Merrans travels

Cuckoo

For as little as 250 swiss francs (382 NZD) you can own your own cuckoo clock, with chiming bird and dancing people. For fancier varieties with maybe a prancing St Bernard you’ll need to spend from 1950 francs (2999 NZD) to 6000 francs (9169 NZD). Plus postage. Bargain. And they go off every hour on the hour 🙂 Able to be posted to anywhere in the world of course 🙂 🙂 I have given these a miss but have picked up a swiss army knife called the Huntsman that among other things can open bottles of wine, file my nails, cut string and saw small branches 🙂 because you never know when you’ll need to do that. Just need to figure out how to use it now.

Beach time in NZ

Summer is all about the beach where I live and it looks like the weather is mint. Max loves the beach and has his favourite places to stop and sniff and pee. We go walking there twice a day and it is beautiful. Always risky though when there are people picnicking on the sand, and the smell of their food makes him deaf to your voice. Last year we had the ‘chicken incident’, when he tore off across the beach, over someone’s lawn, into their house (where dozens of fancy people were having a fancy party), ran around them all, jumped onto a dining chair, grabbed a piece of chicken from the table and ran off with it. By the time I got there the deed had been done and I was so apologetic. The lady laughed and said ‘it happens all the time dahling, but we like to leave the doors open for the breeze’. Mortifying. He is always on lead in that area now. Big kiss maximum xxx

Way up high

The skies were clear again today, perfect for a cable car ride up to the highest accessible peak, the Klein Matterhorn which is 3883m high. I really don’t like being in cable cars because they sway and hang by one arm, and people like to jump up and down in them which has to be the stupidest thing in the world to do. And I don’t like heights. Today I had a nice couple from Singapore in the cabin with me for the first part of the ride, and they chatted away to me while I had a death grip on the seat. No photos were taken on the ride up because I was trying just to breathe. The ride to the summit is 45 mins so it’s a long time to not breathe properly! Some parts were so scary I was too scared even to shut my eyes. Especially the final lift up to the summit. But once at the top with my feet on the ground it was so worth it. The views are incredible. You are eye level with the mountain peaks, and it is still and quiet. This is also the highest place in the world to ski from I believe, with several trails heading down into either Switzerland or Italy. So cool. I felt a bit bolder on the journey down and took heaps of photos, and stopped off 800m below the summit for some food and a glass of wine in the sun, looking at the Matterhorn. So pleased I made myself go up it was amazing. Thanks Marg for the pep talk this morning. Unfortunately I have hurt my neck and had to cancel the ski lesson I had planned for tomorrow which is a bloody pain because I love going fast down hills and was really looking forward to it. It’s too sore though, and I’ll only hurt it more. Hopefully resting it and some anti-inflammatories and heat packs will bring it right. Tonight the snow has returned, and tomorrow is forecast snow showers all day so I will go wandering in it before I pack my bags for the next morning. Next stop (which I decided and booked tonight 🙂 ) is a brief one in Milan before I head to Florence for new years (also decided and booked tonight ha). I’ve visited Florence before and I love it, and it felt like just the right place to see in a new decade.

Merry Christmas to you

Christmas Day started with lovely messages and well wishes from home, and a video chat with Jen and Max. So nice to see them both and to catch up on how things are at home. Jen is the best daughter. She was wearing one of my skirts which made me laugh, but it looked so much better on her so it has found a new home. Max looked so cute (and sleepy), but dogs cannot see people on screen so he wouldn’t have known I was there. Today the skies were clear of clouds and brilliant blue, and the mountains and Matterhorn were in full view. Amazing. I didn’t think this town could get any prettier. I bought myself a 2 day pass to visit the mountain and make unlimited use of the cable cars and the train that goes to the main summit. I put off the cable car until tomorrow (chicken), and caught the train to Gornergrat which is 3089m high. Quite brisk up there 🙂 but amazing views across the ranges, and there are restaurants where you can warm up with something hot. I had a chat to a couple from Oregon who are en route to Germany for their daughters 50th birthday. ‘Honey this young lady is from New Zealand, why I can’t think of anywhere that is further than that’. 🙂 The train stops at 6 stations on the way up and down the mountain, and I hopped up and down all day. On spur of the moment I decided to do a 1.6km hike across one of the mountain passes, from Rotenboden at 2815m to Riffelberg which is 300m lower down. I think I took 200 photos just on that walk 🙂 so stunning. And so much fun to sit and slide down the steep parts of the track. The snow is quite deep in some places, usually discovered when your leg sinks thigh deep and you have to crawl out. So glad I am well prepared with my winter boots, thermals and waterproof gear. Lots of people were out enjoying the weather today, and dogs leaping through the snow looking goofy. Soundtrack for the day is quite Christmassy – a medley of Walking through a winter wonderland, Merry Christmas to you, Grandma got run over by a reindeer, and All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth 🙂 Happy Christmas everyone, I hope the holiday season is good to you. xx

