Switzerland (2022) - More Colors

Day 0 & 1 - Of Cheap Airfare and Nostalgia

There’s a song I’ve recently been listening to on high rotation. It’s called “More Colors” by Kidswaste, the artist has an unfortunate name, but the music is good. In the song, as I interpret the lyrics, a woman is lamenting that her partner is always going away. He’s chasing money and has become comfortable or complacent. Then she gives him a reminder; the chorus goes: “All that you see is blue and green. Would you rather be blind or free? You think you've found your comfort. But we just need more color.” I was listening to this song a few weeks ago in the car with Cynthia, and we were happy that we have a lot of color in our lives, being able to spend as much time together as we do, all the time we spend with Luna, and the time we get to spend doing meaningful work, plus our little jaunts. So following that thread, I am tentatively calling this blog “More Colors” since we are now showing Luna a place that we absolutely enjoyed, and now we get to see it in a different light.

Flying to Switzerland is expensive, but sometime in August 2021, Scott’s Cheap Flights alerted me to a deal where non-stop tickets to Zurich and back were $400 as opposed to the usual $900+. We’d always wanted to go back there, and we struck while the deal was good. This time, we would spend three nights in each location instead of the whirlwind trip from 2018. We’d spend a few extra days in the country, and we would bring Cynthia’s parents along as well. Also, of course, Luna! Our itinerary will take us from Luzern to Interlaken, to Zermatt, and finally to Zurich where we will meet with Hugo and Irene from our Austria Trip.

Our flight went relatively smoothly, with no crazy cancellations - only a minor delay because some people at MIA got into a fistfight; because Miami, bro. Luna had a hard time sleeping but eventually went down, she was able to sleep a little.

On arriving in Zurich we retrieved our bags and made our way to the train. This was an hour and fifteen-minute long ride, but being on the train and watching the European/Switzerland architecture go by, with the mountains in the background - We were back, and I felt a sense of joy. Once we arrived in Luzern, the sky was blue with no clouds and the weather was crisp but not cold - it was perfect. The AirBnB is sparsely decorated, but it has all the stuff we need, there are beautiful views all around and a nice balcony to eat breakfast.

As a negative, we ordered a travel crib for Luna, but when we arrived, we were informed that it wouldn’t arrive for another three days. This forced Cynthia to create a makeshift crib out of a spare bed, with a ton of blankets and pillows to protect her. It worked - Luna napped.

A few times we walked around - making reservations at a nearby restaurant, getting groceries, and trying to find a crib. In that time, we walked around and took it all in - Luzern is a beautiful city that is vibrant and active, but with a calming natural flow to it. As we walked across a pedestrian bridge that runs parallel to the Chapel Bridge, we couldn’t help but feel comfortable in this space and happy to be there.

To cap off the night we went to Rathaus Brauerei, which, if you remember Austria, Rathaus isn’t a house of rats, it’s the town hall. It was quite good, we each had something different, from pork chop to chicken to sausage to plain french fries. This was a nice low-key way to end the day. Before walking back to our Airbnb, we walked across the Chapel Bridge at night, something Cynthia and I had not done previously. Wow.

Tomorrow we are doing a walking tour, then the afternoon is unplanned - we’ll see!

Day 2 - Of Orange Skies & City Walks

I am writing this entry with the window cracked open. It’s night and the reflection of the lights from the restaurants and buildings across the river dance on the water. In the distance, there’s a man standing at a street corner singing while playing his guitar. His voice is echoing off the building walls and off the water, amplified. He sounds good; it’s soulful, and in English(!). Luzern is a beautiful and enchanting city. I tried to capture it in the video below, but it’s a pale imitation of the real thing; I wish I could have done a better job of capturing the feeling here - the best I can do is use my words.

Let’s get to the day’s activity:

When we woke up at 7:00 AM, because, you know, we like to sleep in while on vacation - the sky was yellow. At first, I thought it was the tinting of the windows, but once we left the apartment around 9:30 AM to meet our tour guide, the yellow/orange haze was there in the clouds and shrouding the mountains. Our guide, Luis Fernando from Airbnb Experiences was thrilled. He said it’s extraordinarily rare. For the next hour, the sky would only become more orange, staining every photo I took.

We met our guide beneath the Luzern arch, whose name is Torbogen. Luis Fernando speaks several languages, Spanish being among them - I had asked if he could do the tour in Spanish and he obliged. We walked around the city, visiting the Chapel Bridge, where 80% of it was burned down in 1993, presumably by someone who tossed a cigarette off the bridge, where it landed on a boat that was tied underneath the bridge. The bridge features art that tells the story of the history of Luzern - it’s an odd mix of pagan beliefs and Catholic teachings, which is a very Luzern thing to talk about. Much of Switzerland is protestant, whereas central Switzerland remains Catholic. But initially, the Swiss people were considered pagan and had many folk tales - as most European nations do.

