My Switzerland Trip!!!!!
Switzerland is the mountain lovers paradise. It is a perfect combination of water and hills.... lots of lovely lakes to walk around and lots of mountain trails to trek.
We stayed at a lovely little village called Clarens near Montreux. Montreux is on Lake Geneve locally known as Lac Leman. Clarens is about 90 Kms away from Geneva. Montreux is the next town and it was a favourite watering hole for the rich and the famous and it probably still is. The R&F now all own chateu somewhere ........ Clarens is a typical Swiss village on the mountain with roads winding up and down the hillside, cars parked on slopes, houses that look so quaint that one may think they are doll's houses.The language spoken is French.
Clarens is part of the scenic Highlands Route and is surrounded by mountains. The Rooiberge is the range encompassing the village, whilst further on towards the southeast, the mighty Maluti’s stand proud in shades of purple and blue. All around are the sandstone cliffs with their multi-coloured layers - this horizontal strata is a unique geological feature of the area, and is known as the Clarens formation. Many homes in the Clarens Valley are made from Clarens Sandstone.
On the weekend we decided to go to Locarno on the otherside of the Alps as I had read that the scenery was fantastic all the way. The Tripadvisor website said the train was a MUST for this trip but we decided to drive as we were too late to catch the train that Saturday morning. And my oh my!!! Did we have a view.......... eyes full of it......... ever so lovely, wonderful mountains and deep gorges full of pristine forest....green meadows with grazing cows..... flowers on the forest floor... At times I was reminded of the Himalayas.....Our route was to go through Domodossola (Italy) and then to Locarno (Swiss)
Driving up onto the mountains towards Locarno we crossed into Italy and to the town of Re. The Church of Madonna of Saguine stands atop a mountain. As the story goes a man frustrated at his life threw a stone at the statue of Madonna in the Church. And the statue started bleeding....(talk of superstition!!) Apparently some blood collected from the Madonna's wound is still kept in a chalice..(I saw the chalice but wasn't sure of the blood) and therefore the devout Christians go there to perform pilgrimage. But it is a beautiful Chruch built atop the Alps.
Leaving the Church behind we went on our way to Locarno driving through twisting roads over the Alps passing viaducts, and rolling through long dark tunnels ....... Oh it was wonderful. The mountains are so neat and clean........ the smell was so nice ... the gentle autumn scents of the forest and land....I wished all the while that we could keep our Himalayas as clean as the Alps... it would be heaven!
It was almost evening by the time we reached Locarno. It is a pretty place on the north of Lago di Maggiori. It is very touristy and is full of American and European tourists. The city centre is very pretty from there we went to see the Church of Madonna del Sasso which almost sits atop Locarno. Europe is all full of churches sitting atop hills with the best views. Madonna del Sasso, which is a nunnery and a Church is reached by a funicular and has some spectacular views of the Lake and the city below.
As hotels are very expensive in Locarno we had booked a place a little away from the city. And this fortunately turned out to be near Lake Lugano. It was a pretty little hotel tucked away on a mountain slope and by the Lake Lugano. We were tired and hungry and so we went to eat out at an oseteria. And the fabulous Pizzas we ate!!!! Thin crust and spread with home cured ham and cheese............yummmm..... I will remember the taste for a long time. And the wine was just so wonderful.... I shall not contest that our hunger made the best sauce......... but the food and wine were awesome too......
The next morning we asked the hotel staff what was there to look around. And he guided us to the artists village 'Bre'. So we went to Lugano and then climbed the mountain to Bre. It was a beautifully sunny day, balmy with a warm sun shining down and a gentle breeze floating by. When we reached Bre, we just saw a car park and was a little disappointed. But then we walked into the village and it was everything that the guy had said.....a little place with narrow cobbled streets winding up to nowhere and little houses appearing at every corner each looking so different to the next, every house and corner is adorned with some work of art, artists sitting on their porches with newspapers, colors, paper, clay etc etc.......... whatever artists work with. I suppose one could buy some art work also.I just loved Bre and if I were a artist I would have stayed back there.
From Bre we returned to Lugano and had lunch at the very touristy but pretty little city square. The area around Lugano is famous for their wine so we drank local wine and made merry. On the way back we took another route and drove over the Neufenen Pass one of the highest Pass on the Alps. The mountains surrounding it already had the first snow and the Pass was almost bare and bereft of any vegetation.In a little quaint shop on the top of the Pass were parked a few cars, cycles and motorcycles......... all travellers like us crossing the Alps. I remembered reading Albert Einstein's biography that he had crossed the Alps on foot from Austria to Germany as a boy to seek admission in a college.I wondered if he had gone through the Neufenen Pass.
The next week passed quickly. We went to Geneva one fine day. Well, it was fine when we started, then it was not so fine when we reached Geneva, so I took the toy train so I could get to see some parts of old Geneva. Geneva somehow did not impress me so much....... perhaps I had expected more from it. It was just another European city. The same cobbled stones, the same stores, the square etc etc. Or maybe the weather dampened my mood. But then the skies cleared and we drove on to another nearby lake and from there to Lausanne.
