Geneva is on the southernmost corner of Lac Leman (or Geneva Lake). From the lakefront one can't miss the ‘Jet D’Eau’ shooting high above the Lake Geneva. Being closest to France, we were immediately hit with French, which neither one of us spoke. Luckily, English was spoken in a lot of places and we were able to get by. Geneva is considered to be the world’s smallest metropolis, and with a free Geneva transportation pass that our hotel provided us, we were able to take the tram around and see the whole town in a few hours.
This is the European headquarters for the UN. Being an international town, there were a lot of choices of international restaurants ranging from European, Asian, to African. Narrowed down to two choices for my first dinner in Switzerland, between a restaurant called Edelweiss and Hanoi Pho, right outside of our hotel, I went for the Pho place. After the meal, I forked over $16 instead of the $1 that it had cost me in Hanoi. I knew right away that this city was going to be expensive.
Our friend Chartchana called us, around midnight on our second night, to tell us to expect him at 8:30 AM the next morning. After he had learned that we were planning to rent a car to drive around Switzerland, he said he had to come as soon as possible (ASAP) to rescue us from the mistake. Instead, he wanted us to buy a Swiss pass, which allowed free passage on almost all trains, buses, boats, cable cars, etc. within Switzerland. So, with a 8-day Swiss pass in our hands for the two of us, we headed off to Montreux with Chartchana in the lead.
Montreux is located on the northeast corner of Lac Leman. On one side of the lake, we could see the French Alps (Chamonix, Mont Blanc) still covered with snow and on the other side, we saw steep hillsides where the vineyards could be seen among many mountain chalets.
Montreux is a charming resort lakeside town. The whole lakeside was beautifully maintained, with gardens blooming with a riot of spring flowers, with a nice and wide walkway. It is also called the “Swiss Riviera”, where many locals come to vacation.
This is Challon Castle, which is actually an oval shaped castle, if viewed from the top. It was built on the lakeside of Lake Geneva, about 10 minutes bus ride from Montreux. It is considered to be one of the more historically significant Swiss castles. Inside the castle were exhibits of furniture, from the Roman to medieval periods.
One of the most famous residents of Montreux was Charlie Chaplan. He lived in this beautiful area for the last 25 years of his life, in exile from Hollywood and the U.S..
Chartchana had purchased a 3 month Swiss Pass (at a cost of about $1,400) as soon as he had arrived in Switzerland. He asked that we also purchase the ‘second class’ cabin to join him. For this, we would thank him later on, since the difference in quality between the first and second-class cabins in the Swiss train, was almost none. It was as clean and comfortable and had plenty of empty seats. The only difference that I saw, besides the cost, was that the first class seats were a bit wider and the cabin emptier.
Zurich’s Bahnhof (the largest train station in Switzerland), would be our Swiss hub. That evening, we arrived in Zurich without having booked a hotel reservation. We had booked 3 nights in Geneva but had to leave one day early due to Chartchana’s urging. He told us “not to worry” because he knew a good place for us to stay. When I cautiously asked him how many stars our lodging in Zurich would have, he looked at me and said, “what stars? It doesn’t even have a moon”. We first went around looking for lodgings that came with stars and we kept on striking out because the prices were a LOT higher (275 – 350 Swiss Francs) than what Chartchana had expected. We left Joanne sitting with the luggage on a bench square and then he even took me to his friends’ (Wilai & Natree) boutique. Then, the three of us went around by foot from hotel to hotel, looking for that night’s lodging. Finally, we ended up at the ‘no star, no moon’ hotel that Chartchana had in mind for us in the first place. The room was very spartan at best, but like most hotels in Switzerland, it was clean. It was also close to the Zurich Bahnhof and we had WiFi signal (although we almost had to lean out the window to get it).
So, we ended up with this beautiful view of the river from our room. Thanks to Chartchana, we had found the most inexpensive but central base we could find in Switzerland, in the city of Zurich, that was notorious for being the most expensive, perhaps even more so than London.
The following day, Chartchana came early to take us to Rhinefalls in Schaffhausen via the train, of course! The Rhinefalls was no comparison to the Niagra Falls, but we really enjoyed being whisked away to the right train, and then after getting off the train, being led to the right bus, getting off at the right stop, being guided to the correct street, etc. etc.
