Switzerland

Switzerland is widely regarded as a spectacularly beautiful country, where vivid green fields give way to the gigantic beauty of the Swiss Alps. This was immediately evident during my train ride from Dijon to Lausanne, as the views were indeed brilliant, the snow glittering against the bright blue sky and the emerald low-lying fields that had so far eluded the snowfall. Arriving in Lausanne around noon, my expectations for Switzerland were high.

Lausanne is a small town that steeply ascends from the northern shore of Lake Geneva, rising around 500 metres above the lake at its northern-most point. In the centre of town is the relatively small medieval district, twisting cobblestone streets that meander between beautiful old buildings in varying stages of decay, whose charming upper levels are in stark contrast to the modern stores that mar the ground level. As the city rises up the from Lake Geneva, buildings gradually give way to extensive parkland and wooded crests that would certainly provide delightful views across the rooftops to the lake itself, the town of Geneva and the surrounding mountains. However, at this time of year (December and January) the sun is restricted to the southern reaches of the sky, completely washing out the views with a blinding glare.

Lausanne trivia: Lausanne is home to a huge number of governing bodies for various sports: hockey, table tennis, air sports, equestrian, rowing, fencing, baseball, swimming and skating; it is also home to the IOC. Perhaps Switzerland was chosen as the home for all of these bodies due to its neutrality?

Originally a fishing village, Ouchy sits on the edge of Lake Geneva and was incorporated into the city of Lausanne in the 19th century. This region mostly consists of beautiful parks, sprawling out along the edge of the lake from the small central collection of elegant hotels (including a converted castle) and other buildings. Nestled amongst the trees and open spaces is a traditional Thai pavilion, completely covered in gold leaf and dazzling in direct sunlight, which commemorates the 17 years that King Bhumibol Adulyadej spent there as a child. It was a very pretty (albeit freezing) region in which to stroll in the hazy afternoon sunlight.

I spent an entire afternoon investigating “Art Brut”. This is a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet himself focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates, and the collection he established became known as the Collection de l’Art Brut. It contains thousands of works and is now permanently housed in Lausanne. The collection includes an intriguing range of pieces using various media, from paintings to sculptures to carvings to dolls to needlework. Profiles of each artist were given, providing insight into their daily lives (most of the artists live in supervised care) and how they approach their art. This was definitely one of the most wide-ranging and interesting art exhibitions I have ever seen, and it culminated in a tiny, gloomy room on the top floor, where alarmingly creaky floorboards lead to a collection of macabre dolls apparently hanging from nooses.

That same evening I caught a train to Bern, capital city of Switzerland and founded in 1191 by Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen, who allegedly named the city after a bear he had killed. The bear is a symbol of Bern and is featured in the city’s coat of arms; the city is also home to the Bärengraben (bear pit), a major tourist attraction that in my mind is more a testament to animal cruelty than a cultural celebration.

Bern trivia #1: my stay in Bern marks the first (and, to this point, the only) time that I have eaten McDonalds on this trip. I am rightly ashamed.

Above the bear pit, the hills rise to a rose garden (extremely barren in the middle of winter) that looks across the river to the medieval city centre, a world heritage site since 1983 and possibly the most beautiful medieval district I had seen at this point of my trip. The old streets are extremely wide, giving the city a spacious feel that contrasts with the narrower, more cramped medieval districts in other European cities. I spent a good amount of my time in Bern just meandering along these streets, admiring the beautiful statues and fountains that run along the centre of the main streets, as well as the uniquely-Swiss architecture on display in the charmingly decorated buildings and clock towers.

Bern trivia #2: Bern is home to the famous Patent Office that hired Albert Einstein as a patent inspector in 1903, which resulted in the “Annus Mirabilis Papers” that explained the photoelectric effect and Brownian motion, introduced the theory of Special Relativity and presented the world’s most famous equation E = mc^2.

Due to a prolonged stay in France my sojourn through Switzerland was much hastier than originally planned, leaving me only one full day to explore what Bern had to offer. Apart from seeing the old town district, I spent most of the afternoon at the Einstein Museum, which not only documents the life and work of the esteemed Albert, but also looks at how the rise of Nazi Germany and World War II drove him from Europe and affected his political views. It was an excellent (permanent) exhibition and I am extremely glad I took the time to see it. I also came across the Einstein House, the flat where Einstein lived from 1903 to 1905. It has apparently been restored to the style of that period to reflect Einstein’s stay in Bern, but unfortunately it was not open to the public on the day I was in Bern.

