Ottsworld Travel Experiences » Switzreland

Addicted

Sherry — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:41:23 +0000

Me looking through my empty beer glass

I have a dirty little secret…well, I have many…but no need to get into all of them. I have an addiction, one that I crave, I just can’t get enough of it – I have to get my fix else I’m not a happy person. It’s hard to find my fix – and it certainly isn’t for everyone – but it’s something so unique and exciting – that you will find that you will do whatever it takes to get it…to feel it.

I’m addicted to travel.

Ok – so you are all rather disappointed because you knew this already. Sure, you know that I love travel as evidenced by the last 11 months…but do you know why?

I love seeing newness and wonder in the every day mundane things we take for granted.
I love feeling lost, scared, intimidated in a culture and overcoming those feelings.
I love a challenge.

This sounds really Oprah-self-helpish…which makes my skin crawl…but let me explain. I discovered that I love traveling in 3rd world/developing countries – this is a new fetish, I had no idea that I liked to ‘rough it’ so much. There are really two aspects to this addiction to the 3rd world. First – it’s the general challenge that it offers. It obliterates your definition of ‘normal’, and it wipes any expectations that you have clean. You have to let go and start with a new outlook…where everything has to be re-learned such as how to cross the street, how to eat, how to communicate, how to dress…you are really back at square one. The 3rd world destinations provide me many things…cultural experiences, a chance to understand a simple lifestyle, an ability to contemplate what is important in your life. It’s a trip back in time before good plumbing and electricity, it develops your patience, it tears down your ‘larger is better’ attitude – but it also provides me my fix that I crave. A challenge. There’s no better feeling than arriving in a country – being intimidated by the people and environment – only to leave it 5 weeks later feeling at ease with it all – no matter how dysfunctional it is. You leave feeling accomplished.

The second aspect to the addiction is the rush you feel when re-entering the western world after being in a 3rd world country for a few months. The first hours are the most exciting, the rush starts to fade away after a day or so…so you have to embrace the moment when you have it. I recently satisfied my fix when I flew out of Northern Africa, where I had been for the last 5 weeks, to Geneva Switzerland. I believe Geneva to be the twin sister city of Singapore…you honestly can’t get much more pristine, organized, and antiseptic than Geneva or Singapore. So – when you come from 3rd world travel into one of these cities – it makes the rush even that much more exciting.

The only way I can describe the feeling is that you feel like you are reborn…you are seeing the world again through fresh eyes – everything is exciting, new, baffling – your senses are all heightened and you notice things that you never noticed before. You care about things that you never cared about before. You walk around with a gigantic smile on your face because everywhere you look there is something that excites you.

As I walked off the plane from Cairo to Geneva, the first thing that hit me was the airport – clean, and orderly. As I walked through customs and got my luggage, I walked out into the cool airport – nicely air conditioned – it made the hair on my arms stand up. I walked over to the ATM and changed money. I was fascinated by the money that came out…it was so clean and crisp! The coins were shiny and new…I loved it. I sat and stared at it for a while. In Africa – the money was so old and ratty that I’m sure I picked up a number of various bacteria from it. It practically disintegrates in your hands. It was always a game to try to get ride of the worst pieces of money…see if you could hide them between other bills so that the shopkeeper would take it. It was certainly good money…it’s just that no one wanted to be stuck with it as it might tear and then no one would take it. So you had to treat it very carefully. But in Geneva – the home of money – it was colorful and clean. It looked as if someone was sitting behind that ATM printing it just for you and handing it to you with white gloves on!

The next delight that tickled my eyes was a grocery store…a real grocery store. People were standing in orderly lines, the beeps of the POS terminals hummed in my ears, There was a large refrigeration section…that was actually cold. I next got on the train and marveled at how clean and cool it was. You could actually hear what they were saying over the loudspeaker. I got off the train and walked down a clean, bustling street. Stores lines the street and no one came out and tried to sell you things. It was up to you to go into a store or not. The joy of being able to exercise free will! Cafes had men AND women sitting outside having coffee. The sandwiches were sitting nicely on shelves behind clean glass – there were no flies all over them. Finally – as I came to a road to cross – there was a stoplight…and people actually obeyed it…a true miracle. I noticed that the drivers stayed on their side of the yellow line – there was no beeping, it was just a well-oiled machine.

