Switzerland

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After Bavaria, my next stop was Lake Konstanz to meet Stefan (an EADS praktikant that I met while working at Airbus), where we spent a night. The next day we went through Zurich, Lucern and the Alps on the way to Ticino which is in the south Switzerland. Just from the shops in the city, you can tell that Zurich is a pretty rich city and like the cities in Germany, it is very ordered. If you ever happen to be there make sure u go to the chocolate shop/café Sprugli…its got one of the best hot chocolates u will taste and I would know considering that’s the main drink I order.

The day we traveled to Brissago the weather was pretty crappy and it was raining which meant that I didn’t get to see the Alps in the sun but nevertheless, it was still very impressive. The following morning I woke up to a sunny day in Stefan’s family’s holiday apartment which is on the top floor right on the waterfront of a lake Maggiore that goes through Switzerland and Italy. Needless to say as you can see from the pictures the view was amazing. During my time there I got to go on market trip to Italy by boat and also visited Italy for lunch with Stefan’s family on their boat!! It was great as u could imagine, oh and on my last night Stefan taught me how to make sushi.

Stef also took me on a day trip to Bosco, Gurin and this is one of those picture perfect villages in Switzerland that you hear about: The villages comprised of stone houses with an amazing Mountain backdrop and crystal clear rivers! I cannot capture how pretty it was in words or in photos for that matter, but I am sure the photos below do a better job than me.

I left Switzerland all excited that I was going to see one of the most famous cities in the world: Rome. But the excitement was also hugely due to me knowing that in Rome I would also finally see one of my best friends, Bianca, after 6 months. Crossing the Italian border by train very much mirrored the experience by boat: everything seemed to turn to chaos.

My train into Milan arrived 10min late leaving with 5 min to get to another platform. I got there and I was on the 8th wagon…so a rather long walk with a lot of luggage. Then some dude started speaking to me in Italian and pointing at the train….it started to leave. I was about to scream at the unpunctual Italians but luckily the train driver saw me and stopped. But because I hadn’t yet made it to the 7th carriage yet I just jumped on whatever one was there and was planning on walking to the 7th carrige on the train. But then I realized I was on an empty 1st class carriage and I looked at my suitcase and down the long train and figured I’d risk it! And guess what I spent 4 hrs in nice wide 1st class chairs with a working power point . (The ticket man didn’t care)

I would also like to say Thank-you to Stefan, his Mom and his Step-dad for welcoming me into their home for these few days and showing me Switzerland. I am sure that I would not have enjoyed Switzerland nearly as much without them and their help.

See you on your trip to Oz Stefan!

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Photos

Stefan’s Family
These great people opened their doors and helped me to experience Switzerland in a way I could have never experienced it on my own without the tips from the ‘locals’

Lago Maggiore
A Castle we passed in the middle of the lake.

Crossing the Italian Border
Visualising this ‘imaginary’ border line between Italy and Switzerland was not hard at all. Everything on the Swiss side is far beyond perfection and perfectly ordered which cannot be said for the Italian side of the border.

Luzern Bridge
One of the towns we stopped over in on the way to Ticino

Sushi Anyone?
On my last night with Stefan’s Family, Stef showed me how to make Sushi, we did a fine job even if i do say so myself.

Comments

[ticino]

I enjoyed the time with you
It was a fun time with you. I even saw places again, to which I havn't been for over 10 years. I am really locking forward to see you again down under. Stefan