From there we visited the Lion Monument, I mentioned this monument the last time we were in Switzerland. It’s a somber location with a still body of water and an immense, yet intricately carved into the mountain. It honors members of the Swiss Guard who died defending King Louis XVI - The monument is dedicated Helvetiorum Fidei ac Virtuti ("To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss"). Mark Twain visited the site and later wrote about the monument: “Around about are green trees and grass. The place is a sheltered, reposeful woodland nook, remote from noise and stir and confusion—and all this is fitting, for lions do die in such places, and not on granite pedestals in public squares fenced with fancy iron railings. The Lion of Lucerne would be impressive anywhere, but nowhere so impressive as where he is.”

From there we walked about through winding roads along part of the original wall that surrounded Luzern where the river could not provide protection, eventually going up a funicular to a castle that is now a hotel, Chateau Gutsch - from the courtyard, a panoramic view of the alps and the city can be captured.

According to our guide, Luzern is where Switzerland was founded, four cantons (or states) came together and founded the country. These cantons reside on the shores of Der Vierwaldstattersee. Now you may ask, “Jovanni, I don’t see that lake on Trip Advisor.” That name isn’t super marketable, so it’s more commonly known as Lake Luzern.

After an afternoon nap, we walked around town a bit, and eventually landed in a small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant, Nix. We all had a Swiss-style pizza, along with a beef broth soup. Both were fantastic. Satisfied, we headed home along the river, where I am still listening to a busker singing into the night sky.

Tomorrow we are visiting Mount Rigi, taking a boat and train to get there and back. Oh boy, hopefully Luna behaves.

P.S. Remember the fancy guy from the street signs in Austria - well apparently he has a kid now (see photo below)

P.S.S. The orange atmosphere was the result of Sarahan dust or sand.

Day 3 - Of Rigi Snow & Rosti

There’s no busker outside of my window tonight, maybe a little later. Tonight the city outside of the window is quiet, there’s a show going on in the Luzern Theatre a few feet away, although I am not sure what is playing. Earlier though, there was a man playing the accordion by the river, and another man playing acoustic guitar in a small square while we made our way to dinner. Luzern is a cool place.

Today’s activities are a bit of a blur because they all happened so fast. We woke up and made our way to the pier to catch the ferry. Our ferry was headed toward Vitznau, an hour journey on the river. The views were beautiful - we couldn’t help but wonder what it’s like for the people living in all the buildings that surround the coast. Do they take this beauty for granted? Does it not even phase them anymore? The working hours of this place are confusing, they’re closed on some days, but other days they’re open but close halfway through the afternoon. Other days they’re open all day. I bring this up because as Americans, we tend to be obsessed with work and “getting things done,” and it’s constant pursuit and work that causes people to lose sight of the important things. Here, it seems that the pace of life is slower, more enjoyable. Of course, I am seeing this as a tourist - the reality could be different.

The ferry dropped us off at Vitznau after about an hour, immediately we boarded a thirty-minute train from Vitznau to Rigi Kulm, the top of Mount Rigi, the second most-visited mountain in the area - the first being Mount Pilatus. The train was small, a little cogwheel train with bench seating. We squeezed in. Luna stared down two German ladies with painted-on eyebrows, they thought she was adorable. Luna was skeptical of them. This interaction may have been lost in translation. Once we reached Rigi Kulm, we walked around and made our way up to the viewing platform. As we did so, I realized this was the first time Luna had ever seen snow! On the platform, we took photos and checked out the beautiful panorama. We didn’t have much time here, only about an hour before having to start the trek back to Luzern because of Luna’s nap. Before leaving, Luna played in the snow; we threw snowballs at each other, she used a pile of snow as a bed - she loved it! During a time when it was just Luna and me, I taught her to call the snow “Rigi Snow.” She picked up on it quickly, and would shout “Rigi Snow!” as she threw a tiny fistful of ice.

The ride back was the same, a cogwheel train down, followed by a ferry ride into Luzern. Even though this would be my fourth time on the lake, on this ferry - it’s still gorgeous. I wish I could kayak on the cool and calm waters, stop off at a little town and grab a coffee before jumping back in.

When we arrived back in Luzern, Cynthia and I walked around town a bit, getting a cup of coffee and one of those apple strudels from the bakery yesterday’s guide mentioned. It really is one of the best strudels I’ve ever had.

