The beautiful land - Schweiz

It was decided the day I got my Swiss VISA that a trip to Switzerland is a must whatever the costs be !! And so when I got a holiday on Monday I mailed Pankaj Goyal (Jaat) that I am coming. The packing was quick, Pascal's lunch even quicker and then the dash to the railway station the fastest. It was not at all planned and I just had one address i.e. of Jaat and Gaurav Veda. The rest of the trip would be planned in Lausanne (my first stop).

The train from Nancy Gare at 13:33 took me to Basel SBB and I reached there at 16:12. Basel is a city on the borders of Germany, France and Switzerland and so it's train station has Swiss, French and German parts. My train reached on the French platform and from here itself I could see two doors - one to enter France and the other to enter Switzeraldn. On the second door was written "Wilkommen in der Schweiz". An altogether different experience, I stepped in the room and saw a checkpost where my passport was checked. After this I was free to roam in Switzerland for 15 days :-)).

After a lot of running I found the ticket counter from where I bought my four day pass and got the information about the next train to Lausanne. It was at 18:30 and would reach Lausanne at 21:30. I boarded the train just in time and then relaxed after the hectic running. When I turned my face to the window it was like, "Oh Gosh! Is this sooooo beautiful ??". I could see a lake just near the train with the Alps in the vicinity and then whole scenery was so beautiful that it looked unreal. I clicked some snaps and that took my entire time. The journey was through Biel/Biennee. In Schweiz all the rail routes are near lakes on the foot hills or tunnels in the hills. The natural beauty can only be experienced. At the Lausanne station, I was the familiar Olympic rings (and was later told that it is the Olympic Capital of the world ... interesting right ....)

I started walking towards Jaat's hotel not sure if I was going the right way (it was already dark) but halfway through I saw him coming ... oh what a relief it was !! We reached the cost hotel room and had a talk at length (for the first time I was meeting someone in Europe from my wing). The view of Lake Geneva from the room was beautiful with the French Alps not very far away. Veda was missing and I was told that he is working late night at EPFL. He came after some time and in usual manner started saying that he wont sleep on the upper bed. But we pushed him there and then went off to sleep.

Got up late in the morning and then I and Jaat set off for shopping and seeing Lausanne. I exchanged my Euros for Swiss Francs at the station and then it was all fun. Jaat bought a Nikon camera for himself and I bought a Swatch watch. We also went to H&M and bought a lot of swiss chocolates at the supermarket. By evening we very really exhausted and went back to the hostel and ate Maggi. After a short nap I set out all alone to see Ouchy, the "chaupati" of Lake Geneva. The weather was pleasant, the flags colourful and the music energizing .... perfect !!
After I came back I had a wonderful dinner cooked by Jaat, Veda, Pulkit and Mayank.

Next day early in the morning started my actual Swiss trip. I took a train for Bern from where I went to Interlanken. This is the place where many Indian movies are shot. This city was very beautiful with it's toy train rides, an old castle, cow bells (the one in DDLJ) and old churches. In one of the churches I met a group who sang two krishna bhajans for me and even gave me a CD. It was again near a lake. In one of the fast food joints it was written in Devnagari script "yahaan har prakar ke masaledaar bhojan milte hain". I also saw the Indian tricolour in front of a restaurant "Shalimar".

The next stop was in Luzern which is on the side of Vierwaldstattersee (Lake Lucerne). This is the most beautiful city in Schweiz and I had an overnight stay. The first day I was two churches, various bridges and the old city plus the lion sculpture. And I could see Indians all around from sardarjis to honeymoon couples to madrasis (they were in maximum no). I stayed at a camping site and I slept in a sleeping bag inside a caravan sort of thing. It was also a different kind of experience. The next day I went for a round trip on a cruise which was of 3 hours. It was the most beautiful experience I ever had. They showed us the entire machinery of the small ship and it looked similar to the one shown in titanic. The food was beautifully laid out. There were people from the 1st class and 2nd class. The first class ladies were really formally dressed and had an air about them. I was like tightlipped and standing in a corner till they left with their plates. And the brow of the ship - standing there it felt like I was on titanic. And then it started raining. The lake and the mountain side looked even more beautiful. Dont know when the three hors passed and I was back at Luzern.

Then I went to Zurich, one of the most important cities of Switzerland. A river flows through Zurich and falls into a lake beautifully. I saw three beautiful churches and again went for a round trip on another small ship. In the evening I took a train to Basel where I had to do a lot of things. I first got the currency exchanged then went looking for the french ticket machine. I found it but needed more change so again had to go the exchange office. I asked for 10 euro change. This time the man at the counter said, "Are sure you won't need more ? because we'll close at 8:00." He then looked at my purse and said, "Give me that 20 euro note ... I'll give you the change." After taking the ticket I had dinnner sitting on the french side with a french girl. Finally I was on my way back to Strasbourg. That was all but an unforgettable trip to a marvellous land.