Switzerland
SWITZERLAND | Sunday, 6 April 2008 | Views [393]
Basel- I took the train to meet Anna in Basel and when I arrived I threw my things in a locker at the train station and rang her. She said she was outside and to meet her out front. I went outside to the front and it wa snowing pretty hard.... no Anna. I stood around for ten minutes and thought perhaps I was at the wrong station. I rang her again and yep, it turns out there are three stations... a German, French and Austrian. She told me to stay put and took the tram over to the station I was stuck at. The snow stopped and a few minutes later I saw Anna! It was so nice to see her. She is one of my favorite people that I have met on this trip. We found an Indian restaurant and had lunch there. The food was so-so, but expensive. Damn Switzerland. I thought it must be the most expensive country to live in... but I looked it up and I got : ( 1 Japan 2 South Korea 3 Russia 4 Taiwan 5 Norway 6 Hong Kong 7 Switzerland 8 Denmark 9 Argentina 10 China 11 Finland 12 Cote d'Ivoire 13 United States 14 Sweden 15 Venezuela 16 United Kingdom 17 Singapore 18 Oman 19 Jordan 20 Kuwait) Weird. I'm not sure how accurate aneki.com is, but it sounds like it could be true. Anyhow, Anna and I talked over everything and caught up. She is interning for two years, learning macrobiotics and vegetarian cooking and also basic gourmet. In two years she plans on doing another big trip and I told her I'd meet her somewhere along the way. Two years should be enough time to have my debt paid. We walked around the town and went to a museum and then had to split ways. She had to head back before the trains in her town stopped running. I went in search for a hostel. The first two I found were fully booked and only had private rooms for 70 francs (almost equal to the usd) and then I stumbled upon Basel backpackers in an industrial center. It was a really nice hostel. I checked in and took a nap and then when I woke up I was starving... there was a Thai restaurant attached to the hostel. I had a big bowl of udon soup and chatted with a few people staying there. I ended up having a beer with a German girl who was in the same room she was in her thirties and in disbelief that I was travelling alone and for so long. I planned to stay in Basel another night, but the front desk told me they were all booked... I had to be in Montreux on Thursday to meet my aunt... so I had one more day to kill. I looked online to see what was in between Basel and Montreux and I found Bern. So that's where I headed the next morning. Bern is stunning. I couldn't find the hostel immediately, but I didn't mind walking around, even with my bags, it was so picturesque. I finally found the YHA and prayed they had a room available.... and they did. Phew! I threw my bags in the room and went to see the town. The whole place is like on giant park...when I went back to the hostel I called my aunt and made plans to meet her at noon the next day. I haven't seen her in over ten years and I was a bit nervous. In the common room there were five Canadians from Edmonton... al about nineteen and they asked me if I wanted to be in their foosball tournament.. I kindly refused and went to find dinner. Turns out the hostel makes dinner for guests for a small fee. I had an apple and pear curry. I have never tried anything like it in my life... it was okay. I met a girl from China studying in England and she was in the mood to head out.. she missed the dinner at the hostel so we went in search for food and possibly drinks... It was sooooo quiet out. It seemed that nothing would be open. We found a Turkish restaurant crowded with old men watching the football match Swiss against Germany. Germany won. Nancy ate a doner and we had some wine and watched the match. She was the only one rooting for Germany, I was a bit scared for us. We went back to the hostel and called it a night. The two girls that were already in the room were snoring so loud....we couldn't fall asleep. In the morning they were packing up and mentioned that we were snoring... we started to laugh sooo hard because there was a fifth in the room and she was so quiet ... poor thing was stuck with four snorers. Nancy walked me to the tram and told me to meet her in England for drinks and another football match. Deal. I was off to Montreux. The ticket to Montreux, a one hour train ride, was sixty francs! In SECOND class. damn.