To finish the night we went to Restaurant Fritschi - this is the place Cynthia and I had our final meal in Switzerland when we were here in 2018. Surprisingly enough, the hostess/waitress/manager(?) spoke German, English, and Spanish(!). Again, this place is delicious. Nestled in what appears to be a very old, muraled building. We all had Rosti. Paco (Cynthia’s dad) asked what a Rosti is, and that’s a legit question. The best way to describe a Rosti, in our minds, is to call it a type of hash browns with stuff on top. That could be an oversimplification - Paco called it an Arepa with stuff on top. In reality, yes, it’s like a hashbrown, but with crème and an assortment of toppings. I chose a Grison Rosti that had pieces of air-dried Grison beef and mushrooms. Oh boy, that was good. Cynthia’s had bacon, ham, and egg - so, yeah, it’s Swiss Hash Browns.

Capping off the night we walked along the Chapel Bridge; this will be our last night in Luzern, and I already miss it. Tomorrow we make our way to Interlaken via the Golden Pass Line, a panoramic train.

Day 4 - Of Interlaken Express & Romanticism vs. Pragmatism

We had a late morning, we actually woke up around 8:00 AM! Amazing! Our train out of Luzern wouldn’t head out until noon. In the meantime we slowly got ready and cleaned up the Airbnb - about that: it’s a bit of shenanigans that Airbnb hosts charge you a cleaning fee, then make requests like “please throw out the trash in the dumpster, take out all linens and put them in the wash, spot vacuum wherever you see it’s needed.” Hotels don’t ask for that, and at this point, Airbnb’s are about on par with hotels in terms of price. We went with Airbnb because of Luna and being with Cynthia’s parents.

At 12:00 we boarded the first leg of the Golden Pass line that goes from Luzern all the way to Montreux. For us, though, our train would stop at Interlaken. The ride was beautiful, going into the mountains and passing by sleepy little Swiss villages. Again, what would it be like to live there, among so much beauty?

On arriving in Interlaken, we made our way to the Airbnb, a nice multi-room apartment that sits above the host’s store, and a whiskey bar - awesome. Interlaken lacks the romance of Luzern. That doesn’t mean it’s less beautiful, it definitely has its own beauty, but the vibe of this place is wholly different. Interlaken is an adventure town; it’s a launching point for a bunch of extreme sports and adventure tourism. There’s a main street that’s lined with all sorts of souvenir stores, restaurants, and businesses; the main lodging is the huge Youth Hostel, which oddly enough has a lot of older folks sitting outside. This is a pragmatic town that’s nestled among the beauty of this mountainous region. It’s a place meant to get you to where you need to go for your next adventure. We weren’t able to explore the town too much, perhaps tomorrow when we have more time, my opinions will change.

Today being a transit day, there’s not much else to report. Once Luna woke up from her nap, we did some grocery shopping for ingredients so that Cynthia and I could make dinner - it’s something we would have made at home, but with Swiss ingredients: steak, veggies, and a Caprese salad. Nothing too fancy, but it was just right. Before going up to the Airbnb, I stopped off at the whiskey bar and bought some local sour beers, fantastic!

Tomorrow we are waking up bright and early to board a train at 8:00 AM to go visit Jungfraujoch, the highest train station in Europe. The last time we were there, we nearly froze our appendages off. We will be more prepared! I am hoping to capture some nice photos up there. See you tomorrow.

Day 5 - Of Jungfraujoch & Rethinking Interlaken

The day started early; I know everyone in this apartment aside from me was not happy about waking up at 5:30-6:00 to be able to leave here by 7:30 to begin the journey up to Jungfraujoch. The journey up takes about an hour and a half, plus a couple of hours up there, and then another hour and a half down. Given Luna’s sleep schedule, we were on a tight timeline before she spontaneously combusts like that baby from “The Incredibles.”

We took a train from Interlaken to Grindelwald, then a super-cool gondola up to Eigergletscher, where we took one final train up to Jungfraujoch. This is one of the highest spots in Europe, it’s a touristy location, but it’s cool nonetheless. There’s an ice palace, viewing platforms, a big Lindt Chocolate Store, and a bunch of other stuff - it’s a theme park at the top of a mountain. Also, it’s cold, so so cold! We meandered the areas and took photos, Luna loved the ice palace where I enjoyed going up to the top taking photos of the surrounding mountains. Before leaving, we swung by the Lindt store where they sold a bunch of those chocolates in weird and different flavors that I’ve never seen back home, such as stracciatella, pistachio, matcha, and others.

On the way up and down from Jungfraujoch were bunches of skiers. Even though it’s not terribly cold down in Interlaken, it’s still pretty snowy up there. I miss skiing, but I don’t miss walking around in ski boots “clomp clomp clomp clomp clomp!” Now, before you say I should take up snowboarding, no, snowboarders are the worst - don’t @ me. It was impressive to see some of these folks coming down from Jungfrau or some of the nearby mountains. Even when coming down the gondola, we could see skiers skiing by a small little town. Eventually, we made it back to our Airbnb. Jungfraujoch requires a three-hour travel commitment, plus at least a two-hour stay to make it worthwhile; that being said, it’s a lot of fun and breathtaking to be so high up among the mountains of the Jungfrau region. By the way, Jungfrau means The Maiden.

