A closing comment on Switzerland

The land of chocolate, watches, army knives and Roger Federer’s backhand.

A random fact…

Chemist Albert Hofmann was using LSD to conduct migraine-cure tests in Basel in 1943 when he accidently absorbed the compound through his fingertips and became the first man to trip on acid

Moving on…

Switzerland is a stunning country. With 70% of it’s landmass made up of mountains, breathtaking views are never far away. Cows and sheep actually wear bells, and there actually are countless towns nestled in green valleys intersected with flowing mountain streams of almost unimaginable blue water. We were especially lucky being here now to enjoy a symphony of autumn colours thrown into the mix. Yes, it is an amazingly beautiful country.

It is also stunningly expensive. Just like Monique is always saying that Holland is flat, people always say that Switzerland is expensive. But it isn’t until you arrive that you fully appreciate it. One small example is the campsite that we stayed at in Engleberg that charged the equivalent of AUD$60 which excluded electricity, hot showers, use of the washing machine or dryers, or the camp swimming pool.

Bring on the Euro.

Next stop, Munich.

Last stop in Switzerland

We finished up our time in Switzerland by visiting Lucern – a lovely town set around a lake at the foot of the Alps. To quote…

Recipee for a gorgeous Swiss city: take a cobalt lake ringed by mountains of myth, add a medieval old town and sprinkle with covered bridges, sunny plazas, candy-coloured houses and waterfront promenades.

Yes, it really was that beautiful. 

It's snowing

We survived the coldest night of our lives and made our way to Engelberg, a town on the other side of the Alps.

Driving through the Alps was incredible. The narrow mountain passes were hair-raising, the views spectacular, and the ghost town villages that we drove through – closed for the winter – were eerie. We also got our first taste of snow which was most exciting. 

We arrived safely in Engelberg, but by this stage, the cloud had thoroughly come over and a heavy, steady rain had set in. Apparently it’s a beautiful little town surrounded by mountains, but we didn’t see too much of them.

We made the most of the rain by doing a massive load of washing, and then completely taking over their heated rec room for the rest of the afternoon which was warm and relaxing.

The evening came and it started snowing again…this time quite heavily. While we missed out on seeing the beautiful views, the snow was an exciting trade-off!

We then proceeded to actually have the coldest night of our lives. It turns out that the night before was a false dawn. Wearing thermals, track-suit pants, fleece and beenies in our sleeping bag offered little warmth. It was a long night…but again, we survived!

From mozzie bites to frost bite

Gee whiz the warm balmy nights of Paris seem like a long time ago.

After making our way back down from Zermatt we decided to soften the blow to the budget by camping for free at a campsite that had closed for the winter (above photo)

The thermometer in the van said that it was 3 degrees Celsius, but that was before the sun went down and we noticed the frozen puddles in the car park.

While we miss out on a power connection by staying at a free campsite, it wouldn’t have made much difference because the prohibitively expensive prices in Switzerland have meant that we haven’t yet bought a heater.

As we’re sitting here writing this blog post, Monique is in her sleeping bag with a thermal, a singlet, long sleeve t-shirt, polar fleece jacket, beanie, scarf and gloves – and is still freezing. We can see our breath in the van.

Also, while Daniel’s old sleeping bag has been doing a good job, it has thoroughly reached it’s limit in Switzerland. ‘Not to worry’, we thought, ‘the campervan hire company gave us a duvet in case we get cold. Let’s grab that for tonight’.

Oh dear.

It turns out they accidently gave us a bag filled with pillows instead of a warm, cozy duvet.

Gee whiz the warm balmy nights of Paris seem like a long time ago. 

On top of the world

Feeling well rested and much rejuvenated, we decided to catch Europe’s highest and longest cable car up to the Matterhorn Glacial Paradise.

It was an amazing experience…the view was truly breathtaking. It was one of those moments where the world suddenly feels very very big, and us very very small. 

Holiday within a holiday

One of the highlights of our trip so far was our trip to Zermatt. Nestled in a valley in the Swiss Alps, Zermatt is a skiing village at the foot of the Matterhorn – Switzerland’s highest peak. It is a totally car-free town, only accessible by catching a train or taxi from a village 15kms back down the mountain.

Being car free meant that we would need to find a B&B in Zermatt for the night. We debated long and hard about this…could we possibly stand being without the cold and cramped van for a night?

Our answer was an overwhelming ‘Yes we can!’

We found a lovely B&B, enjoyed a long shower in a real bathroom, went for a walk, and then went out for dinner.

Sensational! 

Lake Geneva region

We arrived in Geneva late in the afternoon and managed to score a free campsite with showers, toilettes and electricity thanks to there being nobody at reception for the whole time that we were there. Even if we wanted to pay, we weren’t able to, so we left with a clear conscience. Massive win!

We set off in the morning to see Geneva. We drove into the city to find the tourist information centre, but being a Sunday everything was closed, the weather was very drab and overcast, and the city was generally looking fairly uninspiring. Perhaps we’ve become city snobs after seeing so many beautiful ones already?!

Anyway, the wonderful luxury of having the van is that we decided to keep driving through Geneva and head straight to Montreaux which proved to be a good move.

The drive around the Lake was really pretty, and by the time we arrived the cloud had burnt off and we were enjoying a lovely sunset overlooking Lake Geneva.

Welcome to Switzerland

Our first stop in Switzerland was the capital Berne. We had a nice, quiet and relaxing day strolling through the beautiful UNESCO Heritage listed streets of the old town before heading for Geneva in the evening.

Some initial observations on Switzerland…

1. It is decidedly colder that anywhere we have been so far

2. It’s expensive

3. Picture perfect mountains, green valleys and streams are everywhere

We’re excited about exploring some more….