Lost in Switzerland ~ A Foreign Adventure: Week 33: Cheese and Chocolate in Switzerland

August 11 to 18, 2010

Last Wednesday I flew over the big blue ocean to my second “greatest adventure ever” – Switzerland. Ireland still takes first place. God has blessed me a million times this year and this is just one more amazing blessing. My job flew me to our headquarters for a few meetings. I arrived on Thursday in Zurich, after a long but comfortable flight across the big blue ocean where I had a whole row to myself. I rented a car and drove out of the airport. There was one major problem; I couldn’t read any of the signs! Thankfully I had a GPS to tell me where to go. My first destination was Rheinfall. I think along the way I might have driven through 3 kilometers of Germany but I’m not sure. When I arrived at Rheinfall, I smelled the cows. There are cows all over Switzerland, hence they are known for cheese. Rheinfall was beautiful – a wide waterfall with a castle on the shore and a rock island in the middle. I took a boat to the island and climbed the steep stairs to get an amazing look at the falls and castle. Fabulous!

After that, I started my trip to Uzwil and took the scenic route. There are farms everywhere. Many of them are growing fields of sunflowers. I passed through a very historic and magnificent town. I have no idea what the name was, but it looked just like the pictures of Switzerland. The houses were skillfully painted and were an integral part of the wall that protected the town. There were amazing arches on each side of the town. I stopped in a café to get a bite to eat. I chose what looked like yogurt. It was the most delicious treat – strawberry yogurt, with granola and fresh scrumptious fruit. It was amazingly fresh! The cemetary looked like a garden. I have never seen a more beautiful place to bury people. I want to be burried in a flower garden! I left there and drove up past the vineyards to a castle on top of the hill and took a tour. From the castle you could see the entire town. I decided to stop by the toilet. The signs didn't have pictures on them, just words. I pondered this and listened for people. I didn't hear anyone around so I picked one that made sense to me. The sign read damen; it's sounds close to dame. I didn't see any urinals so I'm guessing I was in the right toilet room. I drove from there into Germany. As I went to cross the boarder, I had no idea what to do. The guard just waved me on through and I drove around Germany for a bit. The small towns were marvelous! As I drove back into Switzerland, I saw many guards ahead. I didn’t know what to do again. I slowed down and they stared at me but didn’t say a word. I just crept on through and kept driving. I found out later that you can travel freely across the boarders in Europe.

I made it to Uzwil and crashed by 5PM. I worked on Friday and met many wonderful people at the company there. On Saturday, I took off with a colleague and went to Luzern. It was a charming town and they were having a farmers market and flea market. They had a stand full of cow bells, humungous cow bells and tiny cow bells. There were fresh produce stands and my favorite – cheese stands. You could smell the cheese from 20 feet away. It was amazing! There is a river that runs through town and there are wooden bridges across the river that add so much to the scenery. There was also a man on the corner playing music with a harmonica/accordian thing. From Luzern we drove to Zurich for the 19th annual Street Parade. A street parade is a big techno party. They have stages with techno music all about. Then there is a parade of 18-wheelers carrying techno DJs and dancers. The parade lasted for hours. It was also an excuse for people to dress crazy. We saw many crazy people and had a great time. Back at the hotel, we dropped into the bar for a beer. The people were staring at me. As we left, I asked my colleague if I look different, if you could tell I wasn’t a local. The answer was yes. Apparently you can spot a non-European a kilometer away.

Sunday I got up and drove to Sankt Moritz. On the way I saw a rainbow, it's gotta be a sign of good luck. It rained most of the way down. I drove through the mountains and through tunnels and saw beautiful scenery. I stopped to take pictures of the cows with bells on their necks. Some had big bells – these are the older cows. Some had small bells – these are the young cows. The bells serve two purposes in the Alps. One is that the cows follow each other by the pitch of their bells. The younger ones learn to follow the older ones and thus they stay together in the Alps so no cow gets lost. And the other reason is so the farmers can hear the cows and find them. As I crested the final pass before Sankt Moritz I saw a breathe-taking view. Turquoise blue lakes as the base of snow capped mountains. You couldn’t have a more beautiful picture. It was amazing! I drove around Sankt Moritz and then parked near one of the lakes. I hiked around the lake and up to a waterfall. The view from the top of the waterfall was once again spectacular. I sat at the top and breathed in the view and refreshed my soul. Nothing refreshes a person like the beauty that God has created. I walked around through a ski resort town and the chalets were picturesque. As I drove back, I actually drove through some snow! Snow in August…isn’t it wonderful?!

I dropped the car off and took the train back to Uzwil. I worked on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday evening another colleague Marco took me to a local chocolate shop. I bought $70 worth of chocolate. Wild West I got some for you. WTG next time we do some porch sippin’ there will be some Swiss chocolate. Later that evening, we went to Wil. Wil was a cute little town. My 2 bosses and I walked around a bit and ate some dinner. Big Boss Man had a little trouble figuring out how to turn the faucet on in the bathroom. I had a little trouble myself but I figured it out in about 1 minute. Big Boss Man had to make a return visit to the bathroom to wash his hands after I commented on the interesting on-button. We laughed much about this.