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Pre-ramble
My apologies for the delay between blogs recently. I've come up with the following excuses:
1) The dog ate my laptop
2) Hemingway, Shakespeare, Mailer, Tolstoy, Ibsen, Spilsbury and Austen, all the literary giants get writer's block
3) I was abducted by aliens (again?Ed)
4) I've only just recovered from tick bite fever
The answer is, of course, all of the above. Anyway, on to the blog…….
Murder in Meiringen, Switzerland
Dr Watson: "Holmes, why are you painting your front door yellow?
Sherlock Holmes: "It's lemonentry, my dear Watson"
Those of you who thought the jokes could only get better after the last blog ("Mr & Mrs Bach and their homesick son, Offenbach"), are sadly mistaken. So you may be wondering what prompted me to repeat a terrible Sherlock Holmes joke (or more likely, you are about to close the browser). Hold that keystroke; this blog may improve (it better had. Ed).
When we arrived in the delightful Swiss town of Meiringen, even we could not fail to notice the prevalence of statues, streets, museums, cafes and hotels named after the famous fictional detective. It transpires that Conan Doyle visited here and decided that the local Reichenbach Falls were a fitting location to kill off his fictional hero, Holmes, after a final deadly encounter with his nemesis, Moriarty.
Eight years later, after a public outcry in Britain, Conan Doyle brought back Sherlock Holmes for what turned out to be one of his most famous cases, "The Hound of the Baskervilles". It appeared that Holmes had managed to escape from the raging torrent of the Reichenbach Falls, no mean feat when you look out over the swirling maelstrom of glacial melt water today. Yours truly was less concerned with seeking literary inspiration than keeping both feet on terra firma and avoiding the fate of Moriarty.
Meiringen's other main claim to fame, (the clue is in the name) is that meringue was invented here a few hundred years ago here by an Italian chef struggling with his pizza dough ingredients! This claim may be as fictional as Sherlock Holmes himself but it is a good place to buy meringues!
If you don't have a sweet tooth and you are not interested in crime mysteries then there is another reason to visit Meiringen, it is surrounded by stunning scenery that includes the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountains.
Sadly, access to the mountains in a motorhome half the length of Switzerland proved impossible so we were reliant on our feet, bikes, buses and a dazzling variety of cable cars and ski lifts. Working out the cheapest way of accessing public transport in Switzerland required the brain of Sherlock Holmes (so I was in luck).
There was a dazzling array of passes available. For example the Swiss Pass, Saver Flexi Pass, Transfer Pass, Glacier Express Pass, Blue Pass, Swiss Card, Swiss Flexi Pass, Haslital Pass, Burger Pass (not what you think Steve), Ass Pass (OK I may have made that one up!), Skyway Pass, Golden Pass (can we pass on the passes thanks. Ed)
Throw in some gloriously unpredictable mountain weather and eye watering prices and you can understand why we eventually chose (after borrowing NASA's Cray computer) a 3 day pass. The weather was kind, which is more than I could say for the ticks, one of whom managed to help himself to my blood in exchange for a dose of tick bite fever (I wasn't making up that excuse at the top of this blog!)
The little blighter left a circular welt on my inner thigh (it could have been worse!) about 6 inches in diameter, a mark that has taken a course of antibiotics, in tablet and cream form, and 4 months to shift. It seems ironic that after 6 years of travel, including some of the remoter parts of Africa, the worst bite I've had turned out to be from a Swiss resident!
Apart from ticks and making sure you use the correctly coloured bag for your rubbish, the main worry in Switzerland is being able to afford to breathe, let alone eat.
Fortunately we fell back on that tried and tested formula, invite yourselves to stay with friends, in this case Sonja and Josef. They proved to be superb hosts and gave us one of the most fascinating day trips we can recall, a visit to a relative, Hens, a traditional alpine farmer. After the snow melts each summer, Hens walks his 9 dairy cows up the mountain to the alpine pastures and remains there until the weather turns in late summer.