It’s a different feeling to be looking in from the outside with new eyes. It’s a feeling that not many people get to experience – therefore every time I have the chance – I soak up every exciting moment. My first day in Geneva was memorable – not only because it was the first time I was able to brush my teeth with tap water for the last 5 weeks, but because it was full of new ‘old’ discoveries.

I’ve been living in this comfortable city for 10 days – and sadly all of the newness has worn off . The worst thing is that I have expectations again. I actually expect people to stop at red lights and if they don’t – I get upset. I am annoyed at bad customer service. This signals to me that I’m ready to go back in…into the world of ‘anything goes’, the world of immense patience, the world where crossing the street can be a life of death experience. I’m ready for my challenge of India. A place that a year ago I was afraid to go to…yet now – I crave it…I crave the challenge.

Traveling can be a drug…always looking for a new challenge, a harder challenge. For all of the downs of traveling in 3rd world countries – the ups of surviving it is the adrenaline that I need. This is it – I’m playing in the big leagues of travel now – I’m arriving in New Delhi. Cover me…I’m going back in!

Swiss Roll

Sherry — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:40:24 +0000

On top of Schilthorn - Switzerland

For the ‘best of’ Switzerland Photography – click here!

For All snapshots of Geneva – click here!
For all snapshots of Interlaken and Zorbing – click here!

There used to be a brand of treats called Little Debbie (in the Midwest). I would always beg my mom to buy us Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. They were basically the same as a Hostess Ho Ho – but cheaper. I could eat a whole package of 12 in a sitting if I was allowed; however I was never allowed. Instead I would try to make each individually wrapped Swiss Roll last as long as I could; I wouldn’t just eat these rolls, I would dissect them like a surgeon. Photo: Fresh Brioche in Switzerland First I would pull all of the hard chocolate off the outside, next I would slowly unroll it till it was flat. I would take my finger and smear off and eat all of the white filling, finally I would eat the chocolate cake. I honestly have no idea what the Swiss Roll had to do with the Swiss…not once in my 10 days in Switzerland did I see a Swiss Roll. The closest thing I could find was an adventure activity to roll down a Swiss hill…there’s no chocolate involved…but it does sound fun…why not?

I arrived in Switzerland for a 10 day break from the heat; coming from Northern Africa and going to India. Switzerland was my haven of cool. The Swiss are also lucky enough to have my dear friend Veronique living in their finely tuned country. So not only was this a break from the heat – but a visit to one of my favorite friends on her home turf. When I arrived in Geneva, my other friend Angie, from San Francisco, was also visiting Veronique on her way back home to the US. So we all had a couple of days together to hang out, see some sites, swap travel stories, and get some good ole girl talk in.

Photo: Rides at the Fetes de Geneve
When I made the plans to go visit Veronique, I had no idea that the beginning of August was such a monumental time for the Swiss. August 1st was the Swiss Creation Day! This is basically their independence celebration. This was a party time in Switzerland and around Geneva. In addition to the activities on Creation Day, Geneva had their annual week long Fetes De Geneve – a big carnival like celebration on the lakeshore. So even though I was missing out on all of the state fairs this summer in the US…I had the Swiss version right in front of Veronique’s apartment. I was surrounded by the smell of cotton candy every night! It actually was a fun photographic experience, so I drug Veronique out one night to watch the rides and work on my photography. It was a good outing and I’m rather happy with many shots.

For all Photography of Fetes De Geneve

We have fireworks for 4th of July, and the Swiss have farm brunch on Creation Day. Veronique, some of her friends, and me drove out to the countryside and attended a large farm brunch to start the day. There were Swiss flags flying everywhere, an accordion player, and plenty of cheese…I would expect nothing less from a Swiss brunch. After brunch we decided to try to hike off some of cheese, and make it back into Geneva in time for the fireworks.

