The Swiss, of course, are very punctual. We can't say the same for ourselves though. We crossed the Alps anything up to about two months late, going by the ideas we had as we left Australia. Biggi, Snups and Liz had been getting emails from us promising imminent arrival for at least two months - god knows, we had thought we might get to a music festival in Switzerland while the summer lasted! As it was, we finally crossed the Gotthard Pass long after the first snow had fallen.
It was a bit cool, but bright and dry.
First stop north of the Alps was Biggi's place in Zurich. Man, writing this I realise it just never stopped - reunions with old friends, easy times, and the opportunity to meet each others' important ones. It doesn't really matter what we did - autumn walks by the lake, chilly evening of city sightseeing, Tee im Teehuesli, a missed then caught appointment in Luzern, a day's hike in the hills of Zurich, dinner with family, shopping, baking, long breakfasts, travel advice. It was brilliant, warm. Here we are with the Zopf (the amazing looking bread) that Biggi taught Andy to make.
It was a bit cool, but bright and dry.
First stop north of the Alps was Biggi's place in Zurich. Man, writing this I realise it just never stopped - reunions with old friends, easy times, and the opportunity to meet each others' important ones. It doesn't really matter what we did - autumn walks by the lake, chilly evening of city sightseeing, Tee im Teehuesli, a missed then caught appointment in Luzern, a day's hike in the hills of Zurich, dinner with family, shopping, baking, long breakfasts, travel advice. It was brilliant, warm. Here we are with the Zopf (the amazing looking bread) that Biggi taught Andy to make.
Leaving Biggi's place - too soon, though not quite early enough in the day - we did another of those things you do in Switzerland, catching very steep little train up to the top of the Rigi. One of the littler hills in the country, the Rigi offers some pretty flash views. Speak for themselves, really:
We were so excited getting these shots that we didn't realise this was the last train down the mountain! Once again, we were to be late for our dinner date (luckily Snups is about the most laid-back person in German-speaking Switzerland). We set out for the bike (8 kilometres and 1000 metres below) as it began to get dark - down the train lines at first, but then thankfully hitched a ride half way with a lady who gave a very full explanation of the Swiss higland grazing industry. Right from grass to chocolate.
Snups is a friend of Andy's from years ago too. Snups does what he loves - he makes music for kids! The kids love it too, of course, know all the words and sing along. We tried to keep up as well, at least for the chorus. Thankfully Snups signed our CD later, so we didn't have to queue for an hour.
So, concerts, a party with friends, meals with family, conversation, a long night in a bar, brotherhood, a little reunion with other friends, more walks in our new home town. Good god, how many home towns have we got?!
Making sure we left late, Snups waved us off through the snow flurries. Departures can be hard. And of course it was further to Geneva than I had remembered, so we were late again. Em and I were very close during the ride, again, and not only because it was bloody cold.
Liz is a mate of Em's from years back, and now lives on the banks of Lake Geneva with her two little charmers and Yann, her man. We had a lovely weekend with them, exploring their (very lovely) part of French-speaking Switzerland, including a trip over to France for coffee and pastries at a village market on Sunday morning.
Snups is a friend of Andy's from years ago too. Snups does what he loves - he makes music for kids! The kids love it too, of course, know all the words and sing along. We tried to keep up as well, at least for the chorus. Thankfully Snups signed our CD later, so we didn't have to queue for an hour.
So, concerts, a party with friends, meals with family, conversation, a long night in a bar, brotherhood, a little reunion with other friends, more walks in our new home town. Good god, how many home towns have we got?!Making sure we left late, Snups waved us off through the snow flurries. Departures can be hard. And of course it was further to Geneva than I had remembered, so we were late again. Em and I were very close during the ride, again, and not only because it was bloody cold.
Liz is a mate of Em's from years back, and now lives on the banks of Lake Geneva with her two little charmers and Yann, her man. We had a lovely weekend with them, exploring their (very lovely) part of French-speaking Switzerland, including a trip over to France for coffee and pastries at a village market on Sunday morning.
Tbest thing about it, though (as with Biggi and Snups) was spending time with such old mates, and getting to know new ones (in this case, Joachim and Adele).
It was with heavy hearts that we packed our bike again and headed across the mountains to Spain (however, the thrill of that trip soon had us smiling again! ...)
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