Montreux- Shemi Aunty picked me up on time and we went to hers and my other aunts house that they share. The view from their place is absolutely stunning. The mountains covered in snow and pine trees go all the way to the lake front and in the front of the house there is a hill with a cathedral from five hundred years ago on the edge of the cliff.. It was so surreal. She made me a salad and we talked and I immediately saw so many similarities between her and my Ma. I can see how they were best friends growing up in Africa. She had work to do and I had no problem taking it easy and relaxing. She took off and I watched tv for the first time in ages. I watched law and order and made some tea and was in heaven. In the evening she came home with another aunt, Niku, that I have never met. Jaques, her husband came a bit later to join us for dinner. We shared a lovly bottle of wine and caught up. It was so nice to be around family. The next day Shemi had to work so I cruised around the lake by myself. I only walked a few kilometers and it got too cold so I headed in. For dinner we went to the casino and met her Ma, Nani at a fancy restaurant. Saturday we headed out together to the mall. I had to go to the electronic store to see if they could fix my hard drive which crashed and had seven months worth of photographs on it. I told them no matter what not to reformat it and risk losing information. They wrote it all down and said to come by Monday. I met Shemi for brunch and then went to check out the town on my own. It is a cute little place. In the guide book it says it's boring and pretentious, but I thought it was the perfect place to relax and take in the atmosphere. On Sunday Shemi took me to Geneva. We had tea in a very old fancy hotel and then headed to the airport to pick up yet another aunt. Her flight was delayed so we chose to kill time by heading to the casino. .. oh I forgot to mention on the way to Geneva we went to Divonne to another casin on the French side so she could play video poker for an hour. I resisted...wasn't even tempted. But back in Geneva I was getting so bored I decided to try my luck and lost fifty francs in thirty minutes. The time passed somehow and we went back to the airport. I saw Rosy coming out of the gate and recognized her right away. I called out for her and she looked at me in bewilderment. I explained who I was and then she kissed me hello, three kisses in Switzerland and Paris. It was one am by the time we made it home. We were all beat and fell asleep quickly. The next morning I took out my lil camera to snap a few pics of what I thought was my cute little cousin Karim, he's seven. I left my camera on the table and went to have my petit dejeuner and then Shemi took him to school and it was gone. I was furious. I got to nani's house and ran into Shaffir, yet another cousin, who's 18, and was complaining about Karim and he stopped me mid story and said Karim gave him a camera as a gift this morning. He ran up to the at and got it for me... yep, it was mine. I watched out for everything after that. I went to fust to pick up my hard drive and they plugged it in for me and it seemed to work. I asked where they backed up my images. They didn't, they reformatted and lost all my data. Shit. I went to nani's to think of what I could do... I talked to John online to try to figure it all out, but no good idieas came to mind. I ran a few data recovery programs, but nothing worked on the hard drive. I fell asleep, depressed. On Tuesday morning I realized that I could try to recover some data from the memory cards themselves.. I picked up my things and went back to nani's (the only place with a computer and internet) and tried. I managed to get back twenty five percent of lost data... but some of it is not in its original size, but that's okay. The videos don't seem to work... I'm not sure if they ever will. I sent J an email about copying her images that we took together and she said okay.... hopefully with all that I will get back a bit more than fifty percent of my pics. In the evening I had a nice dinner with the whole family and we sat around chatting.. it was like being home. On Wednesday I called Ma and she told me I had to visit an uncle, one of her closest cousins, Bashir in La Chaux de Fonds. It was on the way to Zurich. So I made plans to stay there for a night and headed off on Thursday. When I got in I recognized him from photos and waved him down. We drove around Neuchatel and he showed me the sights then we went through the mountains to his town. It is also so beautiful. He couldn't believe that he hadn't met me in twenty-six years. We went for coffee and he told me stories about my father in the seventies and how they got into trouble. He insisted on calling my dad and having a word and talking about old times. We went to see his oldest daughter and her three kids and then to meet his wife, Dilshad. Dilshad aunty insisited I go to the store with her to buy groceries for dinner and ended up buying me a swiss army knife, both for protection and because it makes a nice souvenir. So funny. Before dinner Basir uncle wanted to take me to see his favorite pass time, petanque. It is sort of like bacci ball. We walk into this factory looking building and it is hazy with smoke and crowded with old men playing petanque. Right away they say hello and start to tell me strategies and rules- We watch a couple of rounds over coffee and then Bashir Uncle insists on trying. I wasn't too bad for a beginner... but he was really really good. Turns out he was third or fourth in his region. We had to head home quickly and prepare for dinner. His son, Shiraz and his girlfriend and her daughter all came to dinner. We had raclet, a grilled cheese meal with potatoes and they had lamb. You grill the cheese at the table in a heated plate thing... it was good, but I don't think it was too healthy. We called my Ma after dinner and they all caught up. Then it was tea and bed. The next morning we went to the French border to see some nice lookouts and then to Shiraz's little indian restaurant where we lunched. Before I knew it I had to catch my train to Zurich. I promised Basir Uncle I'd come back to visit... I had a wonderful time. I can't believe I have so much extended family that my ma grew up with in Kampala that I have never met.It is good to be able to match faces with stories and hear different versions of everything. Basir Uncle gave me a spare mobile for emergencies for the rest of my time in Switzerland. I was off to Zurich. When I arrived Karima, my cousin, called and told me to walk down the street to meet her. She had found parking... her cute little porche. We went for coffee and she had a small dinner and she told me about her a bit and about how she wanted to go to a prayer meeting in the evening. It was being held at someones house and did I mind joining? Uhmm... I sw that no wasn't a viable answer so I agreed to go. It wasn't too bad. everyone was nice enough... after that we picked up some thai food for dinner and her fiance, Gerard, was picking up her sister and her boyfriend (Perveez and Andrew) from the airport. They were returning from a trip to Thailand. Karima and Perveez are Niku's kids. We all had dinner and got familiar with each other and headed to bed early. Today we woke up and got ready to go to the Basel jewelry show. Karima is a jewler. Remember, I have limited clothes ... so I put on my black jeans a white tank and a black sweater... Karima looks me over and says.. 'hmm the show is a bit shishi, do you want to borrow something?' She pulls out a burberry coat and dior boots and tada.. I am more shi shi. The show was okay, nothing I haven't seen before, but my feet were killing by the end of the day. We were all supposed to go to a birthday party tonight, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be for me and Perveez and Andrew headed home. Karima and Gerard are older than me (she's 32 and he seems almost 50) and judging by the day I think I would have to continue to dress shishi and act reserved.. and I wasn't feeling it... I am however glad I met both my second cousins... I'm now invited to both of their weddings. One is in India in October and the other next year sometime here in Switzerland. Who knows? I'm not sure what is on the table for tomorrow, but Karima offered to let me stay in her loft (giant) and take a day train to Lucern so I don't have to pay for a hostel and all that...it's only thirty minutes away and I have to pass time until Thursday, which is when I go to St.Gallan to see some friends... Marion and Lili =) excited!
