Memories of Switzerland 22-28 August

- Travelling by train through valleys and mountain tunnels, with tiny villages dotted all around. 

- Being met at Zug by Maja and Christian, with bikes for us to ride 10km to their village - Christian's has a trailer for our luggage. But first we must swim in the lake of Zug, which is cold and the weather is barely warm ...

- Staying in their house we meet and eat with an English/Swiss woman, an Ethiopian family, a Russian family, a Lithuanian/German family. There's enough English between them all to manage, and smiles and gestures go a long way. 

- Cycling through the tiny villages, each with a church and houses with shutters and window boxes of geraniums. We buy fresh-picked fruit and veg from little farm shops and just-milked milk from coin-in-the-slot machines. 

- Taking part in an Eritrean coffee ceremony, where the beans ate first roasted, then ground, then brewed on a charcoal-burning stove before being served thick and strong in tiny cups. 

- Singing and dancing with an African band

- Eating raclette, rösti, fondue, creamy cheese, moevenpick icecream, CHOCOLATE and berries picked 1m from where we eat breakfast.

 

- Watching a hedgehog in the garden eat the cat food

- Swimming in the lakes of Zug and Zurich brrr, and the river of Aaren v brrr!!!

- meeting lots of friendly people who switch to English as soon as we open our mouths, and offer help when we pull out a map. 

The proposed cycle tour of Lake Constance is cancelled due to the weather and  Maja and Christian's work, but we are loving all our local rides and adventures. We take 2 trips to Zurich, 30 mins by train, and briefly think of visiting Jungfraujoch with it's cable car up inside the mountain, but it's a l-o-o-ng way and can wait for a 5* visit another time.