Nine Hours of Daydreaming

Train to Zurich, 23 March, 11 am

Urban grids have given way to peaceful fields as we make our way, rather calmly, to our eventual destination of Zurich. Zuuuu-rrr-iccch rolls off the tongue and makes the city sound sharp and serious, sophisticated and expensive. I know it'll be a contrast to gritty Bratislava and elegant Vienna and although we're only there for an hour, it'll be enough to reinforce the reputations it and Geneva have as Swiss powerhouses. Bern, on the other hand, is supposedly smaller and more like a toyland-- just what we expect of the land of Heidi, cuckoo clocks, and Lindt chocolate.

So I munch on my half-loaf of rye bread, smelly meat and cheese and blueberry-lavender chocolate, and muse about our travels so far. I had no idea last summer that I'd eventually look out a train window and see idyllic lakes and mountains with squat alpine houses keeping company among the hills. It all seems so very Tolkien.

I know I'm extremely lucky to have had this amazing year but don't want to lapse into cliche to describe my gratitude. Really, when people say "Ah! You're so lucky!", I want to reply that it's entirely possible for anyone to go. If you're willing to sit on trains for hours, buy a 1 euro coffee at McDonald's for lunch and stay for the warmth, or skip expensive museums to sit beside the Danube and feed the ducks, you can afford it. And then you won't miss the view I have as I write this-- misty mountains couched by a shimmering lake. Seriously. It's not a cliche.

2:45 pm

I wonder if the eastern Swiss and western Austrians feel claustrophobic living among mountains and trees. What a difference to the moors of northern England or even the cornfields of southern Ontario. Here, every town is blessed with the turquoise water and mountain backdrop of a Lake Louise. I wonder if they still look at the scenery in amazement every day.

4:32 pm

Arrived in Zurich to see Jean waiting for me right at the platform-- how nice and easy! She's had a great week with her sister "eating their way through Italy" as she puts it, driving through Tuscany in search of gastronomical pleasures. What better place, really?


We caught the train to Bern within five minutes (no wandering about Zurich for us) and found our hostel quite easily. It's right beside the river Aare, below the Bundeshaus, home of the Swiss Parliament. Bern is quite compact for a capital city, so we'll be easily able to visit most of the monuments, some of which are literally a stone's throw from the hostel. And tomorrow-- up early to visit Interlaken!