So after 3 days of not showering and 2 rather efficient trains we arrived in Schaffhausen in the north of Switzerland right near the German border. This is where Tash’s granddad grew up and to be honest, it probably looks like it did back then. We had an amazing night of rest and a wonderful shower to scrub off the festival grime before meeting Tash’s parents Sonja and Robert the next day. We hopped over the border into Germany and stayed at this quaint little hotel that had cows and pigs tied up in the barn next door much to Tash’s disgust. The butcher was right across the road and we ate at the hotel restaurant so you could pretty much see the circle of life right there.

A few days were spent looking around Schaffhausen and surrounds. Europe’s largest waterfall, the Rheinfall was just down the road, it’s no Niagara but still impressive. We also stopped by the beautifully named Stein am Rhein which is a medieval town that popped up in the 1000’s – just a little old.

We then moved on to visit Sonja’s old school friend Wilma who lived in this cool little village, Trin-Mulin up in the hills just out of Flims which is better known for the ski resort of Laax. This was about the time Switzerland really starting cranking up picture perfect postcard views wherever you looked and I found myself going “ahhhhhhh c’mon really” every moment we were outdoors. Not only did we swim in some amazing lakes but Wilma took us on a hike up through the trees above her house that looked down on the valley below and the lake we we swam at the day previously. There was also a guy playing one of those big mountain horns or alpenhorn ticking off another cliché.

After Flims we were on our way down to the Italian canton of Ticino and Lake Maggiore where Wilma had a sweet apartment overlooking the lake. We spent just over a week playing cards, swimming in the lake and catching up with Tash’s family, including the amazing Aunt Silva and Uncle Fritz. We also took a couple of trips across the border into Italy to visit the markets in Luino and to enjoy an Italian lunch in Cannobio.

If you are ever in the area, and we highly recommend it, make sure you check out the Ponte de Salti (jump bridge) which is an old Roman bridge and to be honest something that I thought was not going to be as good as the pictures, again I was wrong.

And that’s a wrap for Switzerland, glad that we got to experience all 3 distinct areas of the country and extra thankful for all the hospitality we were shown.

J & T