Lucerne- It was so easy to pass a day there.. I just found out that Switzerland has a Bungee near Lucerne that is now THE highest in the world, but it opens in June. I will try to make it back before the end of my trip, but it may not be an option. I spent the next couple of days exploring Baar and Zug (tax havens of Switzerland) and just taking it real easy. I caught up on some episodes of Heroes and The L Word and spent the evening having a nice dinner and chatting to Karima and Gerhard.
St. Gallen- Marion picked me up from the station and I almost fell over trying to give her a hug. It was so unreal being there in her hometown when we just met earlier on this trip... I felt like we've been friends for years. We headed over to Lili's where I was meant to stay for a couple of nights... Lili just came back from Shri Lanka and she was as dark as me. She had to go back to work for a couple of hours so Marion and I went into town. St. Gallen is a pretty small town, but it has s ton of character. Marion dragged me into a few shops so she could catch up on shopping, as she lives out of town and never makes it in before the shops close. We went for a drink afterward and Lili met us. I ordered a beer and they had sparkling juice.. oh. This juice was weird.. tasted like pez candy and apple cider, but it was made with milk... you'd never know. We all went back to Lili's and I met the other roomies, Angie and Eliane. Keep in mind these girls are all cheerleaders.. they were so lovely and sweet! We made dinner together like old times and sat around the table chatting. Marion took off around ten and Lili and I stayed up talking and watching E!, good fun. The next morning we had a little breakfast and Lili and I lounged around until midday then took off into town.. we walked up some big hills to see the best view of the city and the lakes, it was stunning. I took a bunch of pics then we headed home to make lunch. Lili is obsessed with salad ... so that's what we had, which was pretty yummy. She makes all her dressings from scratch and they're always good. It was Friday night and the girls wanted to head out... so we all met up and got ready to go out.. we drank Champaign in the bathroom while getting ready... I think before might have been more fun than our actual night... only kidding. We finally made it out at midnight and met up with Lili's man at the bar.. The music was bizarre. It was like a mini taste of a hundred songs... just when we get into it they changed it, but we still danced. We were out until about 4 am and of course when I drink I get hungry. Elli whipped up some delicious microve pizzas and then we passed out. The next day they had cheer practice at ten... but I didn't want to get up. Angie offered to take me around noon... she has a knee problem so she wasn't going. We picked up some food for dinner and then headed to practice.... it was really neat watching these girls throw each other around and tumble. One girl, 15, fell really hard at one point and smacked her head against the floor. They took her to the doctors just to be sure. The team is called green lightning. It's not like in the states where it funded by schools. It is a city thing and the girls are aged 15 through 26. After practice Marion had to stay to coach the youngins and go to a game with them. Lili and I headed home and.... yes, made a salad. She was going to stay in and have a movie night with her man and Marion and I were heading out to meet some of her friends. Elli had a birthday to go to, but of course we had a couple of drinks while getting ready.. in the lu. They were all really nice, but didn't really speak a lot of English with me.. so I got a bit bored in stages, but she was having fun...we stuck around until we both couldn't take it then went to bed. Then next morning we headed to Marion's. She lives at home with her three brothers and her parents. It was super early and she had to go to a community meeting for a kids program she volunteers for. I couldn't sleep so I watched a movie in her room and then read my book. I heard the brothers come home, but was too scared to come out of the room and say hello... lame, I know. She finally came home and we sat around chatting and then it was time for dinner. We had fondue. A giant pot of fondue cheese with a cherry liquor and tons of bread. It was really good. The conversation was weird because I can't pick up the Swiss German... so there was all the translations. Marion's dad would sometimes say things in Swiss German and the in German.. as if it may make a difference... but no. After dinner we headed to a movie with her cousin, whom is also her neighbor. We saw Into The Wild. What a film for a traveller. It was fantastic and devastating..sort of freaked me out. Not that I see myself going to Alaska to live off the wild, but I can be pretty just get up and go with out enough resources. Maybe I'll go to Alaska next.... no I like the sound of Africa. Anyhow, we went to bed and she took me to the station the next morning and I reluctantly headed away from some of the coolest people I've met this trip. I only wish they make it over to Canada so I can repay their generosity. Marion and Elli are heading to NYC in the fall.. I said I'd try my best to meet up, but that may be unlikely.
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