15.06.2018 (Friday)
We were lucky to have our arrival hour almost close to each other, and we
both managed to arrive at the same time at the Flughafen Zurich Airport. To our
surprise, we fail to bump into each other despite that both of us firmly claimed
to be standing at the Arrival Gate 1 and was in-front of the Information Center
(but apparently there are 2 identical arrival hall at different floor levels). We
begin our trip by picking up our rental car - the brand new white Fiat Tipo
Hatchback (instead of the VW Polo we booked) and drove all the way to Lake Walensee.
We were both starving and decided to stop-by one of the rest station along the
motorway to have our late lunch. The choices we were offered was surprisingly above
expectation, and this is where we enjoyed our first Rösti and some fried
mushrooms. Nonetheless the insipid and dense textured cheesecake has not been
one of my favourite.
Driving in a foreign country might not be as easy, especially when the
signs wasn’t displayed in English nor are they the same compared to the home
country. The all-time driving failure includes:
1. Walking to the right side of the car due to the familiar left-hand
traffics that I am used to for the past decade.
2. Almost turning to the left while getting into the roundabout.
3. Constantly stuck and wondering which is the correct traffic
direction.
4. Slapping my hand against the car door thinking that the gearbox is
on my left.
We spent our first night in Zentrum Neu-Schönstatt, a monastery-styled
hotel run by 29 nuns. The rooms were not equipped with TV but comes rather with
a bible, a cross on the wall and a bottle of holy water instead. But seriously,
who cares when you have the best view of Lake Walensee just outside your windows!
After spending some relaxing hours in the room, we
headed out to explore the surroundings. We took a stroll to captured the best
view of Lake Walensee from the top of the mountain. But we arrived too late and
missed the chance for a cable car ride. The dusk came soon and we decided to
have the famous Swiss Cheese Fondue for our dinner hence driving all the way to
Bad Ragaz looking for the highly recommended Restaurant Zollstube. The
waitresses were offering us the best smile, foods and services. We ordered the
YingYang pot with both the Älpler Fondü (mushroom) + Heidi’s Fondü (Beef),
where a full basket of bread cubes and a fair portion of potatoes were served
together. We walloped almost everything on the table to the extent that the
waitress was so surprised and told us that not many customer has done this far
to finish the servings and we must have been starving (opps…).
16.06.2018 (Saturday)
The church bell which started at 6.00am has somehow awaken us from our
beautiful dreams. The breakfast was pretty simple and basic but yet we find it
tasty and delicious. The nun tried to greet every table personally but since
neither of us speaks German, she politely rendered a sentence and a kind guest besides
our table has helped to translate it and conveying the wish for us to have a
nice day. After returning from breakfast, we noticed a note on our doorpost reminding
that we have to check-out on time by 10.00am (despite that the official check-in
was after 2.00pm).
Since we have nowhere to linger, we drove to Balzers and visited the Burg
Gutenberg. This castle wasn’t principally made as a tourist attraction, hence
we were only able to admire the building from the outer garden. The way up
along the vineyard offers us a panoramic view of the city, however the narrow
path often forces us to the edge of the road whenever there are vehicles coming
by.
Finally we were able to unload our luggage and we fell in love
immediately with the Airbnb villa we have rented. The house was situated at a
high latitude and what more could you ask for when you could stay in a cozy
cabin, facing a spectacular view of greens and mountains, with the private pool,
garden and benches freely accessible 24/7. The friendly host with an artistic
talent has decorated the house exquisitely.
When two gluttons get together, it is natural that
food becomes the main subject of all times. Despite the fact that we just had a
full pot of Cheese Fondue the night before, we were again craving for the
cheesy meal during the lunch hour. We were delighted to find a hotel restaurant
nearby that serve our appetite. The restaurant was build right on-top of the
hill and posted us the absolute challenge to drive the swirl and narrow path
all the way up. Most of the roads come with uncountable twists and turns, and
some two-way streets were only enough for one car to get through at a time. But
looks like there is no obstacle that could prevent or deter us from getting the
food we wanted or could beat our unquenchable desires, and we ultimately devoured
another pot of cheese.
