Goodness, it’s been two months since the road-trip was
actually happening and I had started to tell you a bit about it. It came to an
abrupt end when I realized I wasn’t getting any sleep and I wasn’t enjoying my
trip after all because of the exhaustion. So, I gave myself a break. And you. I
hope you didn’t mind… although, secretly, I hope you missed us and my recount.
So, a short reminder: I had stopped where the narrative
described to you our voyage in France. All nice and sweet. Nostalgia, hidden dreams
I would live in rural France one day, anonymously and serenely (with the money
I would ideally have earned from writing). Deep sigh and let’s drive on!
It was pouring down with rain the day we left France and
headed for Switzerland. We crossed some mountains, had some road work deviations,
felt a bit lost and silently scared. The houses began to change aspect, they
were bigger and bigger, to the point where they became colossal and I didn’t
understand the reason behind it: were these people living together with their
huge extended families, were they all into tourism, what was it? It was an
overwhelming trend though.
The weather got bitter and bitter until everything
got terribly sour – we got to the border and, straight there and then, had to pay
the Swiss vignette for the whole year! YES, A WHOLE YEAR for simply staying one
night! Swiss style, I was about to find out. In Switzerland, it’s all about the
money. If you don’t have it, you’d better stay away. Just plan your trip around
it. One more thing: we discovered Visa
wasn’t good enough for them! “Ohhh (in disgust), we don’t accept Visa!” How
outrageously snob!
We visited Lausanne to start with and we were quick to do it
because there were very few parking spaces and at 4 Euros per hour, you speed
up your steps straight away. Did I like Lausanne? Would I ever go back and
revisit it? Did I feel any buzz? No. It was raining, the buildings were massive
and intimidating, the streets wide and impersonal, the shop windows bland, on
the whole - truly uninspiring. Even Lake Geneva (Lac
Léman) didn’t make me change my dismal mood. It was expanding there, hidden in the mist, unfriendly and a bit menacing - I felt - and all we had left
to do was go back to our car. Shocked on our way back by a pair of flip flops in
a shop window costing as much as our rent for a month, we thought “Wow, what
sort of country is this?” Surely not one for us to hang in for long.
We arrived in Zurich late in
the afternoon, after a multi hour ride, gazing at the perfectly trimmed fields, in a perfect hue of green, surreal almost; we checked into our hotel and didn’t feel brave enough to get out of our room before doing some detailed research about how much they might charge us for
the air we breathed. Okay, I exaggerate, obviously, but that day I felt fed up
with this country. A good night sleep in a clean bed performed miracles,
alongside with a sunny morning, because I woke up to a bright and vibrant city,
charming little streets, beautiful churches, smiling people, some of them actually
shopping in those terribly expensive shops where I didn’t dare let my eyes go
in, let alone my feet. Yes, there were these awfully extravagant ladies coming
out of the most expensive cars - chauffeurs regularly left outside to wait
standing by the car, in their posh uniform - stopping for a chilled out
shopping session, like you do… It wasn’t just one! I saw at least five, bang in
the medieval inner city where I thought the pedestrian zone was. Clearly, the
Bentleys must have a concession made for them: they are not cars, they’re
vehicles to stop the fine ladies of Zurich from walking in their high hills on
the cobbled streets of that pedestrian zone. OO These are supposed to be my
eyes popping out of their orbits, if I were to make a comic strip out of this
story. Ok, we’re not this lucky and never will be… I was lucky enough though to
enjoy the lovely weather that day, to enter The Fraumünster Church and to
admire the marvellous stained glass, to walk on the Augustinergasse, and adore
the beautiful shop windows, to admire The Haus zum Rüden from the other
side of a calm and crystal clear Limmat River. The most elegant men were
walking nonchalantly, probably on their lunch breaks from their jobs in a bank,
clearly, because otherwise what would they live out of when everything is so
outrageously expensive!?! And I promise you, I didn’t see one woman or man that
looked like they might have been a cook or a cleaning person, no way! They all
looked like bankers and their posh, well maintained wives who live in the
city with the highest standard of living in the whole world. It must be so! Go
and see for yourselves. Zurich is worth visiting, I loved every corner of it, I
would go back or even live there, if I could ever afford. That was it for me
and Switzerland: hot and cold, hatred and love, quick and sweet. Never going
back though, until they stop this absurd road taxing for a whole year with no
intermediate payments or until I marry a banker. Au revoir! Aufwiedersehen!
Adio!
Next stop: Austria. Stay
tuned!
Viorica
