Nothing Says Adventure Like...Rain

 

 

Innsbruck Streets- Photo by Michelle Coates





Nothing Says Adventure Like...Church Bells

 

While preparing to leave for Switzerland our friends and family told us what a great opportunity this was and they assured us it would be filled with many incredible 'adventures'. When they said this I imagined our 'adventures' would include us wondering through various European countries snacking on crepes and Macaroons, between snowboarding and gondola rides. No one ever really made mention to the fact that some of the 'adventures' will be less romantic, such as trying to discuss a cell phone contract with a shop assistant in Swiss German and getting lost on public transport.  

 

I thought it would be great to use our photos to occasionally document some of our newly experienced 'adventures', both the exciting ones and the more difficult ones. 



 

 

 

St Peters Church in Zurich- Photo by Michelle Coates

The Coates' 1st Anniversary- Paper it is!

It's official...we've been married for 1 year already :-)

I feel like we may have crooked the system a bit as Steve and I were living in different countries for a third of the time that we have been married...but our time apart has brought many challenges that most couples don't have to deal with in their first year of marriage. On the plus side however, we also skipped out on a few of the normal first year of marriage issues, like the toilet seat drama and the dilemma of whether dirty clothes go in the washing basket or near the washing basket.



Seeing as traditionally the 1st year anniversary is a paper anniversary, I designed and printed a gorgeous paper wedding album for Steve as his gift. He went to another level and designed the picture below. A company in the UK laser cut his design out of paper and positioned it between two sheets of glass in a box frame. It is absolutely beautiful and I must admit I am well impressed with his creativity.

Steve's incredible laser cut design master piece



Our paper anniversary gifts

We then celebrated our anniversary by spending the day in a small town called Einsiedeln, which is about an hour train ride away from our apartment. There was an incredible Christmas market on there with all sorts of home made alcohol, cheese, cookies, sausages as well as ornaments, scarfs, beanies and loads of gifts.

The Christmas Market in front of the Einsiedeln Monastery

One of the cute little stores selling candles and ornaments

It was our first experience at a European Christmas Market and we were sooooooooo impressed. There were people singing and playing musical instruments and the streets were covered in lights and decorations and everyone seemed to be in such a merry Christmassy mood.

We weren't too adventurous with the food as there was a lot of unidentified food items that looked a bit risky for a pair of unaccompanied South Africans. We did however taste the Glühwein and öpfelchüechli, which is thick slices of apple dipped in batter and fried and then drenched in a vanilla sauce. Obviously I ended up pouring the majority of the warm, sticky vanilla sauce down the sleeve of my coat during all the excitement...but fortunately my wet wipe yielding husband sorted that out. 

It was a really misty and cold day, which was great as it gave me the opportunity to try out all my new winter gear.

Life changing öpfelchüechli

Coates and his Glühwein

After we completed our shopping we visited the Einsiedeln Benedictine Monastery (the giant structure in the background of these photos). It is a huge completely over the top church covered in gold, statues, paintings on the ceiling and carved wooden designs. It was incredibly beautiful and so typically European.

We then ate lunch in a typically Swiss little cabin which was really warm, completely over-crowded with people and smelt like feet...you've got to love Swiss cheese :-) We drank cappuccino, chatted about the year ahead and ate Cheese fondue until we felt sick.  

My Pre-cheese fondue excited face

We finished the day with a stroll around the town and then returned home where we vegetated in a cheese fondue coma for the rest of the evening. 

The mistake you only make once

On Tuesday I thought I would pop off to the (not so) near by shop, called Migros, to get a 1 or 2 things for dinner.

While I was there I remembered that I needed a few more things than I had initially thought, so I dashed around filling my trolley up with essential items like a large water purifier, 2 full chickens (you know how I love a good special), mince meat, Christmas decorations, milk, bread, loads of fruit and veg etc. I paid for it, swiped my newly acquired Migros points card and packed it all into the shopping bags that I had remembered to bring along, feeling rather proud that I had finally gotten the Swiss shopping thing right...trust me its harder than you think.

As I pushed my trolley out the store and looked around for my car I remembered...I no longer have one of those and my legs are now my means of transportation. I felt a cold chill run down my spine as gazed at my heap of grocery bags and imagined myself getting them home by foot.

