Grüsse, part deux

---

Grüsse!!

The rest of my time in Switzerland flew by! Before I knew it, I only had 2 weeks left and so much to fit in!

The last two weeks included lots visiting with various family members around Hasle Rüegsau, a trip to Zürich, celebrating a cousin's birthday and making Christmas cookies in Bern, visiting Fribourg and Gruyères, a trip to Strasbourg and a wedding in the Alps near Kiental.

On my trip to Zürich, I met up with my friend Edwin for lunch and dinner, and otherwise wandered around. In the morning, I wasn't so bothered to actually be much of a tourist, but still I forced myself to at least wander around the older part of town along the river. I found a cute street to take a lovely photo of, but I never got the photo I imagined, as right when I was about to release the shutter, a man with a cow walked into the frame. I have heard people in Zürich are a bit strange, but I certainly was not expecting to see a man in traditional farmer's clothes with a cow in downtown Zürich. My puzzled brain got an answer when the film crew came around the corner.
I also decided to climb the stairs behind the Central tramway station to the ETH to get a view of the city. I was accepted to study at the ETH, but ended up staying in Australia instead. The second time of wandering around the campus, I realized that I am still not quite ready to continue studying, despite the worldly reputation of the ETH. Perhaps one day...
After a while of wandering around, I decided to just sit at a cafe and write some postcards. Not finding a place that looked decent, I finally sucumbed to Starbucks, where I forgot to ask for a decaf coffee and felt rather ill from too much caffeine afterwards.
For lunch we had nice pizzas (I went with a truffle pizza, but then realized that I like morels, not truffles, oops), then afterwards I decided to wander around some more. I had a look at the outside of the Landesmuseum, or the Swiss National Museum, which housed in a sprawling, beautiful old-style building. Then I wandered into the Banhoff to check out the Christmas markets and the crystal tree, where the smell of raclette reminded me that I had overdosed on cheese by eating that whole pizza! I then saw the Picasso exhibition at the Kunsthaus, which was very interesting even though his art normally doesn't appeal to me.
The sun then came out and I enjoyed the warm sun by the lake before wandering around to take more photos. When Edwin was done with work, we had tea and Mohrenköpfe's (chocolate-coated marshmallow goodness, similar to Whippets in Montreal), then wandered down Bahnhoffstrasse to see the pretty Christmas lights (which apparently last year were not so pretty and were a huge topic of water-cooler conversations and newspaper editorials). We also took the time to wander down Rennwegg to be flabergasted at the prices of items in the windows of the shops, including watches at 25,000CHF and ugly necklaces for a bargain at 10,000CHF. (The CHF is currently almost on par with most of the dollars, including the US dollar). After our extensive window-shopping, we decided to set out looking for a place to eat, and found a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant. My tummy was very happy to have some non-Swiss food! Yum!!

For my cousin's birthday weekend in Berne, we wandered around the markets between the Parliament and the Münster Cathedral, then stopped for a much-too-alcoholic glüwine at the Christmas markets in front of the cathedral, then explored the markets on the Plattform behind the cathedral. Then it was back home to make Christmas cookies. We made brünsli (chewy chocolate and nut cookies), mailänderli (butter cookies), zimesterne (chewy cinnamon stars) and totenbeilini (hazelnut sticks). Mmm. Then followed by a dinner of raclette.

On my trip to Fribourg, I was pleased to be reading and hearing French once again. I don't speak Swiss German, so my brain was relieved to be able to understand conversations again! Because I visited on a public holiday, Ben and I decided to visit the old town and castle of Gruyères. The castle was beautiful, in a spectacular setting, and we followed our visit by having a traditional meringue with double cream, which the area is known for. We also visited the cheese factory, having a look at the thousands of wheels of le Gruyère cheese which were in various stages of aging.

And then the trip to Strasbourg. I went to visit Julie, whom I lived in for a while in Montréal, and together we wandered around the old city. There were lots of Christmas markets to see (she overheard one tourist say there were 17 of them), and lots of foods to try. I tasted the kougelhopf, a traditional savoury bread with raisins, and we made sure to share a "bretzel" with beer. We also marveled at the high levels of water in the river (there had been rain and warm temperatures which melted the snow in the area), and I gawked at the cathedral. At 142m, the Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg is one of the world's tallest churches. It's a fine example of Gothic architecture, and also houses a huge and fantastic astronomical clock.

And to end my trip to Switzerland, I celebrated with my cousin at her wedding in Kiental. The ceremony was in a beautiful old church near the lake of Thun, followed by an apéro in a castle with views on the lake. The party was then at Griesalp. We had to drive on snow to a parking lot, then walk the rest of the way because the road was too steep. After a 30-40 minute walk, we finally arrived at the hotel, greeted with wonderful views. The party was great fun, and the location was spectacular. This is certainly somewhere I'd like to re-visit! It was a winter wonderland and a great way to finish my trip.

Now onto Australia!!

---

Photos

A farmer in the city
An unexpected sight in downtown Zürich

Riverside View
A view of Zürich along the water

Crystal Christmas
The crystal-decorated Christmas tree at the train station in Zürich

A lovely view
The view from the old castle in Gruyères

Massive Cathedral
Looking up the facade of a huge cathedral in Strasbourg