Nine in the eve…admiring Lake Lucerne as the last of the yachts make their way home and the many swans retire for the eve; marveling at the snow tipped Swiss Alps in the distance fading to dusky pink for it is almost sunset, sipping a red and thinking…what a fabulous contrast! Switzerland v Italy – Italy v Switzerland.
Friendly people who chuckle at our attempts to grasp this new language and quickly adjust to fluent English to make us comfortable, the city clean, so clean, the traffic calm…and then there’s the Reuss river…crystal clear, icy blue in hue thanks to the water flowing directly from alps to lake.
A stroll into the old quarter reveals stately buildings adorned with intricate artwork not dissimilar to
those in Prague and Vienna yet displaying a uniqueness all their own..quite special actually.
Swiss cow bells, Swiss army knives, Swiss cuckoo clocks and Swiss chocolate abound…as do Swiss watches. Dicky’s in raptures and bags himself a mighty fine time piece, Fifi trawls for cooler clothing while Pixi spends the afternoon wandering and snapping this new architectural style in the old quarter, feeding the swans and yearning to dip tired toes in the cool clear waters.
Hankering for a Swiss fondue tonight but settle for room
service sandwich and French X Factor on the Bang and Olufsen telly, snuggled under the perfectly fluffy Swiss doonah, nestled between perfectly feathered Swiss pillows. Fifi’s legs need recuperating from all that walking and as this country appears to be the most expensive in Europe, may have had to do Swiss dishes for a week to pay for that chunk of melted Swiss cheese. Instead think of waistlines. Oh wait…waistlines??
Dicky has become the Gordon Ramsay of the Italian highway; Ducky never, ever wants to drive cliff side again…he holds up the traffic doing 20 km around those cliffs you see, and he’s not fond of the impatient drivers tooting, flashing their lights and signaling abuse behind him. Bella, Fifi and Pixi have each perfected the semi silent scream, discreet white knuckling and grabbing just the right amount of change from the car kitty within seconds for the endless tolls. Driving Italian roads is definitely not for the faint of heart.
first courses arrive before second and not all at once; never to change your mind for the original dish will always turn up…or nothing at all; never to expect butter…or plates, salt or ground pepper…but a great deal of bread (a symbol of welcome) and always a very, very large bottle of olive oil, along with ‘gas’ or ‘non gas’ water. Ordering a liqueur coffee is definately worth it though… just to watch the look of incredulity cross their faces.
Started the day gazing at the sun glistening on the lake over fresh juice, eggs and pastries before boarding the quite delectable Marco’s boat…Fifi and Pixie think he may be Ducky’s gift to Bella for it’s her birthday tomorrow. Our gorgeous captain who will cruise us up to Como, down to Bellagio then over to Crotto dei Platani our lakeside restaurant where, surrounded by 1,200 meter high mountains, a spectacular view of the snow tipped Italian alps in the distance and the Swis
s alps behind us, we will celebrate…Happy birthday Bella!
We get the gos on celebs. George isn’t home. A ‘serious’ chap, Matt Damon a ‘funny’, Julia Roberts ‘crazy’, Jennifer Anniston and Angelina Jolie both in town at the same time? ‘awkward’, Brad’s kids? ‘too much’…
here so many film segments have been shot we immerse in a major deja vu moment.