To sit in an alpine hut, with stunning views of the Alps, and watch Hens and family cut and gather grass to make hay, was an unexpected pleasure, incongruous in a country as advanced and efficient as Switzerland. It was a rare window in to a life that has all but vanished in Europe and North America, understandable when you consider that each hay bale that Hens carried on his back from the pasture to the barn loft weighed around 70-80 kilos!
Our trip around Switzerland was all too short but we will be back (when Sonja and Josef can afford to have us again!) Next stop, blogwise, a return to Germany for an encounter with some dubious South African friends and a re-union with the Kutz family in Eltville, who couldn't get enough of us on our first visit in August!
Long overdue thanks are in order for Sonja, Josef, Cilla, Jacob, Hens and family in Switzerland. You are very kind!
PS
Whilst proof reading this blog Angela has reminded me that tomorrow is some sort of pagan festival. It seems to be connected with an overweight, flying venison obsessed, and alcoholic male with a dodgy red suit who is apparently employed by the retail industry to encourage household debt. Bit of a mystery to me but if you like that sort of thing then enjoy yourselves.
I am writing this in the bright sunshine and heat of Alicante Province, Spain, at our over wintering campsite. The mellifluous sounds of a seasonal ditty are wafting across the campsite. Is it "Frosty the Snowman" perchance or perhaps "White Christmas" or "Silent Night"? The excitement is palpable, if only I had a shotgun!
PPS
I promised Angela a nice surprise on Christmas Day…………I'll remind her it's her turn to empty the chemical toilet!
Happy 2013!
- comments
Arjan & Patricia Nice reading material you give us for our evenings/nights in Marrakech..... Not that we are bored. A delightfull 20-24 degress during the day, we do enjoy ourselves at this side. Great the hear from you, and when we get home, I will answer your email from some das ago..... Enjoy Xmas! The only XMas feeling we got here was a Orange-tree with oranges and Xmas decoration...... GReetings from us.
Heike Evans As always - a wonderful blog ...and I am duly intimidated - thinking of how I am going to be even remotely as amusing as you - when we try to capture our Gap Year on our offexploring profile. I hope that we have learnt just a little from you !! We wish you all the best for 2013 .....may you stay healthy (and away from ticks !) - so that you can continue to enjoy your gypsey lifestyle to the full. And....may you have a blessed Christmas !
Mike & Sue Superb, thanks for a good chuckle on a (up to now) misty Spanish Christmas morning. Have a great day and long may your adventures continue in 2013. Hoping to see you at Marjal in January xxx
Ralph Hi A&P Marrakech sounds exotic, Souks, Ali Baba...dysentery! Good to hear from you. No rush with the email, enjoy your holiday. Happy Christmas Ralph & Angela
Ralph Hi Heike Lovely to hear from you as always. Looking forward to reading your Gap Year blogs. Healthy respect for ticks now after reading about Lymes Disease, water on the brain, chronic arthritis etc etc, amazing that something so little can do so much damage. Hope you are having a lovely poolside SA Christmas
Ralph Hi Mike & Sue We are having the same misty morning, typical Christmas day weather, cold and damp! Will start building the barricades at the Marjal gate tomorrow, don't want to lower the tone of the place with you two arriving! See you next year!
Lee Grogan Yikes, tick bite fever. OMG, too awful. I hope you have fully and completely recovered now. Buy some tick repellent right now!!
Ralph Hi Lee Fever gone and the rather alarming rash nearly gone after 8 weeks of antibiotic cream, tick repellent a good idea for our next mountain walk!
Carol Happy new year both. Still enjoying the blogs!
Tim and Ann Hey, Loved your description of Christmas. Copied it and sent it to another good friend grinch who has similar views. Thanks! Best to the both of you for the coming year. Itty bitty tick? Man up Ralph, 8 inches is tiny! Tim and Ann
Ralph Hi Carol Happy New Year to you too, good to hear from you. Thanks for the comments. Hope Reading is still above water!
Ralph Hi Tim & Ann Thanks for your comments, the Grinch is alive and well despite the brutal attack by mutant killer ticks! Have a great 2013