Switzerland, I miss you!

     

Heidi, have you come back from Frankfurt?

   What I miss about having a job is the economical capacity to travel. I know I can, and in fact I do, travel on the cheap, you know; going for one or two-day trips, avoiding restaurants, sleeping at inexpensive hostels and so on. That said, I must admit that I'm looking forward to going for a real vacation again. I can't wait to visit Switzerland once more as soon as possible. A place where traveling and living "on the cheap" is an utter utopia.

         I like visiting those hidden and almost unknown lovely places which, in too many occasions, are just round the corner, so to speak. I think everybody should explore and discover their own country, as there is so much to see in the most unsuspected places. But Switzerland... it's Switzerland! It has always called to me so intensely... Those lovely landscapes on the wrappers of the delicious chocolates my father used to bring me when he came on holiday made me dream of a fairy tale country. I first read Heidi at the age of 6 and then re-read it dozens of times. I remember the cover of the book showed a wooden hut surrounded by fir-trees, with a snow-capped mountain in the background; the typical alpine landscape. That drawing used to make me feel happy for my dad, who, to make up for being  alone and far from us, worked in such a beautiful place. :) I spent my childhood dreaming of living there one day, when I grew old enough.

        Now that I'm an adult, concerning work, the country is no longer what it used to be in the 70's and 80's, when, like my father, many others migrated there looking for better working opportunities. I've never lived there (yet) but I was lucky enough to visit it two years ago. Needless to say I completely fell in love with it. It was a pity we could not spend more days there, enjoying it all as it deserved. All in all, we visited many places which caused a great impression on us:

Bassel.

        There we visited the city centre and the zoo, but given that we went to see my brother's inlaws, we couldn't explore as much as we would have liked to.

Altdorf, a cosy little village, near St. Gottardo tunnel.

   
            When we were there, the new one was still in construction. We flipped with the tunnels they have there, the ones which are not real tunnels as one of the walls is "missing", so you can enjoy the views. The first of this type we saw was in our way from Wassen to Interlaken and we  were bowled over by the scenery.

Beautiful Bellinzona on a cloudy day

Coming from Interlaken

      

         Our intention was to go to Sion, but we got lost and ended up in Interlaken. Sadly enough we got there around nine o'clock in the night, so we don't have any decent photograph. A real sorrow, given that it was one of the places we liked the most. When we can afford it we'll go back, this time during daylight and take lots of them. Although they never catch the magnificiency of the landscapes and the views, which is rather frustrating. Not being  able to show your friends the real beauty of the places you have been to.

Luzern left us completely spellbound

        

         As you can see, the buildings were amazing, tastefully painted and decorated. This was the cleanest city we ever visited. Everybody was willing to help you and spoke English if necessary, something that didn't happen in Ticcino. In italian speaking cantons it can be difficult to find someone who speaks English with relative fluency. You might think that being Spanish, italian shouldn't be too difficult to understand for me... So thought I before having to comunicate with italian speaking locals!

Messing around by the lake in Luzern

    On that occasion we were also to Milan and other villages on the North of Italy. It was great to visit the two countries and see the differences. Milan was disappointing, but if we had not visited it we wouldn't have known it wasn´t worth the visit, so...

Steep Italian village. Our knees hurt after walking hundreds and hundreds of stairs!

        When we finally go back, we'll focus on Switzerland and explore the countryside a little more. A relative of mine who lives in Bellinzona can put us up, and from there we plan to explore the North-East part: I'm particularly interested in visiting the Via Mala, which is said to be amazing, and stroll the sorroundings on foot. We regret not having done it then, when we first visited the country, the problem was that we had no car and trains were anything but affordable. Now, on the contrary, we do have a reliable new car but we lack the money for the journey, so we have to wait. Meanwhile we look at the old photos and remember the great time we had.



Goal achieved!

    

 Yessssssssssss, I have made it! I have finally got my Certificate of Advanced English. I passed the Cambridge exam in july, so I can say that my level is C1!! I'm feeling pretty proud of myself at the moment, as I've prepared the exam on my own, without attending classes. I would have liked to, but unfortunately I couldn't  (Just one among the manifold drawbacks of living in a hamlet).

       My next goal is to get the Proficiency Certificate, although I haven't thought of any deadline, as I don't know how much spare time I will have to study or how much practice I will get. Never mind, sooner or later I will get it!

        If I got a new work, this summer would be perfect. But that hasn't happened yet: :((  I have just gone to a job interview, but much to my sorrow and given that I don't have any expertise in that field, I'm rather unlikely to be chosen. I'll keep searching!