La Vie en Suisse
Trip Start
Nov 14, 2007
1
92
Trip End
Apr 20, 2009
Zurich, Switzerland
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
When the toilet had no floor; the bus no driver; the stool no solidity; or the menu no Gruyeres cheese or Sausage: "Letīs just go to Switzerland".
It was a phrase used to mock our own īneed-fullnessī, not exactly serious, but every time we said it a vision appeared in my head of what Switzerland might actually be like. I would be a liar if I said that these were not complex visions(!) which may, or may not, have involved a beautiful blonde haired Damsel posing on a green field or ski piste, framed by mountains and happily holding aloft jugs of amber beer, with blocks of cheese and chocolate emanating from her tight fitting 'bustier' - enough for everyone!
I should qualify this admission by reminding people I spent several nights in the Sunderbans with a hallucinegenic fever in only the second week of our trip. The vision had since matured but retained the crucial 'supporting cast' of the damsel, the piste, the beer, the cheese, the chocolate and said bustier.
The figure of a Saint Bernard puppy rolling in snow -barrel of brandy slung from its neck- was a worthy addition to "The Vision" during a fit of asphyxia that I had in the mountains in Pakistan.
Is it any surprise, therefore, that I have found Switzerland to be different to my pre-conceptions!
Yes. And much to my pleasure AND disappointment.
"La Vie en Suisse" is coming soon..........
