Switzerland is beautiful.
I always assumed it would be, but I was unprepared for the sheer take-your-breath-away, bring-tears-to-your-eyes magnitude of the beauty. I no longer feel fit to call myself a writer, because I simply cannot find the words to describe my surroundings. Or rather, I can find the words, but I don’t know how to put them into an order that will suitably convey the… the… mountainous magnitude of mellow magnificence. You see?
Now that I’ve had a bit of practice in the Monster Truck, I’ve become confident enough to go out exploring by simply picking a random town or village and driving to it. Even the autoroutes (motorways) are beautiful! With tall, snow-capped mountains on one side of you, and pretty chalets and rambling vineyards on the other, and the bright Spring sunshine making the lake sparkle down below, you get an entirely new perspective in terms of motorway driving. The roads wind around mountains, through valleys, up hills. There are remote villages consisting of a dozen little red-roofed houses surrounded by green fields. There are gentle-looking cows with bells around their necks. There are vineyards stretching as far as the eye can see, both vertically and horizontally. There are castles randomly dotted across the landscape.
It doesn’t feel real. I know I’m the sort of person who lives in a fairytale most of the time, but now I really do feel as if I have been whisked off to some kind of romantic, make-believe, dreamlike land. Even the people don’t seem real. They are ridiculously friendly. Aside from the fact that I come over all funny when I hear a man speaking French, I feel pleasantly surprised by how nice it is to be smiled at in the street again, or to be served by a friendly cashier in the supermarket. Even the trolley busses had little signs saying Joyeuses Pâques (Happy Easter) over the weekend, and little old men doff their hats at me when I stop to let them cross the road – even though they have right of way! This is a far cry from Tallinn, where drivers rev agressively at pedestrians and pedestrians glare angrily at drivers. Here, even the smallest children smile and wave their thanks when you let them cross. It is strangely endearing, and awfully like stepping back in time to the days when horses and carts were the only traffic and everyone in the village knew each other by name.
No, it definitely doesn’t feel real. But that suits me right down to the ground, wouldn’t you say?
Hi Hails. Haven’t been over for ages but since you visited me thought I’d better pop over and dammit woman . . you’re a travel blog! I travel vicariously . . .Love Switzerland although I’ve only ever spent a couple of weeks there on two occasions. When we were in Switzerland, we stayed in little outer limits hotels, cute and small and huge duvets and woke to the sound of birds and cowbells and the smell of coffee and horse poo . .bliss. One of the traditions I loved was when a baby is born, people in the country erect a huge flagpole thing and tie little baby nick nacks on it in pink for girls and blue for boys . .it was so sweet! I shall be back . . .
Yay, hi Baino! Sorry, you got grabbed by Akismet, which apparently thought you were spam for some reason! Yeah, I don’t think I make it obvious enough that I’m a travel blog… the blog was named a year before I started travelling, and I haven’t the heart to change everything. ;) Thanks for coming back!
Ah, Switzerland. Even the unplanned 4-hour layover in the Zurich airport I had on the way to Bulgaria last summer was relaxing, with gorgeous mountain views and local beer!
croquecamille – it really is perfect. The whole thing feels like a holiday in paradise, even when I’m working!
Now you know why I enjoyed Switzerland so much. I got quite emotional when I heard my first cowbell! A ‘ Hedi moment ‘. You must spend a day up a mountain. It is breathtaking.
Planning on going to an open air museum, where you can see traditional Swiss villages spread out over a mountain! Also contemplating the Matterhorn… but not very seriously. ;) Unless they have a cable car the whole way to the top!
You don’t actually go up the mountain that you want to see, but the one beside it to get a better view.
You’re right, Switzerland is beautiful. At least what I’ve seen of it :-)
Hitch hiked around Switzerland many many moons ago, what an experience, I’ll never forget it.
After reading this article, I’ll have to go back again this side of the sod.