I’m happy to report that our guest bedroom saw some use again last weekend! My cousin Sam Diedrick, who’s been working for the Navy in Naples since the start May, decided to fly up to see the Swiss life firsthand. We visited Geneva, Lausanne, the north shore of Lake Geneva, and the town of Sion; in the evenings we had lively discussions on traveling and politics.
On Friday, Melissa went to work like usual, but I headed off to the Geneva airport to meet Sam from his 12:20 p.m. flight. I had forgotten to give Sam my phone number, so as I was standing by all the limo drivers holding signs, I started to worry that maybe there is more than one exit door. But at 12:30 Sam stepped out of the door, and thankfully I was at the right place. I need to remember to exchange phone numbers with future guests…
We rode a train to the city center, and found some deli sandwiches for lunch. At 13 francs a piece Sam got his first taste of Swiss prices, which for restaurants, are around double what you’d pay in the U.S. Sam says we’ll love visiting Naples because he thinks the prices there are about half of U.S. prices.
After sandwiches, I got to be the Geneva tour guide for a third time. Since my last tour I’ve read a few more Wikipedia articles, so I think even Rick Steves would be jealous of my know-how. It was the brightest, sunniest day I’ve seen in Geneva, which gave us some nice views of the mountains surrounding the city, and also of the clear blue water of the the Lake and Rhone river.
Photo Courtesy Samuel Diedrick
At my favorite European Museum, Geneva’s Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, admission was still free, and the crowds nonexistent. I was hoping to show off my French language knowledge to Sam during his visit, but I got embarrassed on my first test, when the lady at the front desk said something I couldn’t understand. She had to switch to English to tell us that we could store Sam’s backpack in a locker. We tried, but were outsmarted by the locker, when it kept hold of the key even when coins were added. Sam decided to just carry it, then as we walked through the museum many of the guards gave us friendly reminders (that we now understood) that there are lockers on the first floor.
Around 4 p.m. we came to the apartment to drop off Sam’s backpack, then headed off to see Lausanne. Our route required crossing streets at crosswalks, where cars driving in their lanes would stop for us, and riding clean punctual public transit, things remarkable enough that Sam had to tell me, it’s much different than Naples. In Lausanne we visited the lakefront, where oddly we found a parade of people in 19th century military costumes, then we sat at a bar with a view as we waited for Melissa to meet up with us after work.
Photo Courtesy Samuel Diedrick
For dinner we went into the city center where we found a restaurant with slow service and small portions. After eating, we were still hungry, but paid and left to find something else. Our something else was crêpes from a street vendor in the main city square. Sam got the nickel tour from Melissa and I, then we came back to the apartment where we finished off a bottle of Swiss wine as we talked about traveling.
Sam has sailed all over the world, and when he’s not working, he also likes to travel around the world taking pictures. CLICK HERE to see a website of his travel pictures. He had many suggestions of places to see before leaving Europe. Some were already on our list, but he also talked up Eastern Europe, Istanbul, and North Africa. It’s interesting for Melissa and I to think about because we are just starting to feel comfortable traveling in Western Europe. Our fears in traveling to more foreign places are similar to how we felt before coming to Switzerland, so maybe we will be brave enough to try someday.
On Saturday, the plan was to see some iconic Swiss mountains up close in the canton of Valais. We traveled by train, and hopped off at the interesting sights along the way. Our first stop was in the heart of the Lavaux wine region to take a hike between the villages of Rivaz and Saint-Saphorin. Melissa and I had already hiked this segment when my family visited, but it’s definitely worth doing often. As an American, the vineyards, rural houses, lake, and Alps, are exactly how I pictured Europe to be, and are something you just can’t see in the states.
From Saint-Saphorin we rode to Montreux where we had a picnic lunch, then hiked along the lake to the town of Villeneuve. Villeneuve is the easternmost town on Lake Geneva situated where the Rhone river flows into the lake. Looking east from the town, you can see the dramatic valley that the Rhone cuts through the mountains. When we walked to the train station, I thought we’d be able to find a train deeper into the valley, but to go forward we first had to go back to Montreux and make a transfer.
From Montreux we boarded a train to Sion, the capital of the canton of Valais. Melissa and I picked Sion to visit without doing any research first. We thought maybe since Valais is a bilingual canton we could show Sam some of German Switzerland, but as we walked around and when we talked to waiters it was apparent that French is the dominate language. We knew that the city was in the heart of the Rhone valley and should have some impressive views, and in that we were correct.
As soon as we got off the train we could see Sion’s two famous landmarks, the Basilique de Valère and the Château de Tourbillon. Both were looming high about us and the rest of the city on twin hills. Of course at the time we didn’t know their names or anything about them, just that if we climbed one of the hills we could probably get some cool views. We walked to the closer of the two, which was the Basilique de Valère, and despite Melissa wanting to find a bus to the top, we hiked up.
The Basilique de Valère is a Catholic church built between 1100 and 1300. Despite it’s prominent placement, it is not the seat of a bishop. The cathedral of Sion, at the bottom of the hill, has that distinction. Wikipedia alludes to the Basilique de Valère being built by the Prince-Bishops of Sion to show their power. In the middle ages they ruled the people of Sion in religion and government. Sion’s other landmark, the Château de Tourbillon, was the castle where they lived.
The top of the hill, with views of the church and castle, and with the snow-capped Alps, and valley as a backdrop, is a very photogenic place. Sam kept clicking away, trying to find the best pictures, and Melissa and I tried to keep up. It was nice to get some photography tips, and now its fun to compare similar pictures we took to Sam’s pictures to see how we did.
After the hike up to the church, no one wanted to climb up the castle hill, so we headed to a bar for a beer, then found a restaurant that served fondue for dinner. We stayed late, long past our meal, discussing politics and the view of life one gets from traveling.
On Sunday Sam left around 10 a.m. to catch his flight back to Naples. We hope we were good hosts, because our positions are going to change in two weeks when we make the trip down to Naples to have Sam show us around.
(In addition to my photo album here’s a link to Sam’s photo album: http://voyageplan.smugmug.com/Europe/Switzerland/)