I refrained from calling Steve and wining about the crises I had on my hands, partially because I am an INDEPENDENT WOMAN and also because I am unable to make calls or send sms' off my South African phone as it does not have international roaming and I have not yet received my Swiss Sim card. I then grabbed at my bags full of poultry, sweet potato and the other 37 heaviest objects in the store and I dragged them the full 1.5km home, stopping every 100m to adjust the bags and glare at a local who was strolling past me with a pull along shopping bag.

I did however eventually make it home, and up the 4 flights of stairs to our apartment and when Steve got home he heard all about the trials and tribulations of being a Swiss house wife.

The daily shoulder massages I received from him and promises of my own pull along shopping trolley were really the only reason I agreed to continue being a Swiss house wife.  

The majority of the bloody groceries from 'That Day'

The Truth about Lauterbrunnen

In November, while visiting Steve in Switzerland, he booked a last minute trip for us to Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland, which left us broke but smiling. 

When booking this trip we really weren't sure what to expect, but hoped for something pretty and relaxing. When we got there we were completely amazed as the little town of Lauterbrunnen in the Valley of 72 waterfalls was more beautiful than anything we could ever have imagined.

Steve taking a stroll along the main road in Lauterbrunnen

We stayed at a little hotel called Hotel Jungfrau in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, which was really lovely and we had a breath taking view of Staubach falls from the window of our room. What made it even better was that the hostess was a South African lady, who was very excited to have some fellow South Africans staying with her. 

Due to my obsession with waterfalls, I made sure we started our sightseeing early on Saturday morning at the Trummelbach Falls, which was about a 20 minute walk from the Hotel. It is a most enchanting series of 10 waterfalls inside a cave. The pictures really don't do it justice but it so unique and interesting to see how the water has worn away a path right through the mountain. 

One of the waterfalls in the cave

A lit up path has been constructed so the public can follow the waterfalls through the cave

This is the final waterfall exiting the cave

After that we took a stroll along the river and found a series of cable cars that lead up through the town of Murren and to the top of the Schilthorn Peak. The cable car trip was rather expensive, but fortunately Steve got a half price discount due to his 'half tax' card, which can bought by anyone with a permit to live and work in Switzerland. The cable cars were packed with more than 80 people in each one, and this resulted in the ride up to Schilthorn being somewhat petrifying but incredible all at the same time. 

At the top of Schilthorn we went for lunch at Piz Gloria which is a revolving restaurant...A REVOLVING RESTAURANT (tick that off the bucket list). The view and the Goulash Soup at this restaurant were literally life changing!!!

The restaurant rotates 360 degrees in just under an hour

The views of the surrounding Alps were out of this world

Schilthorn and Piz Gloria are most famous for being the location where several of the scenes in the 007 movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" were filmed. We visited the James Bond Museum and got to watch these scenes and see some of the props used in the film.

If ever given the chance to cuddle James Bond...DO IT!

Movie Poster from the 007 Film 

007 themed Cappuccinos at Piz Gloria

We had the most incredible view of the very famous Jungfrau, Monach and Eiger mountains from Schilthorn, but unfortuantely we never got a chance to travel to the top of the Jungfrau mountain as we had initially hoped to as it was just too expensive to do that as well as the trip up Schilthorn. 

We will definitely be making a plan to go back to Lauterbrunnen at a later stage, so we can go to the top of Jungfrau mountain.

 

Steve staring at the breathtaking Eiger, Monach and Jungfrau mountains

On the Sunday we took a trip up to Wengen, which is a small town that overlooks Lauterbrunnen. We had planned to either go for a bicycle ride, or catch a cable car up to Mannlichen and hike back down to Wengen. What we didn't know was that EVERYTHING is closed on a Sunday including the cable car and the store that rents bicycles.

So instead we got on the train to come back to Zug and stopped at Lake Brienz. The melting ice from the Alps runs through the little towns (Lauterbrunnen being one of them) and down into several lakes,  including Lake Brienz. The colour of the water is an incredible turquoise colour and the scenery is too beautiful for words. We fed the ducks, drank cappuccinos and watch the rowers and paddle boarders go by. Unfortunately we weren't able to go on a cruise on the Lake as we had hoped, as it was Sunday and in Switzerland they really take their day of REST seriously.

Steve taking his day of rest seriously

Lauterbrunnen and the surrounding towns are really so beautiful, and filled with so many sights to visit and activities to do for the young and old in both Summer and Winter. I would definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a Swiss adventure.
Lauterbrunnen we'll definitely be back :-)