…Switzerland is expensive. But it’s refreshing to get a reminder of the good old days before the Euro where countries had to use their currencies to describe an important facet of their personalities. eg.the Swiss Franc (for their bluntness), the Dutch guilder (for their love of unions), the Estonian kroon (for their well known performance in Eurovision), the Deutsche Mark (I guess for their earlier fondness of labelling things…houses etc), the Latvian lats (I assume for their love of the gym) and of course the Italian Leerer (self explanatory).

Our first stop in Switzerland was in Bern on a Sunday. Yep, a weekend with Bernese. But the joke was on us….. it was the only rain for the trip and as I said a Sunday…in Europe. Even the churches were closed. But I guess that’s Bern for you…what am I gonna do. Bern for you.

We did manage to meet the town’s namesake, their pet brown bear who they now keep in a vegetated enclosure on the side of the river. The poor thing used to live in a hole in the ground at the end of the bridge, with just a few bear necessities, but this changed after what I imagine were very well planned and timed protests…unlikely to have been on a Sunday.

From the capital we trekked (trained) into the Alps to the hillside town of Wengen. We stayed in the first hotel in town that must once have been something majestic…at least it still had good views. The lights in the hotel were on timers so it was pitch black inside; there was no hot water past breakfast; when I asked how the heating in the room worked I was informed “it doesn’t, we’ve switched them all off…but we gave you extra blankets”; the fridge had clearly been removed from the room so you couldn’t store any food (cheese obviously); and the restaurant was closed. Despite the freezing cold, the Swiss still know how to Bern you.

It was thanks to the same coldness and some Aussie ingenuity (driven by a craving for morning mimosas) that led us to turn one of our 2 balconies into a makeshift overnight refrigerator. So after having a pizza for dinner on the first night ($200) we were able to have our cheese dinner on the balcony on the second night. Lea really loved all the Swiss cheeses, however, James was still able to pick holes in some of them.

We visited Murren, Grindelwald, Kleine Scheidegg and had a beer under a waterfall in Lauterbrunnen and we thoroughly enjoyed this stunning part of the world. From there, we spent a night in Lucerne, where we jumped on a 2 hour cruise just as the weather turned sour, but saved the day with a brilliant dinner next to the river looking at the wooden bridge and the sun setting in a pink sky over the church.

Our final destination in Switzerland, and for the holiday, was in Zurich. We took the long way there, spending another 2 hours on a boat in, this time, glorious weather, followed by a scenic train journey that had Lea thinking existential questions such as, “what does a dog do if it needs to wiz on the train?” Really makes you think…what about the poo! Before Zurich, we had been feeling a little neutral about the Swiss, but this city turned us around. It was fun, vibrant, beautiful, and had more bars than people.

Final ‘things about Europe’:

• The Swiss might not be in the EU, but seem to be still part of the coordinated 7am smashing of bottles across the continent…I wonder if that’s the same in all non EU countries…