While Luna was sleeping, Cynthia and I finally got to walk around Interlaken on our own. I looked back at the post I made yesterday and at the post I made in 2018 about this town - yikes, they are vastly different. So, I want to add a different perspective to the discussion. When we first visited Interlaken in 2018, it was in October - it wasn’t as cold as it is now. While walking through the park today, there were a lot of empty storefronts and chairs in front of cafes and hotels that were empty. The city can’t be faulted - a global pandemic happened, and it’s 40F outside. So where I was hoping for the vibrant Interlaken filled with live music and patrons at cafes from 2018, that wasn’t a realistic expectation for a 2022 visit in March. My bad. Plus, the town is in full swing of getting the park and the grounds beautiful. There are newly planted flowers and landscaping, there’s infrastructure work being done; it’s a city that cares about what’s happening. It’s a beautiful city, and one worth visiting.

Cynthia and I walked around and eventually stopped at a little coffee shop. My sugar was low, so we both went with a coffee we wouldn’t normally order - Latte Macchiato Nougat(!). This thing was so decadent and delicious. It was the pick-me-up we needed.

Interlaken has an abundance of Indian restaurants, not to mention Middle-Eastern, Mediterranean, Asian, etc. For dinner, the family went to a place called “Spice Village India,” We all shared biryani, tikka masala and some naan; I love Indian food.

Tomorrow we are headed up to Lauterbrunnen to look at waterfalls. This is that town that’s neslted in between two mountains where there’s waterfalls all over the place. Essentially, it’s the spot Instagrammers love to post about when talking about Switzerland. I can’t wait.

Day 6 - Of Lauterbrunnen & Interlaken Part Drei

Every place is beautiful on Instagram, everyone is attractive on Instagram; blame filters and overly edited photos. Lauterbrunnen is one of those places that people on Instagram absolutely love. How can they not, it’s a quaint Swiss village nestled in a valley with 70+ waterfalls. This was our destination today.

We woke up around 8:00, but in reality, I was up by 7:00 since there is a bird who apparently has a nest outside of our window and likes to start singing around 6:00. It’s a nice way to wake up, but oh boy, not when on vacation. Still, well-rested we made our way to the Interlaken Ost station for a quick train of about 20 minutes. Approaching the area is still a sight to see, towering mountains and waters coming down. This is a popular destination so there were a lot of people meandering around.

Once we arrived we immediately made our way to Staubbach Falls. It’s immediately visible once emerging from the station. Making our way to the falls, we followed a single-lane road that’s lined on either side with shops, cafes, and farms. There’s also a fairly large cemetery near the falls. We slowly made our way over and eventually at the foot of the falls, at least as close as we could get. Normally, there’s a path that will take you behind the falls, but during “winter” it’s closed off. This area is absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. On either side of this village are wondrous mountains and in either direction is more nature to behold. We are small.

It was a challenge getting photos of the area, the sky was clear with no clouds and the sun was beaming down at an angle. Every photo, even our very eyes were saturated in sun haze.

We continued walking some more but decided to cut out and make our way back. With a little bit of time before the next train, we stopped at a cafe for coffees and pastries. The cafe was formally called Airtime Cafe but is now called NFT Cafe. At first, I thought, “Nah, they couldn’t have named a cafe after this ridiculous NFT nonsense.” They did, fam, they did. Despite the incredibly good blueberry croissant(!) and vegan banana bread, the cafe also hosts a series of paintings and art on the walls with QR codes. Scanning the code takes you to a site where you could purchase the NFT of the art that’s on the wall. Look, I am not going to lie - even as a technologist, I still don’t understand NFTs. The actual painting was on the wall, I could have also snapped a photo of it when the barista wasn’t looking. I hope whoever purchases the NFT of the gymnast in a bikini cartwheeling over some mushrooms will be very happy. That last line was not a joke, that was the painting.

After arriving back in Interlaken, Cynthia and I walked around town again. The weather was warm; the sun was out and there were barely any clouds in the sky. The cafes, hotels, and shops were buzzing again. It reminded me of the Interlaken of 2018; minus the live music. We strolled around the park, spying out a huge playground, residences, restaurants with people. Interlaken is a bustling city, but it does seem like a transient population. While we walked around, I did catch sight of the street sign whose picture is below. I am not sure what to make of it, does this mean “No mothers with children?” or does it mean “No kids allowed?” Please let me know.

