Switzerland

Well, we are back from a wonderful twelve day trip to Switzerland, France and Italy.  Took us a couple of days to recover, but now things are back to normal, the much loved Grammar Police is back at work, Mila has stopped following me everywhere in case I disappear for days on end again, I have been cooking up a storm (last night was a sumptuous Madras curry), Eurotrip almost forgotten.

 

Before the memory fades and the reality of living in very close proximity to Syria takes over, let me tell you about our European jaunt:

 

As mentioned in previous posts, both André and I are big Leonard Cohen fans, so when we heard that LC would be performing in Zürich two days before we were due to meet up with birthday boy Cameron in the South of France, plans were adjusted and tickets were purchased. 

 

We found Zürich to be, uhm... well... very organised.  If the schedule states that a tram or bus will arrive at a certain point at 10:43am and depart at 10:46am, trust me, it does.  Time after time.  I was very impressed with the extreme organisation of the Swiss transportation system.  André, on the other hand, recons he would never be able to live in a place so completely devoid of chaos as we encountered in Zürich.  Even at the Hallenstadion, where Leonard Cohen performed, people formed two neat but very long queues at the entrance and patiently waited to be let into the theatre.  No need to get excited and form more than two queues, is there?  I found the severely organised country strangely comforting.  Who knew?

 

We spent a lot of time walking around the older part of Zürich, dashing in and out of stores, simply looking at what was available and comparing prices and products to those of Amman and Johannesburg.  I especially liked the COOPs, where you can buy anything from clothing and make-up to cheese and bottle openers, which we duly did.  I bought myself a mallet, which is almost impossible to get in Amman, unless I am looking in all the wrong places.  The man likes steak, you know?

 

Mallet purchased... ready for action!

It rained on Saturday morning and afternoon before the LC concert and we had to buy umbrellas to protect ourselves from the incessant rain. (I still have my very cute, bright orange one, but André lost his more manly black umbrella somewhere between the second and third train we took on the way to Avignon). 

 

As we were walking in downtown Zürich we happened upon a cozy Swiss restaurant that boasted 18 different types of fondues and 10 different ways to have raclette, so of course we had ourselves a raclette feast.  If you ever have the opportunity to have raclette, and if you love cheese, do not, I repeat, do not decline!  Raclette refers to the meal/dish, but also to the type of cheese you use.  Read more about it here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raclette    Yummmmm...

 

We chose the traditional Raclette, with the addition of bacon. Boiled baby potatoes are kept warm in the red & white checked bag, bacon and mushrooms are cooked on the grill on top of the raclette and the cheese is melted underneath the bacon-grill.  Once the cheese is melted, you pour it over your potatoes and other veggies. Not a quick meal, more a feast that can last over an hour, if you can eat that much! 

Tummies more than full after a huge meal, we set off, back to the hotel to make ourselves pretty for Leonard (not that he cared haha). 

 

The concert started at 8pm sharp (of course) and a very energetic 79 year-old LC kicked off the show with "Dance me to the end of love", followed by 24 more amazing songs.  Old favourites like "Everybody knows", "Hallelujah", "Sisters of mercy" and "So long, Marianne" had the (admittedly golden oldie) crowd at his feet. 

 

I loved, loved, loved "Who by fire" and "Take this waltz", but my favourite song of the evening was "Suzanne", which he performed absolutely brilliantly.  For someone who turns 80 on the 21^st September this year, this man can still throw down, boogie and thankfully get up again! And so, item number 20 of my wish list was checked off in a most enjoyable fashion.

 

The next morning we were up early to catch our series of three trains to Avignon and the next leg of our adventure.  More about that later...

 

In the meantime, click on the link below to listen to Leonard Cohen performing "Everybody knows"

Listen to Everybody Knows