Christmas Eve

The snow was so heavy this morning that the ploughs could not keep up, but it was magical to walk through. Later in the day the skies cleared, and suddenly the mountains were visible. So majestic! The Matterhorn was still covered in cloud by the time the sun went down, but I think it will be on show tomorrow so I’m going to head up the mountain. Christmas Eve is the big day here, more than Christmas Day, and families have huge feasts and exchange gifts. This is only one of maybe 3 Christmases I have not spent with Jen and I miss her (and the poodle!) We have a tradition where each Christmas we pick a different country and cook food from there for lunch. Last year we made stuffed bao and Vietnamese salads, the year before that was a Japanese hibachi grill, and the year before that I think we chose China. Or Mexico. She has a better memory than me for these things 🙂 We will catch up on video chat on Christmas Day, but it isn’t the same. To get my fix of family time and connection I went to the local church, which was so packed with people there was standing room only. I don’t follow a religion, and my German is not very good, but it was a lovely thing to do and felt very Christmassy, and language is kind of irrelevant when people are gathered together to feel uplifted. And we sang Christmas carols. They were in German, but I recognised the tunes so went off piste and sang my little heart out in English.

A very white Christmas

My lovely driver from yesterday picked me up early this morning so I could catch my train to Zermatt, and he would not take my money because he said it was my turn to receive some kindness 🙂 so nice! The trains are very easy to figure out in Switzerland, and everything is very orderly and on time. I had a two hour journey from Basel to Visp (via Bern), before changing trains for the final hour to Zermatt. The countryside looked so beautiful as the train whizzed past raging rivers, huge snow-capped mountains, beautiful lakes, rolling green hills, small villages and farms. Zermatt is a swanky ski resort town, sitting at an altitude of 5310 feet at the foot of the Matterhorn (the jagged tooth mountain that inspired the toblerone 🙂 ), and surrounded by mountains. Being so high up snow is pretty much guaranteed at this time of year, and as the train started to climb the ground became less green and more white, and then all white, and then it snowed. So cool. I LOVE snow and this is the perfect place to come for a white Christmas. Today was -1 but if you’re dressed for it, it doesn’t feel cold. No sign of the Matterhorn today as the clouds were too thick, and tomorrow is expected to be the same. Christmas Day has a forecast of sunshine though, so it will be a good day to head up the mountain with my camera to take some photos. Being a resort town, nothing shuts even for Christmas, which is perfect for me. And there’s a huge choice of food options from Michelin star restaurants to street food, and a couple of supermarkets (which is where I went 🙂 ) if you want to cook. There are loads of people here, and a lot of happy skiers. And a few people on crutches who have taken a tumble, but still look happy. I’m keen for some tobogganing.