Before going up to our Airbnb, was stopped off at the bar beneath the apartment. We sat and had a cider and a raddler. The people of Switzerland for the most part are not friendly, as I’ve said - this bar is mostly frequented by locals, none of whom even spoke a word to either of us as we sat there and enjoyed our drink. All the other tables chit chatted with each other, and a few eyes turned toward us at times with chuckles and smirks. I wonder what they were saying. Jokes on them, I am talking trash about them online.

For dinner we went to an Italian placed called Piz Paz. Luna behaved awesome, in the last week it seems she’s become more aware of things and even more vocal - it’s a cool thing to witness. People love her, wherever she goes, people smile and wave, they laugh when she laughs and melt when she talks. I am in trouble.

Tomorrow is a transit day, we are making our way to my favorite city from 2018, Zermatt - home to the Matterhorn Mountain. After writing that, I remembered that I called myself Jovanni Von Matterhorn last time I was there. Good times.

I am looking forward to seeing Zermatt and being among the wooden buildings, fondue restaurants, and mountains.

Day 7 - Of Transit Days & Zermatt Recharged

Today was a transit day. What do I mean by that? It’s usually the day when we are moving from one city to the next and the main attraction is riding on trains for the majority of the day. It’s not that riding on trains is difficult, but the act of carrying luggage in and out of a train to catch another train can be a little daunting - and you have to make sure you do it quickly or else you’ll miss your connection, or end up on a sub-par train carriage. Usually, I avoid these hassles by traveling light. For this trip, everything except for my toiletry kit is in my travel backpack. The issue is carrying all the Luna-related accouterments: stroller, pack-n-play, luggage, etc. So for every connection, there are a few moving parts involved. Cynthia for her part is dealing with the most precious cargo; Luna.

That is a nice foundation to begin today’s activity. We went from Interlaken to Zermatt. This journey required two separate connections; one at Spiez and one at Visp, finally landing us in Zermatt. Thankfully this portion of the trip was uneventful aside from the stress of making the connections. Still, I am downplaying the fantastic sights that can be seen from the train itself. There are towering mountains, waterfalls, valleys, villages, farms, streams, rock slides, snow, forests, ice caps - during this time of year, it’s a dizzying array of natural colors and experiences.

People have often asked me what is the most beautiful country I’ve visited. That’s a difficult question to answer, each country has had a level of beauty to it that is its own. Ireland is green and peaceful with a sense of joy. Iceland is majestic and humbling but utterly lonely. Austria has a quiet beauty to it, it’s similar to Switzerland but is not as dramatic about it. Switzerland dances around the balance of these things - it’s utterly beautiful and it’s vibrant, it’s diverse and accessible.

I’ve stopped trying to take photos from the train, I am not good at it. Cynthia on the other hand has become quite good. Today’s entry won’t have many photos.

Zermatt was my favorite Swiss city from our 2018 trip, so I was very excited to return. Remember how Interlaken was sleepy and slow when we got there? Zermatt was the opposite. On emerging from the train station, we were greeted by six little mini-cars with men standing on top strapping ski gear to the roofs. There were people everywhere. People clomping around in ski gear, people eating, people just walking, people shopping, people talking. In 2018, Zermatt had people, but not like this. Even when Cynthia and I walked around after dropping our stuff off at the Airbnb and putting Luna to bed, the city was bumping. There was down-tempo music playing at an open-air bar and café. There were people drinking and eating at restaurant patios. Shops were packed, people were walking around rolling luggage. Zermatt is recharged and it made me so happy to be there.

While we walked around, we realized we were hungry. Searching around, we came across a small shop called Soupi. The outside board says it sells three soups and four drinks. That’s it. Sold. We walked up, I ordered a potato-leek soup, while Cynthia got a Tomato soup. Along with the order, we got a ginger punch. It was served by this super chill dude with big hair and a friendly smile - his playlist was head-noddingly good. We loved the business model, it’s essentially - “here’s what we have, it’s ready to eat.” He poured our soups and we walked off to enjoy. They were fantastically delicious with a side of wonderfully crunchy-yet-soft-bread.

For dinner, we went to a Swiss restaurant named “Pollux.” Cynthia had a Rosti. I wasn’t too hungry so I ordered a cheese toast, thinking it wouldn’t be bad - it was one of the cheapest things on the menu. What arrived was a 6-inch diameter toast with about a half-inch thick layer of cheese on top. I wasn’t really hungry, but I ate-it-all-up!

Our Airbnb is modern; it looks pretty new. The amenities are nice and it has a balcony. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a view of anything spectacular. I say this snobbishly, I can still see some mountains in between the buildings, just not the ones I want.

Tomorrow we are going up to the Gornergrat Observatory and Hotel, then walking down to the lake where you can see the reflection of Matterhorn. I love this spot.