From Bern I headed to my final Swiss destination, Lucerne (Luzern in German). Located on the shore of Lake Lucerne, straddling the Reuss River and overlooked by the Swiss Alps, it is a popular tourist destination. Two ancient bridges span the river: the 204m Chapel Bridge is the more famous of the two, originally built in 1333 and substantially damaged by fire in 1993, 17th century paintings depicting events from Lucerne’s past are positioned above the rafters; the Mill Bridge is the oldest covered bridge in Europe, it also features 17th century paintings and includes a tiny chapel at one end. Other major attractions are the beautifully decorated buildings in the old town and the remnants of the town wall that run along the hill that overlooks the town.

I whiled away an entire afternoon sitting in the fading sunlight on the edge of the river, sipping some local beer and engaged in the age-old pastime of people watching. Sometimes you just need to sit down and have a break from your holiday. Another day I visited the local ice rink (outdoors, but covered) for a public session, to discover a group of Swiss youths engaged in an informal scrimmage at one end of the rink. They turned out to be a very friendly group (a special mention to Simon here), letting me join in the fun and it was an absolute thrill to tear around the ice with a stick in hand, fighting for the puck, weaving through traffic and simply having much more fun than when skating alone. Later that day, I returned to the rink for an evening game between HC Luzern Lakers and Aarau, which was an interesting affair.

Lucerne trivia: True to every other hockey game I have attended in Europe, ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” was a mainstay at the Swiss hockey, but I was extremely surprised when it was followed up ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” — not what I’d call a traditional hockey song.

On the morning of New Year’s Eve, I caught a bus to the base of Pilatus, one of the nearby mountains in the Swiss Alps. The summit could only be reached by cable car, a process that was divided into three separate legs. Rather than coast all of the way to the top I trekked the first part on foot, with the intention of doing the same for the second section. As I rose into the foothills it became apparent that the paths were extremely icy and slippery, and I jumped on the cable car at the next stop. The first two legs of the cable ride were populated by tiny four-seater cabins that remained quite close to the ground, causing me no discomfort. However, the final stage involved a single huge cabin that rose straight up a sheer face of the mountain, precariously high above the distant ground and swaying sickeningly in the wind. I spent the entire ride staring directly at the floor, white-knuckled as I held on to a bar for dear life.

After five minutes that lasted an eternity, I emerged at the summit of Pilatus to find a tiny, narrow crest with several small paths winding around the peaks and a single hotel embedded in the side of the mountain. I immediately had a beer at the hotel to ease my nerves about the severe drops on all sides, and then explored a narrow path cut into the side of the mountain itself, which gave excellent views of the surrounding lands. After steeling myself for the steep descent in the large tin box, I found that the combination of beer and having faced my fear on the ride up had calmed my nerves appreciably, I even managed to take several photos of the gorgeous landscape without any drama!

Encouraged by this turn of events, my mood improved further when it became apparent that I could take a free sled and fly down the slopes with nothing but a small piece of wood between me and an extremely cold version of gravel rash. The 20 minute ride was fantastic fun, and on many of the sharp corners I managed to get the sled sideways, sliding out of control and often coming perilously close to running off the road and into the densely-wooded surroundings. Yet I survived to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Lucerne ushered in the new year quietly, as several bars hosted parties but there were no public events — the fireworks were saved for the night of January 1, apparently a ploy to keep tourists in town for an extra day. Due in equal parts to laziness and having a good crowd at the hostel, I elected not to brave the freezing streets (the correct verb really should be “to stupid”). Several beers later, I was behind the front desk and checking in two Korean girls — I fumbled my way through the German computer system, initialised their swipe-cards and even gave the standard spiel about breakfast and checkout times. As the new year rolled in and champagne flowed, children down the street let off a decent amount of fireworks. After watching for several minutes in a shirt and standing barefoot in the snow, I shivered my way back inside, not exactly enjoying the prospect of an early train to Munich the following morning.