attempting to snowboard, while Brad and I had opted for skiing, so rather than stand there and fall over ourselves, get injured and sulkily head home, whilst comforting each other with slander and insults directed at the ‘idiots and snow junkies’ that actually like this sort of thing; we decided to commit 100 per cent and go for lessons – that is, a private morning lesson, followed by an afternoon class. This, undoubtedly, was the best thing for us as it gave us such a good grounding and we were soon whizzing and swizzing with the best of them. As you’ve probably guessed, Brad and I were the top of the class, with him coming out slightly ahead of me, although I did get a few comments around my ‘great attitude’ as rather than bursting into frustrated tears after I hurtled backwards down a run, unable to stop myself until I ploughed head first into the snow, a tangle of arms, legs and skis, I instead couldn’t stop laughing – even if it was slightly hysterical! Meanwhile Brad was being littered with compliments left, right and centre on his perfect form as he showed us all how it was done.
It was such an amazing experience and by the end of the day we were skiing quite competently. We LOVED it and can now finally see why people are so into hitting the mountains in winter. Rod you would have been very proud to see your grandson swishing down a mountain, balancing on one ski! We’ll definitely keep it up, although we’re trying to keep in mind that skiing in NZ is a completely different experience to skiing in the Alps. If you fall over, which I was a pro at; you’re cushioned by 20m deep fresh powder!
After a dinner of pizza and pasta, we shared war stories, before deciding to hit the mountain again the next morning, but this time to go tobogganing! Jungfrau has the longest tobogganing run in Europe (15km) and while we were desperate to continue skiing we couldn’t resist the call of the toboggan. We could easily have spent weeks in Interlaken, skiing, sledging and exploring. A lot of the group went up to Jungfraujoch, which is the highest accessible point in Europe and where James Bond was filmed. We were all set to do this, but at the end of the day the call for the mountains was much stronger. So off we set toboggans in hand, up to Kleine Scheidegg, where we eased ourselves into the tobogganing experience by practicing our turns first before setting off on the most exciting roller coaster ever. Imagine the most beautiful scenery in the world, snow so powdery you sink up to your thighs and hurtling down a mountain on a toboggan – hands down the best rush we have ever experienced. WHAT A DAY! It couldn’t have been more perfect; although I couldn’t help getting a little mellow when wishing that you were all here to experience it with us. I can’t even begin to describe how fun it was. The entire day we just flew down the mountain, stopping every few moments to have a snow fight, or rescue one another, after someone took a corner to sharp and as a result was completely obscured under a mountain of fresh snow. We managed to get the perfect system going on this one stretch, where we would toboggan down which took about 25 mins, then catch the train back up to do the stretch over and over again. The trains went every half hour so we timed it perfectly. Needless to say the day went far too fast and we’d sell our souls to be back there! We spent the entire day in stitches, stopping only to stuff our faces with the nicest thing I have ever tasted – sugary deep fried apple donut thingies, covered in sugar and custard. I just about cried with joy!
The night was topped off with a Swiss Cheese fondue at the chalet restaurant – trés beau!
Our time in Switzerland was over far too soon and we’re itching to get back there. If any of you ever decide to visit us in winter, although I doubt anyone’s that foolish, Jungfrau will be out first stop. Each and every one of you would love tobogganing and although it sounds dangerous, it’s not really – although I was a little wary of sliding my toboggan into a pack of wolves or bears! As for skiing, we can’t wait to show off our sweet skills one winter’s day in Ruapehu! We feel quite smug as after all, it’s not every day one receives private lessons from a professional on the Swiss Alps... not every day at all!
To finish, here’s a random fact for you: Interlaken is the world’s second-biggest adventure sports destination, just behind New Zealand!
Next stop – Boppard, in the Rhine Valley of Germany!
Love you forever!
Xx
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