Day 8 - Of Gornergrat & Kaffee

This city is buzzing with activity. I realize this has become a theme through this trip, but after some thought, I think it’s because we are juxtaposing Switzerland in Winter vs. Switzerland in Early Fall. There are people everywhere and almost everyone is skiing. It’s interesting because I haven’t seen a ton of snowboarders, mainly skiers - I am not complaining. Shops are filled, restaurants are packed, everywhere you go something is happening. Zermatt is awesome.

We made our way to the Gornergrat-Bahn, a railway that departs from Zermatt and ends in Gornergrat where there are ski slopes, a hotel, an observatory, a hotel, and a few other attractions. That main attraction, though, is the spectacular views of Matterhorn. Getting onto the train was tough, it was packed with skiers and only the last carriage we checked had one bench left where we could sit! Once we arrived we made our way to the top and started taking photos. Luna was obsessed with the snow, rocks, and stairs. Luna has an obsession with stairs, she absolutely loves them. We wandered around a bit, checking out the views, checking out the shops, and having a little bite to eat. My plan was to walk down to one of two lakes nearby to be able to see Matterhorn, and its reflection in the lake. But, here’s a difference between Summer/Fall and Winter. All those walking trails are under feet of snow and are being skied down by hundreds of skiers. There was no way to do it. I was disappointed.

After a while, we made our way back down to Zermatt and enjoyed a little downtime in the apartment. After Luz and Paco returned, Cynthia and I made our way back to the Kaffee shop that also sells Japanese food; we were hoping to get some ramen. Unfortunately, they only sell food-food after 5:00 PM. Bummer. Still, we hung out and had some coffee and cappuccino.

I’ve been looking forward to visiting the Mammut store and the Salewa store - two places that I regretted not getting more stuff from last time. So, after our coffee, we made our way there. Again, I didn’t buy anything from the Salewa store, because despite liking a lot of what they have to offer, I just don’t need it. Also, it was pricey. The Mammut store was similar, but I did end up getting a small sling that I plan to review on my YouTube Channel. Despite my lack of purchases, I do have to say that both companies have some interesting backpack designs, I wish I could test them all!

For dinner, we ended up at a Swiss Steakhouse, mainly because the Chinese restaurant next door was booked with reservations and was not allowing walk-ins. Switzerland is rife with this kind of thing. When someone reserves a table, they legit reserve the table - so it’s always a good idea to call ahead. The steakhouse though was unassuming - it had one waitress. When we arrived, it was empty. What ended up happening was a meal with a very friendly waitress who drew a little Luna caricature on our bill and excellent steaks. All around it was a great meal for a relatively reasonable price.

Tomorrow is more of a chill day, I have not planned anything ahead of time. Only just a few minutes ago did I find that Zermatt hosts walking tours in English on Tuesdays, so we may do that in the afternoon.

Day 9 - Of Walks & Old Zermatt

In just about every trip we’ve done, there’s always been a day where we mainly relax - a chill day where we can recharge and just enjoy being someplace with no itinerary. For us, that day was today. There was no plan, only later in the morning did we decide to book the official Zermatt walking tour that’s run by the tourism board.

The group woke up slowly and we milled about the apartment for a while. Eventually, Cynthia, Luna & I went out on the town. During the day, Zermatt is fairly empty since most folks are out skiing or out and about. We didn’t take the stroller, Luna was freestyle all over town - a homing-missile for stairs or any obstacles that she could careen herself off of. We stopped off at a few stores, grabbed a pretzel, and walked all the way down to where it was mainly residences. About midway through town, in front of the Zermatterhof hotel, they set up this outdoor lounge for afternoon tea/coffee/drinks. They play my kind of down-tempo/vapor soul music, and it just looks very chic or as Irene from Austria would say, “very posh.” I wanted to go, but with Luna’s naps, the scheduling never worked out - maybe next time.

On the way back we returned to Soupi. Look, when we like something, we tend to support them, and we both really liked Soupi. After laying Luna down to sleep, Cynthia and I both ended up napping on opposite couches. Why opposite couches? Because Luna was sleeping in our bedroom and we didn’t want to risk her waking up with us going inside. Ridiculous.

Around 4:00 PM we made our way to the walking tour. At first, I thought it was just going to be us, but about 12 other English speakers joined. This walking tour is a deal, it’s only 10 CHF per person. We walked around town, learned some history, and got to see some old, original houses from when Zermatt was nothing but a remote village in the alps. Here are a few interesting things I learned:

