April 2008. We entered a country that was still not a part of the European Union-Switzerland. As Indians we had to apply for an additional Swiss visa to enter this country. Janos our tour guide calls the borders as ‘smilee points’…we were supposed to smile at the officials and they would let us through without stopping us!
This is a country that is truly blessed with natural beauty. I felt that, at whatever direction I looked out of the window, I could imaginarily cut out a piece of the scenery and use it as a picture postcard! We entered the country from its southern side where the Italian speaking name is Swizzera. The German speaking side of the country call it Swaitze and the French speaking side of the country call it Suisse! The peaceful co-existence of 3 different cultures in the same country, is an indication of the tolerant and welcoming nature of the Swiss people!
I remember that as kids we had Swiss stamps with ‘Helvetia’ written on it. Janos told us that the CH board that we see often here is a short form for ‘Confederation of Helvetian states’ meaning Switzerland. There are a total of 26 Federal Cantons in Switzerland.
Historically, they have prided themselves at being a neutral country especially during the 2 world wars. I just learnt that Bern is the capital city of Switzerland while Zurich is its largest city.
They still retain their own currency-the Swiss Franc. I did some quick calculation and realised that the swiss franc is almost equal to the US dollar in value. I had to remember this as I intended to do a lot of shopping in Switzerland-chocolates, swiss army knife,cuckoo clock, watches. ‘Upfersholer’ is a local apple fritzer drink that is like apple juice mixed with soda water.
LUGANO(lake resort)
Our first stop was at Switzerland’s southern most tourist town of Lugano. It has a tourist population of around 7.5 million every year. It was cold, yet sunny with a temperature of a pleasant 16’c. I remember driving past this place last time.
We strolled along the lakeside promenade of the Alpine Lake Lugano and stopped to look at the swans. The Mount San Salvatore and Mount Bre seemed to be rising from either side of the lake. We were surprised to see a bust of the American president George Washington here…it was made by a local Swissman who had made his fortune in America.
We went to the simple Romanesque church-Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angioli. We were amazed to see the vivacious, colourful 1529 AD frescoes by Bernandino Luini with scenes from the life and death of Christ.
We walked on the parallel ‘pedestrian only’ main shopping street called Via nassa and got a taste of the sophisticated nature of the place. Even the underground subways to get to the other side of the road are spotlessly clean with lit up classy paintings on the walls!
We sat on a bench overlooking the lake and I tried to take in as much of beautiful scenery as I could. After all the learning about Italian history that we did in the last one week, it felt good to rest our minds and just relax and to soak in the natural beauty of Switzerland!
We drove past the city of Bellinzona and we were in the Central Switzerland region, which is also called the Berner Oberland. Many famous Hollywood movie shootings have been done here especially the James bond series. I spent mesmerising hours staring at the outrageous beauty of silver screen perfect snow-capped jagged mountain region.
We then drove into the 32 kms long St. Goathard tunnel. Janos told us there was a fire some years ago and there are strict regulations to be followed here. I was thinking about the separate car and truck lane of the minimum 100mts. Distance between vehicles etc. And this is when he showed us some funny cards- no kissing, no feeling, no touching etc. It is nice to have a guide that keeps us informed and entertained at the same time.
Inside the bus we have an indicator of outside temperature. Janos told us to keep watching it from the beginning to the end of the tunnel. We were surprised to see the temperature drop from 17’C to 8’C as we exited from the tunnel. It took us precisely 17 minutes to cross the St. Gothard tunnel-from the Italian speaking side to the German speaking side of Switzerland!
Since the hotels at the tourist resorts are quite expensive, our hotel stay was organised at a small picturesque town at Flulen. This idyllic resort (438mtrs above sea level) appears like a veritable oasis of calm I suddenly saw a Burger King joint that had recently opened at this place and I actually felt sad at the intrusion of commercialization on picture perfect nature.
Fluelen just has a few shops near the railway station that runs across the town. Our hotel Hirschen was next to a Cathedral and we could even hear the church bells from our room. A small trek on the hillside or a walk on the weg der swess (swiss way) around the lake and station is enough to see everything the town has to offer!
At the included dinner there was hardly any variety for vegetarians, I insisted that they give me some additional tomato salsa to have with my rice. The hot spring rolls were a good change from the routine, though by now I really missed my simple curd rice and pickle! Girish was the only male on the table as we sat with the 3 sisters from Fiji-Shamshad, Naushad and Zarine, the 84 year old Canadian-Sau and her 2 daughters-Christina and Nim.
LUCERNE(lake,wooden bridge, lion monument)
The lake Lucerne is shaped like a flower and is situated in the central part of Switzerland. The banks of the lake cover all the 4 different speaking regions and it can be said that the country was born on the shores of lake Lucerne. The local population is only around 50000.
After dinner we went for our 40 Euro optional tour of Lucerne by night. We saw the city centre lit up with the lights of the night. Our stop was at the Swiss Folklore restaurant -Stadkeller. The colourful frescoes on the walls looked very attractive.
This was the beginning of our exposure to traditional Swiss customs and usages. In their national costumes the performers on stage entertained us with their alpine horns, cowbells, national costumes, coin playing and flag throwing acts. The melodies on the accordion and traditional dances made it a lively evening yet I couldn’t help thinking that Swiss culture is so limited as compared to the vast range of diverse culture that India is capable of offering to tourists!
It was an interactive evening and we got to sing and sway along. Son Sid went up on stage to try his hand at yodelling and got an additional beer in return. We were treated to a bowl of bubbling hot cheese fondue and we had to dip in small pieces of bread at the end of our long forks into it. As Janos says Uh….(almost sounds artificial now). The combination of cheese, folk music and fun made this an unforgettable experience!
On Wednesday 16th April 2008 we first went shopping to the Hirschengraben area. We brought a swiss army knife and souvenirs and chocolates and checked out the prices of cuckoo clock that we brought later in the evening. Then we went to the Lion Monument. This masterful stone sculpture was carved in the rocky hillside in honour of the heroic Swiss guard of Louis XVI and I was surprised that Trafalgar Tours did not show it to us the last time we came to Lucerne.
Our coach left us at the Schwanplatz(the swan square). There were plenty of swans in the waters and none of us wanted to take the scenic boat cruise on the lake. Instead we preferred to visit the famous store Bucherer. We exchanged our coupons for their trademark small spoons. We looked at the other shops in the vicinity like the Embassy watch centre (where later Girish brought an expensive automatic watch called Jagear Le Coulture in just 20 minutes! Thank you God for making his dream wish come true!
This city nestled amidst the snow capped Alps, embellished by the clear mountain waters of the River Reuss and surrounded by its lake is impressive indeed. The twin spired chapel, the old castle on the hill, the city walls, the ornate patrician houses lining the cobblestoned streets- all these are part of a vision to behold. We drove past the Heineken brewery and the musician richard Wagners museum.
We walked on the Kapelbrucke – the famous covered 1933 wooden chappel bridge where we met the lovely Australian couple Richard and Paula. We went to the post office to send a postcard to India, we walked past the railway station where we had spent a lot of time during our last visit, and went to the same garden where our coach was parked last time!
So what place made you smile today?
Be thankful for the places that make you smile!
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