Switzerland

I’m always visiting my friends in Germany and on a recent trip, I planned on visiting Liechtenstein, one of the smallest countries in the world and one that doesn’t have its own airport. The idea was to drive from Heilbronn to Liechtenstein, which would have taken just over 3.5 hours. At the same time, a friend who lived just outside of Zurich had time off and we arranged for her to go with me on the drive.

The plan was to drive to Zurich, pick up my friend Eftelya a.k.a “Swiss Girl”, and head to Liechtenstein for the day. Eftelya and I first met during my trip to Athens when we both ended up on the same cruise, which we thought was a party boat but turned out to be filled with geriatrics. Check out my post on Greece for more details about that.

But as luck would have it, we miscommunicated and by the time I got to her place, it didn’t make sense to drive another 2 hours to Liechtenstein for just an hour and then spend 5 hours driving back to Germany.

While enjoying tea and cake (she had baked a Turkish dessert called ‘Ravani’ to welcome me to Switzerland), I casually mentioned that, aside from the drive to her place, I had only visited Zurich during my trips to Switzerland. She was horrified that I hadn’t explored more of Switzerland and came up with a new plan to take me to the Alps!

I’ve been to Switzerland multiple times. While pursuing my MBA, I had several mandatory “Strategy” classes in Zurich, which made me familiar with the city centre. Despite getting confused between Dietikon (the town where I usually stayed at my friend’s house) and Dietiklon (the neighbouring town) multiple times, I never ventured outside Zurich due to time constraints. That is, until now, and I’m glad I did!

We drove to Attinghausen and took the Luftseilbahn Attinghausen-Brüsti to the top of a mountain. From here, we had a breathtaking view of all the lakes that comprise the Interlaken area, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps. The views were so stunning that I’ll let them speak for themselves.

I’ve been up and down mountains in various countries, but I had never seen grass as green as this, nor had I ever witnessed such vivid colours that made me feel like I was on something! I wish I could say the air was fresh, but instead, it was permeated by a mix of sheep pee and cow poop.

After exploring the mountaintop, we descended and drove to a rather quirky restaurant called Pouletburg, famous for serving ‘chicken in a basket.’ We placed our orders, but I forgot to mention my dietary restrictions. When the chicken arrived and I explained my dietary needs, the waitress kindly took it back and returned with a new dish, all without any fuss. The chicken was quite good, and if you happen to be in the area, it’s worth a visit, even though the restaurant’s decor is a bit outdated. “Swiss Girl” tried to convince me that it’s cosy on the inside during winter, but I still think it looks dated.

With lunch over, it was time to drive around the lake on the way back. My vocabulary isn’t extensive enough to articulate how beautiful this place is. It honestly reminded me of those social media posts that declare, “Switzerland isn’t a real country“. I took a few snapshots around the lake, before hitting the road. A long drive back to Germany awaited and I could only go as fast as my trusty Fiat 500 would allow.

In the end, I never made it to Liechtenstein and remained on 65 countries visited. However, I felt that I gained more from this visit to the Swiss Alps than I would have from Liechtenstein and for that, I was very pleased that my plans changed.