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Published: July 23rd 2008
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Zurich HB station was filled with gigantic life-size blowups of Switzerland’s soccer players. It reminded me of the fanfare at Indian cricket matches. Spanish girl decided to ride with us on the train to Fribourg, and get down at Berne. The train stopped at Berne, the capital of Switzerland and Spanish girl got out, while we gazed out into the city as the train scurried past. Berne was crammed onto a steep-sided peninsula in the crook of the River Aare. We saw cobbled lanes, lined with sandstone arcaded ancient buildings, modern shop signs and a few tiny cars and a tram rattling past. The views, both of the Old Town’s clustered roofs and of the majestic Alps on the horizon, was breathtaking.
Zurich to Fribourg by train was 1.5 hours and we reached at 9:30 am. My cousin picked us up and drove us to her house. This was an entirely different Switzerland. We were right in one of the Swiss villages. People were gathered in front of a small church after Sunday mass. Swiss cows grazed at close quarters and from my cousin’s balcony, we could see the snow-peaked Alps. I envied her for living amidst such an ambience.
Her house alone reeked Indian right from the foyer. She had every possible brass Indian antique piece, Tanjore paintings, paintings of Maharajas, indoor fountains, Indian epics in the bookshelf and numerous figurines of Lord Nataraja and traditional dance anklets, as she is a classical dancer. I loved her home!
After exchaging gifts and pleasantries and saying hello to my nephew who was half-Swiss and half-asleep due to late night watching of the soccer match, she drove us to the Castle of Gruyers. It was so different from the other castles I had seen, because it was set in Switzerland amidst the lush green meadows and villages sprinkled around everywhere. It was a bright and beautiful day. The castle, previous home of 19 successive counts is one of the most prestigious in Switzerland. Shops and cafes lined the entrance without spoiling the charm and the little chapel in the courtyard of the castle was very quaint.
The tour of the castle offered a walk through centuries of architecture, history and culture. We passed the vaulted room and ancient armory that had modern paintings exhibited in them. My favorite room in the entire castle is the ancient kitchen preserved as
it was. The kitchen had the original fireplace with pot hangers, mechanical skewers and cooking pots, sandstone oven and bread oven. We climbed up the spiral staircase to see the Burgundy room, Carot’s room, Music room, Hunting room, Baroque room, Knights room, Room of the Counts and many more. Each room exhibited tapestry and wooden paneling, ancient furniture, bedsteads, dressers and armoires, pianos, majestic dining tables, hunting equipment, elk heads and numerous paintings.
I loved the “Room of the beautiful Lucy”. Lucy, a beautiful young woman of simple origins was loved dearly by the Count Jean II. An ancient tradition has it that a room in the Castle was dedicated to her. Whether he married her or not, the guide leaflet didn’t say. We walked over to the ramparts of the castle which probably housed the servant quarters, as I noticed the windows were small and a long corridor separated them from the main castle. There was a lovely French-style garden landscaped in geometrical patterns where the Count Jean II probably had a secret rendezvous with his Lucy!
We sat in the courtyard and ate the delicious meringues my cousin bought us. The meringues crumbled and melted in
my mouth as I bit into them. The cheese in some of the stores was stinking, that I had to get out. A few American tourists from Atlanta bought Swiss cheese; I hoped they wouldn’t carry it back home with them. Rajesh examined the Swiss liquor - Kirsch and Cadalevere, for a long time debating whether to buy it and decided to do his liquor shopping at Charles de Gaulle duty free. We chatted for a while and my cousin announced that she was going to treat us to “the Swiss meal of our life” at a fancy restaurant. But alas, we did everything in reverse!
We went home to pick up my nephew who was still sleeping and while waiting for him to get ready, ate a delicious and authentic Black Forest cake with the flavor of real brandy in it. Rajesh and I savored 2 big pieces and I felt slightly drunk. After dessert, off we went to the fancy Swiss restaurant which was closed on Sundays and then on to other fancy restaurants which were also closed on Sundays. Finally, much to my nephew’s delight, my cousin decided to take us to Mac Donald’s, which was
probably the only place open. She proudly showed us Fribourg University as we went past it into downtown and the university to me looked smaller than Guilderland High School.
We stumbled upon a pizzeria in the heart of downtown that was open and had tables in a big square and I was hungry for a real meal. My appetite in Switzerland was enormous, like that of the Swiss cows. While others ordered salads, I ordered a funghi pizza. My pizza was delicious while their salad sucked; it had celery and eggs in it. Yew! I offered to share my pizza, but my cousin looked scandalized and said that people do not share their meals here. Their loss, my gain; though I felt sorry for Rajesh, but still managed to finish the entire 8-cut pizza!
In Zurich people spoke German and in Fribourg they spoke both French as well as German. African girls in Swiss wore bindi on their foreheads that looked so out of place and annoyed me, as I believe that bindi is solely the Indian woman’s pride. Finally we bid goodbye and took off to Zurich. I was pleasantly surprised that my cousin’s gift to me
and the kids were beautiful Swatches, while Rajesh got a Victorinox. I wondered how she had read my mind about what I wanted or even realized that Rajesh didn’t wear watches and had the good sense not to get him one!
RV picked us up at Zurich HB and took us to a typical Swiss village called Regensberg. We had to pass through an ancient fortress to get into the village and found ourselves in front of an old well in the courtyard. Rajesh threw a coin in and the funky well lit up. There was a little chapel across the well. I realized the churches in Switzerland lacked grandiose compared to other European countries, but were nevertheless charmingly simple. We walked past typical Swiss houses with beautiful gardens and entered the village’s only café where the owner was watching the soccer match with beers and cigars. He was too drunk to notice us and we had to make our presence felt by creating a racket. In his drunken state he made us bad Swiss coffee, which we forcefully gulped. The valley view from the ramparts of the castle was stunning! We saw more Swiss cows and Zurich yonder.
I suspected that Rajesh wanted to drag the time he spent with his buddy; so he insisted on seeing the Alps once again and RV took us for a long and memorable drive through the countryside and up the mountains. It was foggy by then. But the Alps as usual were majestic and beautiful. I love the tweaky snow capped peaks of the Alps. It made me want to see the Himalayas. I wondered how we took time and spent money to visit a foreign country to see their wonders, while so much was available within our own. We stopped in a solitary café on the mountains with a stunning mountain view and bought coke zeros and stood outside leaning against the balustrades for a long time, chit-chatting and staring at the Alps in wonder.
It was time to head back to Zurich. We bought dinner at a Mid-east fast-food joint - Chicken kebap wraps and falafel. The wraps were delicious, filled with grilled chicken and vegetables. Rajesh saw the guy pour curry sauce over it. Even Mac Donald’s in Swiss gave curry sauce with chicken nuggets instead of BBQ sauce. So curry had come to Swiss!
We sat in RV’s office eating dinner at the conference table. I really pitied the nice German boss, who would open the door early next morning and smell curry! I gave the buddies some time alone, but they were subdued and lacked the prior mirth. So was I, because, our vacation had come to an end. We had to leave for Paris the next day!
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Charles Underwood
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Amazing!
Amazing collection, I have searched a long time to find a Nataraja of such high quality