1) Most Zermatt houses require heating at least ten months out of the year. 2) In case oil delivery is delayed or blocked somehow, there is a tank, the guide indicated was under the train station, that holds 1.5 million liters of oil. 3) The majority of the heating is done with oil and only a little electricity. Solar doesn’t work here because of the snow cover, and only three years ago did the canton (state) approve wind power. 4) No major trucks can make it out to Zermatt for grocery deliveries so at midnight trucks from the major grocers (Migros & Coop), start putting groceries on trucks, those trucks then travel to Visp where their cargo is put on trains. At 4:00 AM the grocers go to the Zermatt train station to load up their groceries for their store. 5) Zermatt does not allow normal cars, only the small electric cars that are purpose-made for life in Zermatt. These cars are meant to have space for 50% passengers and 50% luggage/cargo. They’re made locally in Zermatt and cost about 70,000 CHF, they have two bus lines that also operate on electric vehicles made in Zermatt, these buses are 700,000 CHF. There are only four regular cars in the entire city and they belong to the four doctors who live there. 6) The old wooden houses date back hundreds of years, one we saw dates back 600 years. The families of Zermatt each have multiple buildings, one to live, one to store livestock and livestock, one to store foodstuffs, one to store corn, etc. But on the flip side, they didn’t have much money. Houses were elevated above storage areas and made in a way to deter mice from climbing up into the home. 7) Lucy Walker was the first woman to climb Matterhorn and she did it in a flannel skirt. 8) Queen Victoria declared all of Zermatt dangerous because someone died climbing Matterhorn.

Once we finished the tour we made our way to a Swiss-Italian restaurant where we had Pizza, it was so good! Outside of this restaurant was an outside bar that was playing some straight-up EDM, I picked up Luna and we danced around to the music. She raised her hands and laughed as we danced.

Tomorrow we undertake the final leg of our trip, a three-hour trip to Zurich, where we are meeting up with Cynthia’s extended family - Hugo & Irene, and Monica (a cousin who lives in Milan). It’s going to get very Colombian in Zurich.

Day 10 & 11 - Of Transits & Quiet Cities

Yesterday was a transit day that took up a good chunk of time because it was a trip from Zermatt all the way to Zurich. Before heading out, Cynthia and I swung by a small coffee shop called “Petit Royal.” We sat on the upper floor and drank fancy coffees and enjoyed the last bit of time in Zermatt before heading to our final city. It was only after we were getting up to leave that I remembered this is the exact same coffee shop we visited before leaving Zermatt back in 2018! Look, we’re consistent.

The trip to Zurich was smooth. At the train station, we met with Cynthia’s cousin Hugo and his wife Irene who live in Vienna. Along with them was Monica, Cynthia’s other cousin, who lives in Milan. Monica reminded me a lot of Danielle from our Iceland trip; it’s not that they look identical, there are similarities, but little details caused the recollection. As a big family, we walked the ten minutes to our ample apartment. This place is large, with exposed wood beams, a modern kitchen, and even children’s toys - it’s perfect. Soon after arriving, we made our way to a traditional Swiss-German restaurant, Zeughauskeller - the building is old and was used as an armory so there’s decorative weaponry all over the walls.

Once we got back to the apartment, all the cousins just hung out and sat around chatting it up and drinking wine while listening to a chill Italian music playlist that Monica had on her Spotify. Good vibes.

The next day we woke up at 6:30 AM because Luna was singing in the crib. The rest of the family slowly made their way to the kitchen to have breakfast, but we were all out about 10:30 to walk around Zurich. Hugo took the lead in taking us around to different spots, many of them Cynthia and I recognized from our walking tour. Hugo did make a valid observation that I kept thinking about throughout the day: Although Zurich is a big city, it’s not a loud city, it’s an eerily quiet city for being such a large major metropolitan city. I personally love the mix of old European architecture mixed with modern buildings, but with mountains in the distance, a river running through and city, and a lake within view.

For lunch, we found ourselves a 45-second walk to the Raclette Factory! I was so excited about this. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals, and the memory of this place and the expectation it set in my mind was absolutely met. After a bit more walking, it was time to put Luna to nap, so Cynthia and I walked on our own back to the apartment while the rest of the family continued on. It was a nice bit of rest to come to the apartment and just hang out.

During the evening, Cynthia, Paco, and I walked Monica to the train station where she was taking a train back to Milan. From there, we made our way to Mythos, a small Greek restaurant.

The plan for tonight is to play board games, where hopefully Hugo doesn’t misinterpret the rules in a way to give himself the victory.

In summary, the day was a nice and relaxing one. Luna was excellent, we had a great time today and looking forward to our last full day in Switzerland before we fly back to Miami and the mountain of responsibility and obligations that await us there.

Day 12 & 13 - Of Frailejon Ernesto Perez & Flight Home

I am now writing this entry from the comfort of my own home in Miami. The last few days have been a whirl - still I plan to document what happened on our last day in Switzerland and also post a summary of sorts.

