My 1st venture into blogging

Hello all,

              Don't know how successful I will be in this new frenzied interest of mine. I have been thinking of blogging since my Swiss trip last September; it is because I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of Switzerland that I could see qualities of a novelist or poet budding within me ;). Right then I didn't start blogging because I was thinking what would I do once back from Swiss in cold and wet UK...the novelist or poet within me would just wither. I waited until 2011 when I travelled some more, gathered more experiences and made a resolution that no matter what, I will get more involved and interested in living my life despite this weather.

          Switzerland was a haven of endless beauty and comfort. I stayed in Lausanne (at my uncle's) which is closer to the French border and I was in awe with this place, especially the lakes. Near to Lausanne is another happening place, Montreux; this place gives a feel of the Mediterranean regions, blue waters and a great music culture, signified by the statue of Freddie Mercury, which is worshipped by millions of fans who visit Montruex. I wasn't aware who Freddie Mercury was until I visited Montreux and surprisingly the day I visited was Mr. Mercury's birthday (5th September), so there were loads of people and a stage set with a live band on the shore of the Lake Geneva. Oh how vibrant this whole place was, even though I didn't know Mr. Mercury, believe me I worshipped him along with all and felt a member of the Freddie clan aka cult.

Band on the shore of Lake Geneva

Freddie Mercury

 From here on my next destination was Mount Titlis and Luzern. Mount Titlis was a place of contrasting weather; it is sunny and blue streams flow across but as you rise higher on the cable way to touch Mount Titlis, it just gets cooler and cooler. Being from India gave me all reasons to be proud of at Mt. Titlis. On the foot of Mount Titlis was a shop selling idlis, vada pavs, samosas, and gajar halwa.  I had been longing for these savouries whilst in UK; I relished these on my way up to the mountains in the cable way..yummm. As I headed up there were instructions written in Hindi and when I reached the top all I felt was "Bollywoodness" in air. Luzern was alright, not that impressionable. 

Instructions in Hindi in the cable way

Foot of Mt. Titlis

      

        Next destination that took me away was the Rhine (Rhein) falls in Schauffhausen and I was luckier to spot a rainbow across the waterfall. This was just like an icing on cake. I took a ferry trip on river Rhine and when I was on the other side waiting to get back on my train, I met a group of Germans who were acting as Pirates and fortunately/ unfortunately I boarded a boat with them, and this boat went right under the falls. Yes I was quite shocked being the only other sensible person after two grown up women, on that boat along with the to be Pirates. They intimidated me enough and went ahead to speak to me in German, by the time I alighted off the boat I was so tensed to lead my way with the Pirates, in fright I entered "No Entry". Boarded the evening train and went to Zurich, which was just commercial and I just did some shopping, saw tall buildings and that was it, back to Lausanne for a day's rest and gearing up for the next day (Interlaken and Bern).

Rhine falls (Schauffhausen)

  Since I have some free time this morning,  I will relive my journey of the Alps. My day started with a journey to Interlaken...yes as the name literally says through the lakes. I took a morning train to Interlaken; I must mention here Swiss train connections are by far the best that I have seen across Europe (other major places I have travelled are Rome & Berlin). When planning your travel to Swiss and if under 26 you win yourself laurels in terms of discounts on train passes (for train guides and time tables: http://www.sbb.ch/en/ ). It is a great idea to get off at Interlaken East (Interlaken Ost) and walk till Interlaken West, gazing through the hills, birds, paragliders & blue skies; yes this sounds like the "Sky is the limit" at Interlaken. After walking till Interlaken West, crossing bridges, I reached the Interlaken market; yes I have to shop at every destination; this hobby of mine really motivates me to write my version of Confessions of a shopaholic. My first stop was a luxury chocolate shop in Swiss Laderach (http://www.laederach.ch/en/shop/shopfinder/schweiz.php), I managed my self a box of 7 truffles for around 12 francs, believe me they were worth it. Since I was hunger stricken after walking and shopping I entered a kebab shop and munched on while heading to my next stop; the capital Bern. Bern was an UN's international heritage site, the city or as they say in swiss canton was named after Lady Berna. I went around the city until I met my aunt who works at the German book shop in Bern (Bern lies in the German part of Switzerland). After this I was in such a dire need of internet I barged into Starbucks grabbed a Cappucino just to use free internet wi-fi. Yes I have gotten used to unlimited browsing at cheap rates in UK; Swiss telecom operators do not offer any cheap deals. I realised how diversified and customised UK telecom market is in terms of its customer offerings and that too @ cheap rates. I approached all telecom shops in order to get a cheap internet deal but none whatsoever; internet really helps when you travel alone. Observing my internet browsing obsession by Aunt and uncle nicknames me tweety after Twitter (and my twitter id is kanchanmehta5).Journey back to Lausanne, tired after 3 days on continuous travel so I decide to rest on the fourth day. 

