A little more culture

After yesterday's snow, we needed little temptation to head for the station to begin today's adventure, particularly since Gluehwein might be on offer too - having a car is all very well but someone needs to drive.  Though the picture doesn't really reflect it, at 9.50am on a Sunday morning, Zurich Hauptbahnhof was buzzing.

 

Our (double decker) train arrived almost as soon as we found the right platform and left spot on 10am.  Aaaah, Switzerland!

We were headed for Thun, where we'd read there was a Fasching/Carnival event today, but when we got there, the only evidence was a slight scattering of confetti underfoot.

Oh, and possibly the odd person dressed in a somewhat ostentatious fashion...with a painted face....and most likely carrying a trumpet or wheeling a set of drums.

 

We followed our ears and there in the town square, there was a bunch of "guuggen" musicians, making their presence felt.  We got ourselves a cup of gluehwein each and joined them around the "stehtisch", curious to find out more about their fantastic costumes and their programme for 2010. They told us they were from Altstaetten and their costumes were new each year, made by a local expert.  But soon, they were off, for another drink in another bar, another impromptu "rehearsal" and probably, most likely a bit more fun before the real show began.

At 1359 (this is Switzerland, remember!) the procession was due to begin, so we took up our places on a street corner and waited for the fun to begin.

52 assorted Guuggenbands, confetti-throwing floats, submarines and tractors later, we were standing, frozen to the spot, covered in bits of paper and snowflakes but totally captivated by the enthusiasm, the spirit and sheer good humour of the crowd.  We'd sang and jumped and clapped and danced with the rest - what a great way to spend a bitterly cold and snowy Sunday.  Who should bring up the rear, coming in at #52, but the lads from Altstaetten, easily the best band of the afternoon!

 

What's more, it wasnt over yet.  The bands had processed on a circular route and having got ourselves more gluehwein to thaw ourselves out, we spotted the procession coming down the old high street.  In Thun, this is a "double decker" kind of street, with walkways on two levels and choosing the upper deck, we had a grandstand view of the whole shebang as it headed for "home" - the town square, where guuggenmusik would be going on into the wee small hours, no doubt fuelled by plenty of beer and bratwurst!  We waited for the Altstaetten "heads" and then thought we'd better head for the station and our train.

We were covered with confetti in our hair, all over our coats and shoes, in our bags and our pockets, but so was everyone else.  The streets were covered with the stuff and we wondered how on earth the town would deal with it all as the snow was falling quite quickly now.

We might have guessed!

 We caught the 4.36pm train back to Zurich together with the rosy cheeked crowd coming home from a day in the mountains and decided to go straight to the restaurant, even though our table wasn't booked for another hour yet.  But we really couldn't wait for our supper, for what's the best way to warm up after a long and chilly day in the fresh air?

 

Yum!

Tomorrow, when I'm home again, I'll upload a video to share the full "Guuggemusig" experience.

White stuff

How interesting to watch the variety of machines/methods of dealing with snow today.  A light dusting overnight in Zurich turned into a heavier fall as we drove south, towards Chur this morning.  We passed snowploughs of every shape and size: large, road-sized leviathans, operating in pairs clearing the whole width of the motorway as a  l-o-n-g  slow moving queue formed behind them.  On ordinary roads, there were smaller, tractor sized machines which held the traffic up in a similar way before turning off into a side road to return, clearing the other side.  Along the pavements were small, lawn mower ploughs with rubber squeegee type blades in front, driving a little way behind the road ploughs so they could scoop up the fallout and deposit it in a neat ridge along the roadside.  Neatest of all and the one machine which brought a glint into Mark's eye were the small, red snowblowers which people were using to clear their drives and shopfronts.

 

Let's say the Swiss are pretty good at clearing snow.  But, come on, don't tell me you're surprised!

 

It's been a good day and we don't need to do a great deal to enjoy being here.  We pottered around a little, winding up in Rapperswil late afternoon in time for a pre-concert supper.  In the short time it took us to eat a pizza, a couple of inches more snow fell and we sat listening to Raff's Winter Symphony in the church in Lachen, his birthplace, wondering how much more snow we'd find when we emerged.  We were relieved to find only another inch or two, so we declined the kind offers of after-concert drinks from generous hosts and took the direct motorway route back to Zurich.

Fortunately the snowploughs were working in the opposite direction, having cleared our side already.

Maybe we'll take a train tomorrow?

Tonight

we're in a chilly place

where the people, much as we love them, have an odd sense of humour at times

where some of the chocolate shops have a distinctly individual style

but where the truffles stretch as far as the eye can see

It's a great city, one of our all-time favourites (I've been coming here since I was a child) and we are happy to be here again.

Especially since one of our travelling companions has a little bedtime treat for me in his paw!

On parle Francais

But it's awfully hard after three weeks of thinking in German. 

We left Ponte Tresa after breakfast, the lake shimmering in the morning sunshine and told ourselves that we should come back, soon.

It was a surprisingly easy drive, through the Gotthard tunnel and across Switzerland on mostly familiar territory.  We made a stop near Luzern to sit and gaze at green pastures, the mountains and take in the atmosphere we love so much - our last chance for a while.

For in no time at all, we were in Strasbourg and the driving over for the day, we could sit and relax and hope the rain held off long enough for us to stay dry.  It didn't, but we didn't really mind.

We'll come back tomorrow, in better light, to take in more details of the cathedral, but couldn't resist spotting these charming horses, peeping through the openings.

Edward noticed this amusing gargoyle who seemed to be calling to us about something.  Reminding us to speak French not German, perhaps.

 because there's no doubt, we are in France!

Perhaps some of that wallpaper will find its way into our brains as we sleep and we'll wake up more in tune?

Peut-être.

Oder?

Homeward bound

I suppose, theoretically speaking, we've been homeward bound since Dresden, but today, setting out from Bolzano, we really felt that we're on the last stretch of our amazing trip.  Taking the scenic route over the mountains via the Mendelpass, at times the satnav screen looked like someone threw a ball of wool and let it fall into the pattern of the roads.  Needless to say, this was not the quickest of routes!

Gently, the vineyards and apple orchards became pine forests and villages perched on ledges rather than nestled in the valley

though from time to time, a collection of houses appeared to have spilled out of the end of a valley and a tumble of buildings nestled around a church for comfort.

Still higher, through the Passo Tornale, we drove through ski resorts and holiday villages, some with really unattractive tower blocks amongst the traditional chalets.  But the view of the mountains was unsurpassed.

Eventually we reached Lake Como and spent a few minutes recalling happy days spent here with Mummy before continuing over the last pass of the day into Switzerland.

At times, it was a little tight and tempers became frayed.  But being behind a local bus meant that we could squeeze through after he'd trailblazed the way forward. 

At last, the peace of Lake Lugano and our destination of Ponte Tresa, where we planned an evening with our dear friends Tonie and Pietro.  After a couple of weeks of eating out, what luxury to enjoy good home cooking with produce from the garden and wine from 200m along the way.  Not only that, but what fun to sit and chat on a warm evening in the garden as the sun goes down and for sure, Edna and Gordon were there in spirit too, surprisingly indulgent of their grandson enjoying a cigar with Pietro having persuaded him he needs an iPhone in a conversation before dinner.  Sitting around a table and finding answers for the problems of today is so much easier over a glass of wine or two: What to do about Afghanistan, democracy, the EU, the annoying fly, the slow driver of the car in front on an Alpine pass....the conversation never waned until it was time to say goodbye until the next time. 

Ciao!