Basel

I didn’t realise when I booked an overnight stop in Basel that it was famous for its Christmas market, or that the old town would be so pretty. Lucky me to have an afternoon here before I catch the train to Zermatt in the morning. This will be the last Christmas market on my trip and it is a good one. Everyone was out today, soaking up the seasonal spirit or hunting for last gifts, and picking up extra special food for the big meal (which is usually on Christmas Eve). Bit of an effort to turn off the French and switch on my German, but everyone was very kind. One lady looked at me in surprise as I took photos of the bread on display (like why are you photographing this????!!!!), so I said ‘I’m from New Zealand, we don’t have this at home’, and she took my arm under hers and showed me everything amazing in the store. Tonight I have unpacked my thermals because it is 1 degree and snowing in Zermatt. Yay 🙂 Soundtrack for the day is I’m dreaming of a white Christmas by Bing Crosby (which has been playing on the loudspeakers for the last few days). Joyeaux noel x

Castle in the clouds

My driver today could not have been a nicer person if he tried, so happy and friendly AND a careful driver 🙂 so thank you whoever sent him my way. He was not great with directions, even though he was following Google maps, but each time he took a wrong turn he would turn to me and smile and say ‘oh no I have made a mistake but don’t worry I will turn around’, and it just made me smile. On the way from Strasbourg to Basel there are loads of small villages, wineries, Christmas markets and castles to see. I chose to stop at Chateau du Haut Koenigsbourg, which is a castle originally built in the 1200s, then destroyed, rebuilt in the 1400s, destroyed again, rebuilt in the 1700s, and then abandoned. A lot of restoration work has gone into making it a complete fortress again and it is cool. Full of medieval furniture, armour and weapons, and things salvaged from the site during the reconstruction. It was a super foggy morning so the castle was enveloped in cloud, which added to the mood. I paid for my driver to come and see it with me (only 9 euro) rather than have him wait in the car, and he was so happy that he took loads of photos of me to say thank you. There is a restaurant here which is open in the summer, but today the moody fog was perfect. Reminded me of the Scottish castles in Outlander which I’ve been watching on Netflix (wrong country I know, but if you’ve seen it you’ll know what I mean 🙂 )

Wine country

There are roughly 100 vineyards in the Alsace region, and I spent the day at one of them 🙂 a biodynamic winery called Achillee. Everything is done by hand here, and the wine is delicious. For a small winery, a lot of varieties are produced….pinot blanc, riesling, bubbly, muscat, gewürztraminer, sylvaner, scherwiller, hahnenberg, schieferberg, and pinot noir. I tasted 11 different wines and it was hard to choose a favourite. On the way back to Strasbourg we called in to Ribeauville, a beautiful medieval village with cute Christmas markets, gingerbread-style houses and castles on the surrounding hills. Magic.

Strasbourg

It would be easy to come to Strasbourg just for the Christmas markets (which are awesome) but there is a lot more than hot wine and warm bretzels to discover. As well as wandering around by myself, I have taken two different walking/photo tours of the city, and it has a really interesting history (alternating between Roman and then Gallic, French, German, French, German rule). Each ruler added their own ‘gift’ to the city, and because of this, the architecture is hugely varied. Some monuments date back to the 1100s. Highly recommend both of the tours I have done with Air BnB – the Across Strasbourg and Time history walk with local architect and city planner Lionel is awesome (like walking with a cool and intelligent friend and he brought cookies 🙂 ), and the Christmas photo walk with Anastasia was amazing (she is so much fun to hang out with and showed me cool spots to take photos….will post them later). The Notre Dame cathedral here is incredible too. So big! And inside is a 30m long nativity scene, and a beautiful astronomical clock that measures every aspect of time, that was such a coup for the church that its maker was reportedly blinded so that he could not recreate it for anyone else. Not such a rarity apparently in the olden days, nowadays they would simply offer him a retention bonus to stay 🙂 Strasbourg also has amazing restaurants, and specialty food stores, and being in the Alsace region there are delicious local wines. I tried escargots (snails) for the first time tonight and they were delicious, swimming in garlic and butter with parsley and served with a freshly cut baguette. Followed by a plate of local cheese, also delicious, which you cut and eat in chunks instead of with crackers or bread. Happy days.

Today is the start of the school holidays for many people in France and this weekend will see huge traffic jams on the main highways. Only half of the 1.7 million train tickets that have been purchased will be honored because of the ongoing transport strike, which means 850,000 people have to find another way to travel. I am only an hour and a quarter away from my next stop in Switzerland, and have booked another driver to collect me on Sunday morning and away from the travel chaos. France is definitely on my list of places to return to, but not while this is all going on. Far too much drama.