Wanderlust Getaway: Switzerland [Part 1]

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

Hey, I have finally got around to start writing about my 29 Days Solo Trip to Europe (5th Oct to 2nd Nov) and I did in all under SG$5000!

The whole trip was planned with only 2 return flight tickets booked, one to take me Switzerland and another to take me to Oslo, Norway. Everything else was based on chance and on the concept of "wherever the wind takes me".

Day 1

ZURICH, BONADUZ

I arrived at Zurich Airport and prayed that my Swizz friend, P, was waiting outside for me. He was (phew~) and so I start my adventure with him driving us all the way back to his home town: Bonaduz. The ride alone was about 1 and a half hours long, but it was a good time to bond.

I loved the moment I was out in the open, my lungs knew that there was something different about the air. It was sweet, clean and fresh! And the scenery is just breath-taking, it has the perfect combination of blue skies, mountains and greens.

To be honest, after close to a 24hr flight from Singapore to Switzerland, I didn't do much on my first day. It was pretty much a matter of getting over my jet lag, having a good shower, having a home cooked meal and chilling out with my friend.

Day 2

ST. MORITZ & CHUR

For Day 2, we decided to travel by train up to St. Moritz!
Heads up, train rides in Switzerland are quite expensive. So it's important to plan ahead and make use of deals on their web.

Luckily for me, I got a local to bring me around and P got me a great deal for the train ride (CHF42 for the whole day).

It was a pretty chilled ride, with view of different towns and endless scenery of trees, mountains and blue skies.

Personally, the whole experience of being the only Asian on the train was a very... interesting. Some adults will look at me occasionally, and kids will just fix their gaze on me to the point where I recalled a parent gently remind the kid not to stare. P thinks the whole thing is amusing, while I didn't really mind the stares. In fact, we ended up interacting with some of the kids and they would part from us with a bye, a wave or a smile.

Besides that, the highlight of the ride was that we were on the UNESCO World Heritage Rhaetian Railway track, a masterpiece of railway engineering! I have a video of it somewhere... I have yet to edit the films. Heh.

And after a morning's train ride, we reached our destination:  St. Moritz.

So, I was informed by P that this town is a popular destination of the rich and famous, and it has one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world in the area. Walking around the town, it's not hard to see why the rich would gather here. There are all the big luxury brands around and the architecture of the buildings in the town is just beautiful.

And I've got the most random friend ever (hahaha!), but I guess that's why I hang out with people like P. Their spontaneity is infectious and it just adds a whole new meaning to what experiences are: For him, it's doing things that pushes the boundaries of what is safe. Haha!

"Never try, never know", that's what P always say and in a way, it breaks the conventional and I've got to say~ travelling around with him was fun.

And yes~ I love views like this!

After an afternoon walk around St. Moritz and getting chilled to my bones, it was time to head back and we had our meal in the train... that was another new experience for me.

It was just bread, cheese (swiss love their cheese) and ham, prepared with a swiss knife!

And yes, we ate with bare unwashed hands. It took me a few bites to ease myself into the whole concept of eating like that. And with each mouthful, I relaxed with the scenery.

~~~

CHUR

Then P had to leave me for work, and so, heeding his suggestion~

I continued by journey to another popular town, Chur.

By the time I reached Chur, it was evening and I thought that it was very entertaining that there was a dog training session going on at the station.

I stayed around a little to see how they conduct their training before leaving to venture out into the heart of Chur where the oldest historical buildings are.

Most of the stores are closed, and there were hardly anyone around (and yes, the thoughts of the dangers did past through my mind) but the quietness of the night brought out the beauty of the stuctures.

The old part of Chur is like a maze, yes... I ended up being lost after a few turns but that's how discovered what I shot above and in a way, the whole experience was very empowering. I managed to find my way back after, boarded the right train back to Bonaduz (there were so many different trains!) and walked back home to P's place.

Then I ended the night with a nice warm shower, a simple meal of cherry tomatoes, sandwich and water, headed to bed :)

“Getting lost is just another way of saying 'going exploring.” 

― Justina Chen, North of Beautiful