Lausanne is a city built on a steep incline. One has to be quite strong on one's legs to be able to walk about there. I saw people of every nationality living there. The next town is Vevey. This is a lovely town and we went to a weekly market there and bought some Indian spices as our hostess wanted to eat Indian curry. So off we went searching for spices, and we found a South Indian couple selling spices..... who didnt know any English but spoke French and their own language!!! I tried Hindi... but drew a blank!! Everything else I needed I could get there including prawns.....and some wonderful cheese and cured meat including venison.
The Swiss are famous for their fondue. Fondue is a pot of molten cheese, Emarentelle, Gruyere and chedder/edam. It is served in a special fondue pot with a lamp under it. Bread and boiled potatoes are served with it. Each person breaks a piece of bread, dips it into the cheese and eats it. It is a communal meal. The fondue bowl is kept in the center of the table and the whole party sits around it and eats together.Fondue and wine is a complete meal. If you have cholesterol then beware!!!The place we went for fondue is a little village up in the mountains above Lausanne called Chalet St. Denis. We took the long route and went driving by many other villages through winding mountainous roads. The cafe is lined with wooden panels carved densely with animals and hunters etc.
That weekend was Durga Pujo and we went to Zurich for that. Zurich is about 2.5hrs drive from Clarens. It was a very nice Puja organised by the local Bengalis living in and around Zurich. We had a nice time with them, and also had a sumptuous Bhog after all the celebrations. The people were very friendly and they came and spoke to us when they realised we had gone all the way from Czech Republic to see the Pujo.
A word about the Swiss........ they are dour people, they seldom smile. They park cars on the side of the streets facing both directions, they bake fabulous bread and make wonderful cheese and chocolate, they are stickler for rules, and they are rich!!! The houses are mostly owned by the municipality and once you get into one you and your kids can stay forever. The municipality will do regular maintenance and do a complete makeover of your house/flat every four years. So everyone has a nice renovated house every four years and the whole country looks fresh and new always.
Switzerland is the mountain lovers paradise. It is a perfect combination of water and hills.... lots of lovely lakes to walk around and lots of mountain trails to trek.
We stayed at a lovely little village called Clarens near Montreux. Montreux is on Lake Geneve locally known as Lac Leman. Clarens is about 90 Kms away from Geneva. Montreux is the next town and it was a favourite watering hole for the rich and the famous and it probably still is. The R&F now all own chateu somewhere ........ Clarens is a typical Swiss village on the mountain with roads winding up and down the hillside, cars parked on slopes, houses that look so quaint that one may think they are doll's houses.The language spoken is French.
Clarens is part of the scenic Highlands Route and is surrounded by mountains. The Rooiberge is the range encompassing the village, whilst further on towards the southeast, the mighty Maluti’s stand proud in shades of purple and blue. All around are the sandstone cliffs with their multi-coloured layers - this horizontal strata is a unique geological feature of the area, and is known as the Clarens formation. Many homes in the Clarens Valley are made from Clarens Sandstone.
Every morning I would take the road that runs by the Lake and walk a long way down the road well past the city of Montreux to Territet enjoying the lovely view of the Lake and the mountains. Some days would be lovely and bright and some would be slightly misty. |
On the weekend we decided to go to Locarno on the otherside of the Alps as I had read that the scenery was fantastic all the way. The Tripadvisor website said the train was a MUST for this trip but we decided to drive as we were too late to catch the train that Saturday morning. And my oh my!!! Did we have a view.......... eyes full of it......... ever so lovely, wonderful mountains and deep gorges full of pristine forest....green meadows with grazing cows..... flowers on the forest floor... At times I was reminded of the Himalayas.....Our route was to go through Domodossola (Italy) and then to Locarno (Swiss)
Driving up onto the mountains towards Locarno we crossed into Italy and to the town of Re. The Church of Madonna of Saguine stands atop a mountain. As the story goes a man frustrated at his life threw a stone at the statue of Madonna in the Church. And the statue started bleeding....(talk of superstition!!) Apparently some blood collected from the Madonna's wound is still kept in a chalice..(I saw the chalice but wasn't sure of the blood) and therefore the devout Christians go there to perform pilgrimage. But it is a beautiful Chruch built atop the Alps.
Leaving the Church behind we went on our way to Locarno driving through twisting roads over the Alps passing viaducts, and rolling through long dark tunnels ....... Oh it was wonderful. The mountains are so neat and clean........ the smell was so nice ... the gentle autumn scents of the forest and land....I wished all the while that we could keep our Himalayas as clean as the Alps... it would be heaven!