You may be wondering what a Frailejon Ernesto Perez is. Hugo introduced us to this PSA Cartoon that was created in Colombia. It’s supposed to teach kids about water and energy conservation. The thing is, the song is ridiculously catchy. As soon as he showed us the video back when we arrived, it has been stuck in all our heads. Today and on previous days, we’ve been walking around Zurich humming and singing this song; Luna loves it. Funny thing, there is some sort of music festival going on, and people are psyched that the Frailejon people were going to play the song there. Check out the two videos below. You’re welcome.

On our last full day in Zurich, we went out into the city to go gift shopping. There were a few stores we wanted to check out that were acclaimed for their selection and quality. Additionally, we wanted to visit some of the chocolate shops we’d been to on our last trip. We weren’t in a rush, through the morning we walked Zurich again, slowly making our way across the river towards places like Schweizer Heimatwerk, a shop that specialized in Swiss designed and made goods. Confiserie Sprungli is a chocolate shop that specializes in macaroons. Teuscher Chocolates, specialize in truffles. Lindt Chocolates. Teddy’s Souvenir Shop, tons of the staple gifts people enjoy.

It was fun just taking our time to enjoy the city one last time. Funny side note: Hugo and Irene, who stayed an extra day in Zurich, wrote to inform me that Zurich on Saturdays is, in fact, loud. Carry on.

At 1:00 PM we had an appointment for our mandatory COVID test to be able to fly to the US. On entering, we were the only ones in the entire clinic except for some staff. The person who appeared to be the manager was harsh and rude - I thought she was just being Swiss, but later Irene revealed that the woman was in fact condescending and rude. Once we got that annoyance out of the way, we stopped by a small little Thai restaurant called Spoon. It was on the way to our apartment, and it was delicious, like legit Thailand-tasting food.

The afternoon was chill, we hung out and relaxed while Luna napped. In the evening we went to Burger Meister, mainly because the name is too closely associated with the Burgerista from Salzburg. That too was actually quite good.

That night we stayed up until late playing a game called Cartographers. If you’re into board/card games, this one is especially fun.

Transiting back to Miami was a hassle. Air travel is a dumpster fire, every airport does its own things, every airline does its own thing, and even the same airline will do things differently in different airports. There’s virtually no standardization; this issue would be fine if not for us having Luna and extra gear with us. Here’s an example: We take a travel stroller with us. Most times, taking it to the gate and checking it in is not a problem. On our way to Switzerland, I was practically told off because I didn’t check the stroller at the counter. On the way to Switzerland, we could board early with first class because we had a baby. On our way back, there was no direction about this, and they only placed us after Premium Economy and before Economy. These issues are exacerbated because there’s no clear direction, as a traveler, you’re just supposed to guess or just know all the ins and outs of how each airport and airline does things. Also, people tend to be jerks.

The flight back to Miami was long and uneventful, thankfully. On a side note, kudos to Luna: it was a ten-hour flight and despite being awake for most of it, she was fine and didn’t really fuss.

We made it back safely with my parents picking us up from the airport.

For my last entry in this journal, I’ll leave with some parting notes.

Summary - Of Obtaining More Colors

I want to circle back to the song I mentioned at the outset of this journal and where I got the inspiration for its title, “More Colors” by Kidswaste. In the pre-chorus, the singer assures her partner with these words:

“Count down, come down, come lay beside me. You can calm down, sit down, you know I'm yours. You're not alone.”

I feel that these simple words capture the feeling of this trip, at least for me. Traveling to Switzerland with Cynthia, Luna, Paco, and Luz was a trip of consistent togetherness; especially when it came to special moments with Luna.

On Mount Rigi is the first time she saw snow. It was the first time we played in the snow together; I hit her with a snowball, and she attempted to toss one my way. She was fascinated with the “big agua” of Lake Luzern and the river that runs through the city.

As we strolled by the large park in Interlaken she pointed out flowers, people, and dogs.

In Zermatt she’d fling herself up and downstairs, we danced in the middle of the road to random electronic music from a nearby lounge, and she was obsessed with rocks at Gornergrat.

In Zurich, she drank from fountain water, pointed out ducks and birds, and ate more chips and chocolate than we probably should have given her. She met Hugo (el Oso), Irene (or as she’d say Nene), and Monica (who she also called Nene for some reason). She loved them. Oh, and we learned about Frailejon.

These moments colored our trip and added color to our lives. And apart from Luna, it was also Cynthia and I being together in this place we’d enjoyed alone. A country we escaped to three years ago to getaway. We slowed it down and took in the sights. We laid down and enjoyed the quiet moments together, and as a family. So even though each city presented itself in a different way, each way was its own, and unique.

Luzern revealed itself to be a city I think I could live in. Interlaken exhibited its multi-faceted nature. Zermatt buzzed with excitement and people, surrounded by powerful mountains and nature. And Zurich showed itself to have a quiet intensity, a major metropolitan city with a beautiful charm.

Our trip was a good one, a trip that added more colors.