Veronique and I decided to go out and explore the Swiss mountains on the weekend. I had my eye on Internlaken, the adventure sports capital of Switzerland! We took off on an early panoramic train ride to Interlaken abut 3 hours from Geneva. I was taken aback by the perfect beauty that I witnessed outside of my train window. The vistas were about too perfect – stunning green hills with little cottages nestled between the hills. I honestly thought Hansel and Gretel were going to come out of the skipping out of the valley and onto the train. We arrived in the Interlaken, a stunning valley surrounded by two lakes, and snowy mountain peaks. The largest mountain was the Jungfrau which was perfectly placed in the middle of the valley. I honestly looked too perfect at times! We made a stop at the tourist office and plotted our activities…trekking, gondola-ing, and zorbing. Being the adventure capital of Switzerland – I really felt like I needed to get a bit of adrenaline rush out of Interlaken – which is where zorbing came in.

Zorbing is not some new dance, or an alien life form – instead it is a Swiss Roll of sorts. It requires a large inflated plastic ball, and a hill…are you intrigued? I honestly can’t believe that I convinced Veronique to do this – but she was game for a roll. We arrived at the Zorbing hill before sunset with a bunch of other thrill seekers (mainly young Aussies…go figure). There’s no skill required to zorb…just a strong stomach. The zorber wears a neck brace, gets into the zorbing ball, straps in as if you were in a jet fighter plane, and then they push you down the hill. The inflated giant ball not only rolls down the hill with you inside, but it also bounces – getting completely airborne at times. At the end of the hill a giant net acts as the brake for the ball. I figured that if I could survive motion sickness on a Moroccan bus – I could survive zorbing! The distance was rather short, but the impact dizzying! Veronique was a trooper and went first. After she nearly lost her pants jumping into the zorb, she strapped herself in and went rolling down the Swiss mountainside! They allowed you to take a small point and shoot camera inside the zorb for the ride, so I of course took the opportunity to document the experience. On my first roll, I attempted to video the ride inside the ball. Unfortunately – I’m having trouble getting it uploaded – so you will have to check back later to see the exciting video – so be sure to check out the pictures in the meantime! After the first complete revolution, I lost control of the camera, but you can hear me laughing all the way to the bottom! On the second roll, I attempted to photograph me at different parts of the roll, mainly getting exciting shots of my elbow. Overall – it was an exhilarating experience – and we both felt like we deserved a glass of wine after the ordeal!

The next morning we spent slowly making our way up to the Schilthorn peak which offered stunning views of the Jungfrau covered in snow. I wanted to hike to the top, but we didn’t have the time, nor the fitness to be able to do that in one day! So we opted for the next best option…automated machinery. The Swiss love their machines…it’s an engineers paradise. We rode up the mountain via train, gondola, and funicular…a trifecta of mechanical engineering! Along the way we did do some hiking between gondola stops. The villages in the mountains were once again pristine and the picture of perfect Swiss living. There was plenty of beer, tuba playing, berry strudel – and cows. The cows were hours of entertainment for me. You could hear them for miles – as they all wore their large cowbells grazing the steep hillside. When I say large…I mean large. I have no idea why the cow needs to be wearing a bell the size of it’s head – I guess the Swiss live by the ‘bigger is better’ attitude…at least when it comes to cow bells. As we arrived at the top by our last gondola – I soaked in the cool air, the quiet, the wide open space – as I won’t get a experience like this in New Delhi!

Veronique and I

The rest of the week in Geneva was spent cooking, doing laundry, trip planning, frivolous shopping, sushi eating, and stocking up on travel necessities prior to arriving in India. I achieved exactly what I wanted to in Switzerland – I was able to visit the home of a very close friend, and I was able to refuel a bit in cool weather. I also had some bonus experiences that really made my time in Switzerland memorable – Creation Day, Fetes de Geneve, trekking in the mountains, and a real Swiss ‘zorbing’ roll!

Photo: Veronique and I at the top of Schilthorn

A Swiss send-off! Video of a yoddeler!

Ottsworld Travel Experiences » Switzreland

Addicted

Related Posts

Swiss Roll

Related Posts