18-24 June 2012
Two hours after they were supposed to arrive at Zurich airport, we finally meet Keiko’s parents. KLM managed to lose their bags and k-mum had to try to communicate in English to sort out the mess. To her credit, she did sort it out and their luggage was delivered to our Zurich hotel the next morning.
Unhappily though, the first day of her parent’s tour with us finds Keiko quite ill. We spend an hour wrangling with her Japanese travel insurance before giving up. I drop her at a local doctor’s surgery found via an expat website where she is taken care of with enough drugs to start a pharmacy. It took me almost an hour of swearing after dropping Keiko off before I made it back to the hotel, thanks mostly to the useless GPS system in the car, but helped a little by the one way streets and an uncooperative Swiss policeman.
The next few days we spend in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, a beautiful place filled with waterfalls and huge mountains. The sort of place that is filled with the sort of views that adorn Swiss postcards. Since the k-folks said that they wanted to do some hiking, my plan for the first day is to take the cablecar to the top of Schilthorn (approximately 16 million metres high), and then walk back down again. I forgot that k-dad has a bit of a bad knee, but he reminded me afterwards that at least it only hurts when walking downhill. The positive was that the route was gorgeous; covered with wildflowers and patches of snow, and everywhere we looked were stunning views of the surrounding mountains. Hopefully it took his mind off the pain a little. At k-dad’s request, the next day was a relaxing walk along flat paths and viewing of a few waterfalls. Keiko once again retreats to the safety of the sick bed and the proximity of her plethora of drugs.
The tour continues with a traverse of the Simplon pass, a road through soaring mountains, great swathes of yellow wildflower fields, and steep switchbacks until finally we arrive at Zermatt. Keiko again pleads ill and hibernates while I escape to the mountains for some time alone. The sky was a little dark when I started my trail run, but once it turns black and lightning starts flashing nearby I decide to call it quits and make a fast dash back to the railway, arriving just before it starts to hail.
With Keiko still locked coughing and sneezing in the hotel room with “Toxic Waste” signs on the door, the k-folks foolishly trust me to take them on another hike. The goal this time is to see the famous Rippelsee (at least in Japanese guidebooks) — a lake with an excellent reflection of the Matterhorn. Despite getting up at sparrow’s sneeze, we miss the early Gornergrot train by a couple of minutes due to a too leisurely breakfast. But after waiting for an hour for the next we arrive to get the desired photos of Mirror Matterhorn, and continue to have a fab hike with awesome views of every mountain in the area.
Tour schedules wait for no-one though, and so the next day sees us locked into the car as the spend the entire day driving from Zermatt to Monaco. Upon arrival in Monaco, tired and hungry, we find that we have no friggin idea of where the restaurants are, and walk a couple of laps of the city before we finally luck on a nice French restaurant with views over the harbour. We all were dressed somewhat inappropriately (backpacker style) and get disapproving looks from the owner and waiters, but are given a table anyhow. Disapproving looks continue with only set menus, no alcoholic beverage, me sneezing every 5 minutes and all dishes swapped in a sharing of entrees, but in France a waiter is hired for their ability to give disapproving looks. Obviously in Monaco too.
The next day K and I abandon the k-folks to find their own way to a tourist bus while we take it easy for the day. They make the tour with only minor mishaps and we leave on schedule to migrate to Italy.
Photo album
2012-06 Europe Week 2 (210 photos)
Image may be NSFW.
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