It was almost evening by the time we reached Locarno. It is a pretty place on the north of Lago di Maggiori. It is very touristy and is full of American and European tourists. The city centre is very pretty from there we went to see the Church of Madonna del Sasso which almost sits atop Locarno. Europe is all full of churches sitting atop hills with the best views. Madonna del Sasso, which is a nunnery and a Church is reached by a funicular and has some spectacular views of the Lake and the city below.
As hotels are very expensive in Locarno we had booked a place a little away from the city. And this fortunately turned out to be near Lake Lugano. It was a pretty little hotel tucked away on a mountain slope and by the Lake Lugano. We were tired and hungry and so we went to eat out at an oseteria. And the fabulous Pizzas we ate!!!! Thin crust and spread with home cured ham and cheese............yummmm..... I will remember the taste for a long time. And the wine was just so wonderful.... I shall not contest that our hunger made the best sauce......... but the food and wine were awesome too......
The next morning we asked the hotel staff what was there to look around. And he guided us to the artists village 'Bre'. So we went to Lugano and then climbed the mountain to Bre. It was a beautifully sunny day, balmy with a warm sun shining down and a gentle breeze floating by. When we reached Bre, we just saw a car park and was a little disappointed. But then we walked into the village and it was everything that the guy had said.....a little place with narrow cobbled streets winding up to nowhere and little houses appearing at every corner each looking so different to the next, every house and corner is adorned with some work of art, artists sitting on their porches with newspapers, colors, paper, clay etc etc.......... whatever artists work with. I suppose one could buy some art work also.I just loved Bre and if I were a artist I would have stayed back there.
From Bre we returned to Lugano and had lunch at the very touristy but pretty little city square. The area around Lugano is famous for their wine so we drank local wine and made merry. On the way back we took another route and drove over the Neufenen Pass one of the highest Pass on the Alps. The mountains surrounding it already had the first snow and the Pass was almost bare and bereft of any vegetation.In a little quaint shop on the top of the Pass were parked a few cars, cycles and motorcycles......... all travellers like us crossing the Alps. I remembered reading Albert Einstein's biography that he had crossed the Alps on foot from Austria to Germany as a boy to seek admission in a college.I wondered if he had gone through the Neufenen Pass.
The next week passed quickly. We went to Geneva one fine day. Well, it was fine when we started, then it was not so fine when we reached Geneva, so I took the toy train so I could get to see some parts of old Geneva. Geneva somehow did not impress me so much....... perhaps I had expected more from it. It was just another European city. The same cobbled stones, the same stores, the square etc etc. Or maybe the weather dampened my mood. But then the skies cleared and we drove on to another nearby lake and from there to Lausanne.
Lausanne is a city built on a steep incline. One has to be quite strong on one's legs to be able to walk about there. I saw people of every nationality living there. The next town is Vevey. This is a lovely town and we went to a weekly market there and bought some Indian spices as our hostess wanted to eat Indian curry. So off we went searching for spices, and we found a South Indian couple selling spices..... who didnt know any English but spoke French and their own language!!! I tried Hindi... but drew a blank!! Everything else I needed I could get there including prawns.....and some wonderful cheese and cured meat including venison.
The Swiss are famous for their fondue. Fondue is a pot of molten cheese, Emarentelle, Gruyere and chedder/edam. It is served in a special fondue pot with a lamp under it. Bread and boiled potatoes are served with it. Each person breaks a piece of bread, dips it into the cheese and eats it. It is a communal meal. The fondue bowl is kept in the center of the table and the whole party sits around it and eats together.Fondue and wine is a complete meal. If you have cholesterol then beware!!!The place we went for fondue is a little village up in the mountains above Lausanne called Chalet St. Denis. We took the long route and went driving by many other villages through winding mountainous roads. The cafe is lined with wooden panels carved densely with animals and hunters etc.
That weekend was Durga Pujo and we went to Zurich for that. Zurich is about 2.5hrs drive from Clarens. It was a very nice Puja organised by the local Bengalis living in and around Zurich. We had a nice time with them, and also had a sumptuous Bhog after all the celebrations. The people were very friendly and they came and spoke to us when they realised we had gone all the way from Czech Republic to see the Pujo.
A word about the Swiss........ they are dour people, they seldom smile. They park cars on the side of the streets facing both directions, they bake fabulous bread and make wonderful cheese and chocolate, they are stickler for rules, and they are rich!!! The houses are mostly owned by the municipality and once you get into one you and your kids can stay forever. The municipality will do regular maintenance and do a complete makeover of your house/flat every four years. So everyone has a nice renovated house every four years and the whole country looks fresh and new always.
posted by jayashree at
9:28 AM
2 Comments:
Your description of the places is so vivid and picturesque that I feel like planning a trip there immediately.
Looks like a lovely, comfortable,tour of all those places in lovely Switzerland and part of Italy.
Your selection of words is very poetic. I read and re-read the blog.
I am back. Went back to Switzerland with you. Way too beautiful and relaxing!!
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