So, I am currently in Salzburg, Austria, but I thought I'd blog about Zurich and Jungfrau first. There will be plenty of Salzburg entries to come!
Kev and I were finding Switzerland more and more expensive! We shopped at the grocery store to have one of our cool lunches, looking for salads, bread, cheese etc, and when we arrived to the counter, it ended up being around 48 CHF! (And Kev and I didn't buy as much as when we bought stuff in Spain!).
Anyways, our stay in Zurich was short, with our only full day being an excursion to the Jungfrau region (the Alps). It was a long day, starting at 8am and returning back home at around 8pm, but it was well worth it. The experience was breathtaking and inspirational! I love mountaineering (though, really we were just hiking.) But I think I like the extremes. Extreme heat or extreme cold, below sea level when diving, or up in the mountains.
I found that Jungfrau (meaning virgin in German) reminded me of my trek up Huang Shan in China (which was 1800 metres above sea level), and to my surprise, we saw a wall in the Jungfrau complex which was dedicated to Huang Shan because they are sister Mountains! Both have been awarded as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Kev and I took a train up to 3,454 metres above sea level, the highest railway station in the world, we then had to walk through the Jungfrau complex to get the the sphinx is 3,571 metres above sea level. When we arrived to the sphinx, it was breathtaking. Literally. When we started up the stairs, Kev and I found that we were hit with a surprising dizziness, and slight nausea- we experienced our first acclimatisation issues. It was not nice, but it was nevertheless a cool experience.
On the train to Jungfrau
Unfortunately, the internet is super slow in Austria, so I can't upload any videos, will try to when I get to Munich or home!
I can't believe I am in Switzerland now. Our romantic time in Spain seems like a dream, and I keep referring to it to Kev thoughout this trip. I also miss you!!! It was so fun frolicking around together! I do note that there are things in Spain that I took for granted; one of them being that the olives in Spain were so nice, and a lot of them have their seeds. Here in Switzerland, just like in Perth, most of the olives are stuffed, or 'de-pipped'.
I also miss the Spanish people in general. They were all so very lovely, happy, charming and relaxed. In Switzerland, the people are more like Australians. Friendly, yet a bit more serious.
When I arrived in Geneva, the thing that hit me was that I was so used to saying 'Hola!' and 'Gracias!' and that in Geneva, it is all french! Kev's french is quite good, and so he ordered everything. I knew a few things, but the shock from the cultural transition, and being not so confident, I was very slow in responding, and comprehending what was being said. That was a bit frustrating. This morning, I started getting used to greeting with 'Bonjour!' and saying 'merci', I was also practicing in my head 'parle vous anglais?'. However, when arriving into Zurich around noon, to my dismay, they all spoke German!
That aside, Switzerland is beautiful in its own way. There is green everywhere from the trees to the grass, with a backdrop of the mountains. Ah, so beautiful.
The first day in Geneva, Kev and I were super tired. He had a big night, the night before I arrived, whereby all the engineers at the Convention had their farewell dinner and drinks. So Kev and I pretty much just strolled along Lake Geneva and saw all the main sites:
The Swiss flags always is a good indicator that we are indeed in Switzerland
In the empty street of Geneva
The Jet d'Eau.
Breakfast on day 2 - Crepes!
Kev at the CERN
Kev and I inside that wooden ball which ended up being a presentation on Universe of Particles
Kev's big 'to do' thing was to visit CERN and see the Large Hadron Collider. Unfortunately we were unable to get a tour to see it, but we took advantage of their free presentations. They were interesting, but admittedly, my science and physics were very very very basic, so some of the explanations were beyond me, and Kev had to explain to me.
After that, we ended up doing our laundry which took a long time, but we had a walk around the block near our hotel, and realised we were in the heart of the red light district. I was not accustomed to see women dressed in such little, or such provoking clothing just sitting on a wall, or standing at a corner or on the side of the road. When we returned to the laundry mat, I also realised that there were some 'ladies of the night' standing just outside. I just had to keep telling myself to stop gwaking at them.
Kev and I ended up sitting outside the laundry mat, as it was too hot to wait inside, and we were approached by the cutest little girl everrrr! She was super friendly and very talkative, speaking in either French, or Spanish or Italian, (because she was only a toddler, her words were slurry). She sat down next to us, and her eyes beamed with innocence and amusement that she had someone to talk to (while her mom was doing the laundry). She had all these facial expressions and hand gestures as she was trying to explain stuff to us in her toddler bable. Awwwww.
Anyways, after the laundry, we got ready for dinner. We made a booking at the Edelweiss Restaurant which was just around the corner from us. I had found this place on the internet, and the reviews said that it served Swiss Cheese Fondue. It was such a great night! We were greeted by a large St Bernard, before going downstairs to eat with a live two man band playing Traditional Swiss music, inclusive of songs with the accordion yodeling, cow bells and the alpine horn!
The huge St Bernard
We ordered the cheese fondue, and raclette - both being cheese dishes
Anyways! Tomorrow Kev and I will be making our way to the Jungfrau region. I shall post all about Zurich afterwards!
