Switzerland has been one of the best stops so far, likely because we were housesitting again in the Swiss Alps. It’s a place I never could afford to spend a week in, but we enjoyed every last minute of it as each day in the Swiss countryside was more charming than the day before. Picture alpine meadows, charming wood houses, complete with a soundtrack of cowbells mooing and jingling in the breeze.
Our place was located an hour from Zurich, 1 hr from Lucerne, 1 hr from Lichtenstein, and 2 hrs from the Pritker Prize winning (the architectural Nobel prize) thermal baths in Vals. We managed to visit all of these places, as well as eat tons of Swiss chocolate and fondue, with the standouts being Lucerne and Vals.
When you are traveling you tend to try to compare what you are seeing to your home country and I suppose Switzerland is a little like our neighbour province of British Columbia’s Interior. However, the vernacular architecture here really serves to enhance the landscape, or is in harmony with it, and some of interior BC really is quite industrial and at odds with its surrounding. I mean it doesn’t hurt that there are literal castles here to enhance the views. This is from Lucerne, which is, in my opinion, much more charming than Geneva or Zurich.
As we had a rainy day following, and it was my birthday, we headed over to Vals to see the famous thermal baths. Peter Zumthor masterfully balances a sensory experience of dualities through a severely restricted architectural palette of stone, concrete, water, and natural light. Cracks of light penetrate into the voluminous darkness created by these granite monoliths. Heavy concrete slabs appear to float as they are penetrated by these beams of light that dissipate into the waters below. The visitor explores the darkness and journeys into the light to explore new spaces and experience which were not apparent to the eye before. The spaces are filled with silence, sound baths, views, restriction of views, intense heat, frigid cold plunges, feelings of pressure & weightlessness, and is overall a completely meditative experience. Or you know would be, if you didn’t have a 14yrs old with you emitting the occasional shriek. The baths are highly restricted on entry, which honestly enhances the experience as you aren’t fighting for space. You can float and let your mind wander, or even fall asleep (as my husband did), without fear of bumping someone else. Unfortunately there are no photos allowed in the main area, but here are a couple from the quasi-allowed/not quite allowed area.
We finished off Switzerland with a quick trip through Lichtenstein and Austrian to reach our next destination of Munich and I fell in love with the Lichtenstein parliament building as it is one material of yellow brick just populated everywhere.
If I could pick one countryside to live forever, it would be the Swiss countryside, but I would probably run out of cash 1 month into that new lifestyle. An epic week, but the world beckons. Today we are headed to Oktoberfest in Munich. We will make sure to eat a bretzel, tschuss.
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