Being a Catholic and religious country, it was
literally challenging as we struggled to find restaurants or convenient stores
open after 7pm on Saturday. Not left with many choices, we went for the
simplest deal – McDonald with the thought of enjoying the sunset beside the
pool in our holiday villa. While on our way back, we unintentionally spotted the
wooden bridge which connects both the countries and without a second thought,
we stopped by for an hour of crazy + fun photoshoots before we call it a day.
17.06.2018 (Sunday)
It was a cloudy morning but we were determined to drag ourselves up to
the top of Malbun. It was my first time taking the chairlift and I am lucky enough
to not have suffered from acrophobia since that height could be alarming for some
individuals. We were both like the curious and laughable tourist staring at the
stairlift until the kind attendant offered us a hand to get on to it (he might
have been silently ROFL…). After a short stroll, we sat down in the restaurant
and enjoyed our bucolic lunch showered by a bit of sunshine (but it was still
freezing after all!) before we depart.
We have had a long conversation with our Airbnb host that afternoon, where
she showed us many of her artworks including plants, paintings and sculptures. The
dialogue went on to discuss the stand points and perspectives of living in the
different era. She was born in the 1950s very much admiring the modern society
with gender equality, while we on the other hand starting to miss some of the old
school lifestyle when not everything has been invaded by technology. Nonetheless,
she is now living an unwind life doing what she likes – Taichi, clay sculpturing,
painting and gardening rather than sparring in a big organization dealings with
all sorts of hypocrites trying to strive to the top of the hierarchy.
After having the 2 full cheesy meals and the McD, we started to crave
for some savoury Asian cuisine. It was fortunate that we found a Thai restaurant
serving the tomyam, somtam and stir-fried beef, even though these dishes were
not spicy enough for us but… no complaints!
18.06.2018 (Monday)
Switzerland is a country where you would definitely love to visit more
than once in a lifetime. The incredible scenery, the welcoming folks and the
convenient of getting around will certainly entice you to return once more.
After accomplishing our last mission of groceries shopping (cheese, chocolate
and… corned beef?!), we took a quick
lunch before finding for our way to the airport.
Both experiences and conveniences come with a cost, and looks like we
have learned them the semi-hard way. Despite all the fun and luxury we enjoyed,
there are still countless of hiccups along our journey that eventually makes
our heart sank. As usual, life isn’t smooth and many lessons we have learned
in this trip:
1. We only noticed that we were not permitted to enter Liechtenstein
with our rented vehicle after we have spent our 2 days in that “forbidden” country.
(Facepalm…waiting for the issuance of the violation ticket)
2. The manual car with the reverse gear at the opposite end of the
direction causes some confusion whereby a slight miss resulted to a damage on
the hood.
3. One of the A had a flight delay and a late arrival back to Helsinki,
and another A misses her flight due to the long queue at the immigration.
4. Speed limit certainly requires a full attention especially when it
is below 50kmph, as a ticket + admin fee would cost around €100.
Therefore:
- Always scrutinize in detail the car rental agreement and ensure that a
proper copy of the contract has been received and well kept.
- Purchasing the excess protection is always a good idea as you could
never anticipate what is going to happen along the journey.
- If you are coming from another country, try to do some research online and
study the meaning of each road sign as different country do have them uniquely
displayed.
- Always pay attention to the speed limit.
It’s been quite a while since I have had the last long conversation
with a close friend without the disruption of the phone and the internet. Undeniably,
the technology of smart phones and apps has somehow killed the quality conversation
between many people. One of the regret is that we weren’t able to locate any
restaurant serving the chocolate fondue within the radar. Alright, I have now
met Ms.A in both Asia and Europe this year, but we shall see each other again
before wrapping up 2018 in the third continent, stay tuned!
