Echoes from Switzerland

My friend and I arrived in Geneva quite late at night on the 20th of June last year, and headed straight (the route literally was a long straight road) to the youth hostel where we’d booked a room for two. For me, it was the first time in a youth hostel, and surprised I was. No, it wasn’t because it was a reflection of my image of hostels being disgusting, deteriorating and with cramped rooms and corridors, but quite the contrary. We had a nice room to ourselves, with an en-suite bathroom for less than £20 (woo!) – my friend, who had more experience with them, confirmed that it really was quite fancy for a youth hostel.

Thankfully, the next day was not spent woo-ing over the youth hostel, but instead, we found ourselves mesmerised by the locales of Geneva – we made our way to the Bain des Paquis (a nice riverside place to hang out, with good views), after which we strolled through the town until we found the highly recommended Chocolaterie du Rhone. It was sublime – a little tray with hot chocolate, chocolate cake, and a tiny piece of pure, simple chocolate. We visited the Palais des Nations (the UN, of course), took a rather dull tour around the not-so-dull place, and then made our way to the ‘Old Town’ of Geneva. It was photogenic, with tiny alleys leading to architectural marvels. We dined alfresco at a Tex-Mex restaurant called Manana, before we headed back to the hostel and slept like logs. The morning presented us with a filling complimentary breakfast at the hostel, which gave us enough energy to cope with the lengthy process of buying youth travel passes at the station, from where we eventually caught a train towards the little village of Chandolin, in Valais. This journey by train (the first of the many to follow) was beautiful. The Swiss railways really are commendable.

Chandolin turned out to be a little village. And very quiet and scenic too. We walked around taking pictures, and stopped to have rosti and Alpine herbal tea near the poste (station). We then headed off to Grimentz, another very photogenic village. We stayed the night at a lovely, lovely gite (a bed and breakfast, which we reached scrambling up a steep hill) at a tiny place called St. Jean. The gite was taken care of by a wonderful man, a patisserie chef who had previously supplied to Harrods in London! Unfortunately, since he was busy elsewhere, he was unable to cook dinner for us, so we instead had nice, warm ‘Gardiniere’ fondue at a restaurant nearby. That day ended in a tranquil manner – we sipped vanilla tea while lounging in the living room of the sublime gite, where soft jazz music wafted from the speakers, and into our ears.

Each day came with its own set of surprises for us. The next day we made our way towards the German part of Switzerland (till now it was predominantly French), in order to see the 23-kilometre-long Aletsch glacier, the longest in the Alps. It was quite a journey in itself – bus, train, sitting in between two rail tracks waiting for the next train, cable car, and finally, the most exciting bit – the ski-lift (which was very, very steep!). After taking some pictures of the breathtaking views there, we headed back down, and decided to visit the Matterhorn, in Zermatt. Zermatt was enchanting – although buzzing with tourists (particularly Japanese ones!), it was still very charming, and we indulged in fresh, warm pancakes with apple puree and cinnamon, while gazing at the peak of Matterhorn. We took the Glacier Express to Brig, where we were joined by another friend, and spent the night at a lovely, homely room on top of a bustling bar. We once again dined alfresco in a beautiful restaurant which served risotto with way too much alcohol.

The following morning we left Brig for Lugano, a small town in Ticino. Let me tell you a bit about Ticino. It’s the Italian bit of Switzerland, and so, so different from any other place I’ve been to – it’s got palm trees on hill slopes! Also, rustic grottos (traditional restaurants), a beautiful lake, and very hot Swiss-Italian men. And the best youth hostel of our trip – a pink building surrounded by palm trees, set on a hill overlooking the town. We were given a room after much struggle, but it was worth every bit of it – we were lucky enough to get a triple room all for ourselves – it was an ‘attic’ room, very cosy and nicely furnished. The town of Lugano was a treat in itself – narrow winding lanes, with open market areas, and a calm, blue lake with lots of grottos and parks on the hill sides of the numerous islands. After a relaxing boat ride in the lake, we went in quest of a particular grotto, where we had a hearty meal in a family-run enterprise.

After a breakfast of fresh fruits from the market, it was the olive park, where we went by boat the next morning. It was in the form of an interesting trail, with facts about olive trees written at various intervals in the midst of the trees themselves. We then made our way to the town of Locarno. In itself not as interesting as Lugano, but the locales surrounding Locarno are unique. We straight away headed to the locally recommended Verzasca Valley, trekking through beautiful vineyards on our way there.

The Verzasca valley comprised of an emerald green stream, flowing over the mountain rocks, with pine trees on the sides. Although mapped as a tourist destination, the valley had the feel of unexplored beauty. In fact, this is something which I found to be characteristic of most parts of Switzerland that we visited in this trip – although almost every bit of the country is mapped as tourist destinations, they still retain the charm of uncharted, undiscovered places. Their being mapped down has thankfully not taken away their charm, but instead, has simply made the places more accessible.

A bus drove us all along the valley, until we finally reached a little village right at the end of the ride. After walking along taking pictures, we came across this seemingly undiscovered paradise. There was suddenly, in front of us, surrounded by mountains on all sides (and trees, and the emerald stream), a wooden playground. It was surreal and entirely natural. I heard the stream pass us by, feeling the fresh Alpine wind blow against my cheeks, while I saw myself getting closer and closer to the sky during my ride on the swing. It was innocence and sublimity in itself. And not surprisingly, we got so mesmerised here, that we nearly missed the last bus back to Locarno! Once back, we went to Ascona, a town near Locarno, where we could hear the presence of the ongoing jazz festival. We went down little lanes, until we reached another grotto, which was unlike anywhere any of us had ever been before.

It would be fitting to end with our unusual experience of that grotto – we again dined alfresco, but this time underneath a mesh of hanging grapes. It was the customers who paid for the electricity there – as soon as the lights went off, someone would volunteer to go and pay at a vending machine, which amazingly enough, brought back the electricity! The food was a hearty, set meal of salad, polenta (the local staple), pasta, bread, cheese and some cake. Feeling even more adventurous, we also tried some grappa (the local favourite drink).

Our way back to London was through Geneva. On a final ‘acknowledging’ note, I would like to highlight the efficiency of the Swiss rail service – they’re on time to the second, and they also managed to find and post back my friend’s camera intact, which she had left behind on the last day, on one of the trains! Not the perfect end to the otherwise near-perfect trip!