The other side of Switzerland - culture and cheese!

28 September - 02 October

I'd been planning to do one final walk out of Lauterbrunnen, but a cold put paid to that idea and I relaxed for the morning before taking the train towards Aarau. Swiss trains are exceptionally on-time (you'd think so with their knowledge of watches, but maybe not to the extent that the clocks on the trains and the platforms show the same time to the second). So, when my train arrived 1 minute late it was almost unheard of.

Aarau is a smallish town, sort of near Zürich, where my friend Nicole (who I'd met in Colombia) lived. She met me at the train station and sorted me out for somewhere to stay for a couple of nights. Aarau isn't a tourist destination as such, but it is known for immaculately painted eaves:

Every building in the town centre had eaves like this

However I wasn't really in Aarau for tourist sites - it was cool to catch up with Nicole, some 4 months after Colombia, and I was invited along to a real Swiss dinner... Raclette.

Meat gets grilled on top, and cheese (real Swiss stuff) melted underneath...

Serve together with some fried capsicum, mushrooms, potatoes... Hells yeah!

Now that's what I call a dinner.

A day later, Nicole and I headed to Luzern, where Nicole got me a couch with two of her friends (thanks!). We explored the town a little bit - there were certainly more tourists around! - and found this bridge (it's famous):

The Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge)

Nicole & I with the Kapellbrücke and Wasserturm
(Note: Wasserturm = "water tower", even though it doesn't store any water. It is "a tower in the water")

It doesn't look too impressive from a distance, however inside, a number of paintings dating from the 17th century depict scenes promoting the Catholic Church. The bridge almost burnt down in 1993 - it was completely restored - and many of the paintings lost. The remainder are charred somewhat.

One of the interior paintings

The next day I took a walk up a local hill, Dietshiberg. The views of the surrounding mountains, and the lake that Luzern sits on, are supposed to be very impressive. Pity it was cloudy and foggy the whole time I was there!

However I enjoyed wandering around the city looking at some of the other sites...

Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument) commemorating the Swiss soldiers lost in a battle of the French Revolution. It's carved directly into the cliff face and the lion is an incredible 10m x 6m in size.

Climbing along the city walls

Tower on the city walls

View of central Luzern from the highest point on the city walls

When was the last time you painted your family tree on the side of your house?

Nicole had had to go back to Aarau, but her friends invited some friends over - which happened to be a New Zealander married to a Swiss girl - and I got another cheesy Swiss (ish) dinner...

Cheese fondue? In Switzerland? Hmm, yes please.

I was due out to visit another old friend, so after 9 days in Switzerland I was reluctantly packing up my things and off again - a train back to Geneva, and then a flight to head to Sweden.