Since this was still part of the Easter break for a lot of kids, many families had come out to picnic in the surrounding parks and to enjoy a little boat ride to the small island in the middle of the waterfall. We joined them with a picnic of our own, with the Thai food that Chartchana had cooked for us. In fact, he had brought so much food and drinks, that even the strap of his backpack broke while he was carrying it. We had his utensils, cups, and Tupperware all spread out on a blanket and had the oddest but tastiest combination of Thai food by the Swiss lakeside.
Typically, in many of the Swiss towns, we found fountains of all shapes and sizes; mostly with a statue of some sort, and with the town flag on it. There were also many drinking fountains all over the towns. Chartchana told us that the waters were directly from the nearby Evian Mountains. Everyday, we would fill our water bottles with the fresh Evian Water from the Swiss Alps, free of charge. I didn’t see how the bottle water companies could do business here.
The next day, Chartchana again showed up at our hotel with a new backpack, filled with lunch, to take us to another town – Lucerne. This town was situated in Lake Lucerne encircled by hills and mountains; it was considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the country. The key landmark of the city was the wooden Chapel Bridge, which dated from 1333. It had almost burned down several times. Its silo shape reminded us of Kevin & Tess in Australia since Kevin was a silo designer.
We took a lake cruise on the lovely Lake Lucerne. During the cruise, we enjoyed Chartchana’s good food while the beautiful scenery unfolded before us. The scenery looked a lot like the lake in Montreux, with snow capped mountains on one side and Swiss chalets, dotting the hills, on the other. It was a perfect postcard view after another, wherever we turned.
That evening, after we returned from Lucerne Lake, we took the two sisters (Natree and Wilai) and Chartchana out to dinner at a Lebanese Restaurant. It was the first time, for any of us, to taste Lebanese food. To our surprise, the food was really delicious. The two Thai Princesses were so funny that they kept us laughing all night long. Wilai (younger and sitting next to Chartchana) had attended the London School of Design where she had studied fashion design, and now designed under her own label of Wilai London. Natree (older sister, sitting next to Joanne) was the co-owner of their shops, both in Zurich and also in Bangkok. We hit it off really well and laughed all night long.
The next day, since Chartchana had to work, we went solo to Interlaken, which was in the midst of the highest of the Swiss Alps. By this time, after having watched Chartchana navigate thru the Swiss train system, we were able to first take a train to Interlaken with ease. This was a photo taken from the train, on the way up the mountain; the whole way we had a feast for eyes. One scene after another, we saw beautiful views of lakes, mountains, rivers, and hillside homes surrounded by blooming fruit trees.
After getting off at Interlaken Ost, we got onto another train to Lauterbrunnen. It was a charming and small mountain village, in the middle of the Swiss Alps. We then took a very steep cable car ride and another short train ride to get to the town of Murren.
There were many of these types of spring flowers in all of the towns that we visited. This was typical of the Swiss style, which reminded us of Japan. Swiss people also seemed to indulge in the beauty of arts and crafts of even small things. In fact, we were told that the famous Swiss watch making came about due to farmers having ‘down’ time, during the long winter months, and therefore assembling them as a hobby and extra income. When you are in Switzerland, don’t say ‘meet me in front of the watch store’ – there were more watch stores here than the number of Karaoke bars in Seoul.
This was on the way to Murren, where there was a lot of snow still remaining.
Many skiers were still in the town of Murren, since the ski slopes were still open.We wore a lot of layers of clothing and walked through the quiet streets and alleys of the Swiss hillside town, just enjoying the scenery.
Deep below the valley of the snow covered mountains, there was a small village; it looked just spectacular.
This is the town of Bern, which is the capital of Switzerland. Like most towns in Switzerland, seemingly, there was either a river or lake going thru them. This was the Aare River. Bern was named for the bear; a mascot of the city. So, needless to say, there was a statue of a bear in the middle of town.
Bern is also known for its many arched passageways, covered arcades, fountains, cobbled streets, old beautiful buildings and churches.
This is Kim and Jean Luc. We met them, with their two children, at the Athens Airport. We just happened to be sitting next to each other, waiting for our departures, us heading to Budapest and them heading back home to Switzerland, after vacationing in Greece. From the brief encounter at the airport, they invited us to visit them when we were in Switzerland. Jean Luc is a research scientist with PhD in Chemistry and Kim is an English teacher and translator (she speaks 5 languages). When we arrived in Basel, their hometown, they cooked a wonderful Swiss meal for lunch (Raclet – melted cheese and vegetables that you put on boiled potatoes) and then they took us around their town. In the evening, they then cooked us a Korean meal, which we thoroughly enjoyed with their two children – Hans and Hanna.
