Auf dem Thunersee

Another month, another lake. Or so it seems. From Monday until yesterday I had two visitors from the wastes that lie north of the border. Catherine and Lukas had decided to pop in to Basel on their Eurotrip, and I had something a little bit special for us to do. One of my teachers had given me three vouchers for an heavily reduced day pass on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, the lakes that flank Interlaken up in the Bernese Oberland. We decided to head south and, after buying the vingnette to drive on the Autobahn, rolled up in Thun an hour so later. We sailed along the lake, basking in the sun and soaking in the beauty of the Alps, looming to the south. The whole journey lasted about two hours, giving us enough time to have a beer in Interlaken before heading back to Basel (via. Germany for a cheap Chinese take-away). Merci!

Ausländerausweis

To live in Switzerland as a foreignor you have to jump through suprisingly few hoops. I opened my bank account without a fixed address, and despite having fourteen days to register and doing so on my thirty-third in the Eidgenossenschaft, I didn't have to pay any kind of fine. Yesterday there was a letter waiting for me on the kitchen counter (because I left the house on Sunday to sellotape my name to the letter box downstairs), containing my permit to remain. I do, however, have to get out once the last minutes of 31.7.2011 have ticked by...

Ostschweiz

Switzerland is an odd little place. It takes about two or three hours to get from one edge of the country (say, Basel) to another (Lausanne, Lugano), where it is often completely different. To take advantage of what may have been my last chance for a long time to travel for a couple of days, I headed to the third edge of Switzerland, to Sargans in St. Gallen, to visit my friend Becky.

It's a nice little town not too far from Austria and Liechtenstein, surrounded by mountains and lakes and vinyards. We took an evening stroll up to the castle and enjoyed the views over the borders before wandering back through the old town to Becky's house, where we enjoyed a delicious curry and drank a little too much wine.

However, life in Ostschweiz isn't as peaceful as one might think; the afternoon was punctuated at regular intervals by a chaotic din, coming first from a distance and then from right outside of the house. It was the local herders moving their cows to and from a show. The cacophony was the product of the lowing of the cattle, the hammer of sticks to keep them in line and the rattling of the bells tied around the cows' necks. Perhaps one of the most Swiss things I have seen since coming to Switzerland...

Wohngemeinschaft

Not pictures of the whole flat, but of my room. Today at around 1600 the IKEA men rolled up outside and delivered my furnature for me. The matress and wardrobe, and the bookcase I didn't pay for are now set up and full of my stuff. It feels good to not only have a proper matress, but to be unpacked after leaving Hartlepool on the 8th of August. There is a slight worry that all of my diy-ing was of substandard quality and that I might wake up like I did that fateful morning in Utrecht, but I might be lucky...

Südschweiz

Lugano and the Festa d'Autunno

This weekend I journeyed south with two other assistants, to the Italian-speaking canton, Ticino. The train was direct from Basel and wound through the mountains down to Lugano, where it seems an autumnal wine festival was taking place. We spent our time sautering around the town, gazing across the lake, eating ice cream and sipping beer. The atmosphere was so nice and everyone was really friendly and out-going. It made me want to learn Italian.

Lago Maggiore, Locarno

After a night of sleep in a rather cosy hostel room, we headed on to Locarno, where my fellow assistants took part in an 8km power walk. I couldn't go along because of the continuing problems involving the Maestro, so I took myself and Anna Karenina off to various cafés, where I occupied myseld until their return. We went for a walk along the lake and around the town before eating more pizza. However, we decided that we would rather kill the remaining four hours until train travel was free in another town.

Castelgrande, Bellinzona

We headed a bit further north to Bellinzona, which was on the train line back to home, but also has three castles looming above it. We went up to the one closest to the town, and explored the towers, walkways and crags. This is the view looking from a walkway back up to the main building, with the very atmospheric, mist-wreathed hills looming in the background.

Angemeldet

So on Friday I moved to my new flat after a month on the other side of the river. It involved three return trips by tram hauling my life across the city, and a fruitless visit to IKEA where my card was rejected because my bank had given me a 1chf limit on my card. Both the IKEA and bank issues have now been sorted, and tomorrow I should have some furniture to fill my room. Pictures to follow.

Of course, this also meant that I was able to register in Switzerland, and the little stamp above proves it. All I need to do now is wait for my Ausländerausweis L and I will be set, paperwork wise...

Daheim

Whilst technically not at home, I graced the shores of Blighty for a few short days this week. I flew out from Basel on Monday night and was met by M at Gatwick. We got the train to his house and spent the evening eating olives, bread and a selection of cheeses.

Tuesday dawned and was awesome. I went map shopping in Covent Garden and bought a map of the Jungfrau region, we ate sushi for lunch and then spent the evening watching Sister Act the Musical (sadly without Whoopie, but amazing nonetheless) and dining at Veraswami, said to be the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the UK. The scallops I had for my starter were perfect and the curry that followed was one of the best I've ever eaten.

Yesterday was more relaxed and we spent in ambling around Oxford Street. I bought some much needed new jeans and fell in love with a cookbook titled "A Zombie Ate my Cupcake"; I don't know whether to start with the gingerbread graveyard cupcakes or the meringue bones with dipping 'blood'... Later we met with Leo (hoi mevrouw!) and her boyfriend in Camden for some booze en een beetje Nederlands and followed this with cocktails.

This morning I was a little bit worse for wear, but it didn't stop me from making my ten a.m. appointment to get my hair cut. The rest of the day was spent lazing around, searching for a wallet and a passport and eating sushi, before I flew Luton - Zürich and got the train back to Basel.

Tomorrow promises to be a busy day- I'm moving into a new flat.

Also, Grüezi to any readers who've stumbled here via Heidi's blog. I hope you enjoyed it...