Interlaken

Lady Berna

               
After a day's rest, my next day was spent at really quiet places; Gruyere (yes the Gruyere cheese originally is from here) and Gstaad (one of the posh and costly areas). I started my day with a train heading to Gruyere, shuttling between (from Palezieux: Lausanne - Palezieux- Gruyere) in a tram. I visited the cheese factory in Gruyere and listening to the cheese making process took me back to my undergraduate biotechnology lectures on cheese making. Oh how nostalgic I was! I just felt like calling up my Professor (Sneha Mam) in Mumbai to tell her I am watching it live, huh impulsive & excited me. After the cheese factory I visited an uphill area which homed the Guryere castle and a museum built by H.R. Giger (the guy who gave visual effects in the film "Alien"). I just saw the ET mueseum from the outside after having enough of Star Wars lessons at work by my male colleagues who seem obsessed with it. Being a frugal traveller I just hung around the castle for a while and did not enter it, anyway hanging in castles alone/ together does not appear very exciting. There was something about this day's journey again...more Bollywoodness :D. The uphill market area in Gruyere was the place where the title song of the bollywood movie Khoobsurat (खूबसूरत) was shot. I left Gruyere to take a train to Gstaad, I missed and some of my Malaysian friends whom I met on my way missed the train too, for a silly reason that these trains did not have automatic doors and we waited for the doors to open; I wonder sometimes my life incidents seem like a comedy of errors. Anyway the Malays were really friendly people and one of them worked in an actuary in Swiss, so I got some tax gyaan on Switzerland tax system. A very different tax system in Swiss, quite complicated in terms of management. It is like if you live in one canton (Swiss has 10 cantons) and work in another canton, you are taxed (tax deuction in salary) based on the area you reside in. Thus 1 hour passed and my next train to Gstaad (pronounce "Staad") arrived with change at Montbovon (where I spotted the DDLJ (a bollywood superhit) church...which I had read about when preparing for my travel); from Montbovon I took the Golden panoramic train, this train is luxurious and quite reminds me of the Palace on wheels that runs in India (Rajasthan), in which I have never sat till date. Gstaad was beautiful, but too sophisticated and too quiet for my tastes, it seemed like another corner of Switzerland away from everything. So here ends my day 5 in Swiss, will continue with the rest of my journey in evening, as I have just got in hand a Chinese project to work on..Nee hao :D.

Many a times it happens that the place where you stay you never discover it, so I thought of spending my 6th day in Lausanne. In the morning I went to an intimidating place EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne); the abode for scholars; I visited this place as my Uncle is a Post-doc in the Mech. Engg. faculty here. After this I visited the Lausanne Cathedral and then the Lausanne market, where my uncle took me to all possible dessert shops and right there it was party time for me :D. I truly felt like a kid and loved being one...Thanks Mama!!

Lausanne Cathedral

Dessertsssss.......

Finally my journey came to an end, on my last day I visited Geneva in the morning. The best part about Geneva were the streets and lanes, these gave a feel of Greece and Italy (from what I have seen in photos). I was searching for the UN headquarters but was not very successful so again I stuck to my favourite ritual shopping. That day the heat in Geneva was comparable to Delhi, unbelievable but true. In the evening I visited Lake Ouchy (Lausanne), this is the one of the most happening area of Lausanne, here also stands the International Olympic museum. Across Lake Ouchy is France, the bordering French region is Evian, yes the mineral water company owned by Danone. On a clear day you can see France and there are also regular ferries connecting to Evian (this trip is included if you take the Swiss pass). I bid adios to Swiss with a bowling session with my Aunt, Uncle and their friends, where I lost two session just to make my departure more painful.

Geneva

Lake Ouchy: France (Evian) is just across