After almost a month away from Switzerland, I do feel that I miss this place which is so close to my heart. Upon touching down, my lovely travel companion and I packed for our trip to the Rheinfall (North East of Switzerland) and thereafter Nyon (South West of Switzerland). We had our free breakfast at the hotel’s cafe as our rooms were not ready for checking-in when we first arrived. Feeling excited about our trip as usual, a little delay did not bothered us that much.
Once we arrived at Zurich HB Station, we purchased our tickets to Rheinfall where we need to get off at Schaffhausen, bordering Germany in the north east of Switzerland. The journey took us about an hour at a reasonable $23 Swiss Franc. I must say, the trains here are extremely efficient with good interconnections to almost every part of Switzerland and at almost anytime! Being too engrossed with the scenery outside, we overshot and got off one station after Schaffhausen. Nonetheless, the 20-minute walk to Rheinfall proved to be one of the highlights as we saw the tranquillity of life along the riverside, flowers and apple trees grown in the gardens too.
We planned to spend our time till 2pm in Rheinfall, one of Europe’s most magnificent waterfalls. We had made arrangement to meet Swiss Aunt in Nyon at about 6pm. With only about two hours to tour Rheinfall and we got off the wrong station, we did maximised our time taking photos and videos with the water running almost too near to our face! As we got nearer and lower to the waterfall, our adrenalin rushed even faster. We were delighted with the view where we witnessed a calm river Rhein along the countryside and dives into a great fall. What a trill indeed!
Sharp at 2pm, we left Rheinfall at the right station this time. Feeling a little exhausted we could not wait to get back to Zurich HB and then buy our tickets to Nyon. Once again, the tight connection left us little time to buy some food and drinks. Thank goodness for my lovely travel companion who brought along some Twistee (tomato flavour) and chocolate wafer. I snacked on and fell asleep on and off.
In about two and a half hour, we reached Nyon. We got off and excitedly looking for Swiss Aunt. We managed to arrive slightly earlier and Swiss Aunt had no problem getting off from her work at the second-hand shop earlier too.
After an almost frantic look-out, we finally met Swiss Aunt. She gave us a big hug, smile and a warm welcome to her city. She walked us to her car, her little green Opel which is such a lovely car to have! You really don’t need a big car here as Swiss roads are narrow and you only travel short-distant. When we were at the carpark, my lovely travel companion spotted a rainbow right above us! What a great sign of the city welcoming us!
Swiss Aunt took us for a scenic drive to introduce us to the City of Nyon. She also introduced us to her friend Coco (if I recall her name correctly) who works with her at the second-hand shop. I was truly amazed when she could just walk out of her car with the engine running and trust that no one will steal her car. Well, back home, we obviously are too afraid to do that.
After the brief introduction to Coco, we headed back to her apartment. We’re so excited as this would be our first encounter with living in a Swiss residential apartment. Her apartment is amazingly beautiful, simple yet so comfortable! I love the sight from her balcony over-looking the Jura mountains. You can really see how the clouds move and choose to hide the mountains sometimes.
After freshening ourselves up (upon the insistent of Swiss Aunt who always want to make sure we stay comfortable) , we headed to an Italian restaurant nearby. We had such a great dinner and chatted a little bit. She told us how amazed she was, knowing that we had travel from one end of Switzerland to the other in just a few hours! We certainly had seen the gradual change in the languages spoken by the Swiss from Swiss-German to French which is Swiss Aunt’s mother-tongue.
As it was mid-autumn according to the Chinese calendar, we surprised Swiss Aunt with some mooncakes and decorated her balcony with a few colourful Chinese lanterns. We also brought her some "piglet cookies" wrapped in really fancy packagings. Swiss Aunt was so happy and started to hang them around the house! We thought, something that we took for granted how beautiful our festival is, to another, is such an eye-opener! We also played candles just like the good old days of childhood and how the candles created a fire almost uncontrollable just like childhood! We felt so embarrassed with the fire and candle wax that stained her balcony. But Swiss Aunt is ever so graceful and said that’s nothing. Nevertheless, we vowed to get it cleaned before we leave.
We retired early after a cup of hot chocolate that Swiss Aunt made and she quickly told us our itinerary for tomorrow. In her cosy room, it is decorated with all things from South East Asia. I saw some paintings from Bali, a Buddha statue for peace and serenity, a dream catcher and photographs of her mother. I had such a good sleep and I woke up to a noiseless city thinking that I want to live here forever!
Swiss Aunt prepared breakfast for us with a really beautiful table-setting, the next morning. I was so impressed by her attention to details. We had cereals and bread. We also had some instant Korean noodle, courtesy of my lovely travel companion.
After a hearty breakfast, Swiss Aunt drove us towards the Jura Mountains. There, we saw some scenic view, typical Swiss houses and small vineyards. As we drive, Swiss Aunt played a great guide telling us the history, the geography and some language lesson too!
After the mountains, we headed to Geneva. The drive only took us about 30 minutes. We toured the City of Geneva in her car and we had very limited time before our next train back to Zurich. Along the drive, we saw the famous Geneva Fountain and the skyline of old European buildings with famous brands of watches and banks. We also saw the WTO buildings, International Red Cross headquarter and of course, one of the United Nation headquarters beside the one in New York. Suddenly I thought of AJ when I saw the UNHCR sign. Also, we passed by the US Mission which is fully-guarded with uniformed personnel. Swiss Aunt also purposely drove pass Michael Schumacher’s home in Gland!
We spent almost a good three-hour drive on the road. Before we left for Zurich, Swiss Aunt took us for lunch and treated us with some chocolates! We felt so embarrassed by her generosity and my lovely travel companion actually queued up at a different cashier to avoid Swiss Aunt from paying. As for me, I just took two chocolates for Bro, not wanting Swiss Aunt to pay anymore. After that, we treated her with desserts and tea with pleasure.
Our short stay in Nyon ended with so much lovely memories. We and Swiss Aunt felt so blessed to be in a state of having friends of different cultures and from different countries. So amazing how the spirit of friendship and love can unite us.
In the ride back to Zurich, I did not felt sleepy at all as I want to savour the view of Lake Geneva and the villages and vineyards along the track which have decorated the Swiss countryside with so much beauty and scenic abundance.