Jean Luc was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge (he's the one who told us about how the Swiss watchmaking got started). He explained to us about all of the buildings and history of the town as we walked. This was the banker’s guild building, which was built to counter the church and its Bishop’s gripping power, in the olden days. Eventually, the working bourgeoisie was able to wrest the governing power away from the Bishop. They wanted to build something fancy to match the cathedral’s grandeur.
We rode this boat across the Rhine River. The boat is tied to a cable above which spans across the river. From just the current of the flowing river, the boat crosses the river, with no outside power, and just simply by turning of the bow. The guy who was dressed in a gondola outfit had the easiest job, not having to do anything but to collect the money. It’s no wonder that he was humming a song and seemed to be in a happy mood.
The next morning, the Birbaums took us to a nearby country town. It was the Sunday after Easter and the whole town was continuing the Easter festivities by playing games for the kids and adults alike. They were racing scooters, collecting eggs into little baskets, doing races with one leg tied to the one another, etc. There was even a TV crew covering the event.
We took a walk along the countryside in this peaceful town. This was where Kim and Jean Luc came often to take a walk. There was a medieval castle up on the hill, unusual ‘water falls’ where moss filled water dripped slowly down large rocks, a small pond, as well as lots of trees and fields filled with blooming wildflowers.
Kim told us that usually Jean Luc is more reserved with others but somehow felt very comfortable with us when we first met. It may have been that both Jean Luc and I had similar academic backgrounds, Joanne and I felt very comfortable with them from the start as well. We had more than our share of endorphins while spending time together. 
The spring was in full bloom. Even the trees were showing the vibrant colors with fresh new leaves.
When we returned to Zurich, the city was celebrating a local holiday called Sechlelauten. It was similar to the Groundhog Day in the US, and it signified the passing of the winter. Depending on how quickly the snowman burned down (the head eventually bursts), it was supposedly able to predict how long the coming summer would last.
The whole town was out to enjoy the holiday. There were food stalls everywhere, and a lot of people were dressed in costumes. Some were dressed up in long-ago costumes representing local trades, and they paraded down the main streets with many of them carrying baskets of flowers.
There was music everywhere as well. There were many different marching bands, all wearing different costumes, for marching in a big parade.
That evening, the sisters threw a BBQ party for us. We joined them at Natree and Stephan’s house in a suburb of Zurich, with a beautiful view of the valley from the backyard balcony. Stephan is Natree’s husband and owns a very successful tour company. Their friend, Chris, joined us as well. He owns a real estate development business and was originally from Jamaica, but currently lives in Zurich and London. With free flowing Spanish Merlots, and even a Grappa tasting contest, we were pretty well toasted that night (Stephan had a well stocked large wine cellar in the basement of his house).
The next morning, after the night’s sleep at Natree and Stephan’s house, on our last day in Switzerland, we headed to Lugano. It was located in the southeast, close to Lake Como, on the Italian side of Switzerland.It was a given that the natural beauty of Switzerland awaited us, but what was unexpected was the warmth and beauty of the people that we met there. It started with Chartchana, a Thai hotel worker whom we had met in Bangkok. We had been keeping in touch via email and he happened to be in Switzerland at the same time that we were. He was visiting his sister who lives in Olten (about 30 min. by train from Zurich). Having spent many of his past 7 years living in Switzerland, he gladly took us around (he had previously taken us around for one day in Thailand, at the old ruins of Ayuthaya). He also introduced us to his two Thai friends living in Zurich – two sisters, Natree and Wilai, who threw a feast for us and had us sleep over at their lovely home. The two free spirited princesses (we call them princesses because after seeing how lightly we traveled, Natree told us that she once had 129 Kg of luggage and had to have four men to carry them! She even had no trouble at the airport custom's using her charms) were funny and kept us all entertained.
We also had another family, the Birbaums in Basel, who were wonderful to us. After having only briefly met at the Athens Airport, they invited us to visit them in Basel. They were kind to take us around sightseeing for two days, feeding us home-cooked meals, and even opening their home to us. During our eleven days in Switzerland, I must say that the most memorable thing was spending time becoming friends with all of these beautiful people. So, we will not only remember the natural beauty of Switzerland, which was incredible, but more importantly, the beauty of the friendships that were formed, which will be cherished for a long time to come.
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