Getting there

I had forgotten how cute this country is. Down in the valley, all the houses with little towers and bay-windows, lofts and multiple skylight windows made me almost giggle. The train wiggling by the lake and the landscape getting steeper the further out from Geneva I got. I liked it, the familiar sound of places and feel of things. Around it all there was the French language flowing through everything like immaterial glue.


I grab a sandwich at the train station in Geneva. It’s nearly humours experience as well: hard times for vegetarians what comes to the otherwise impressive selection, I should have known this. I notice things I haven’t even thought of for such a long time –like viande sechée, or the mustard and cheese –combo. Or the hideously huge numbers in the price tags.

I manage to drag stuff nearly equivalent to my own weight to the train, into the train, out of the train, into another train, out of that one too and finally into the bus, the last leg of my journey. I wonder what the hell had I packed with. Skis are heavy ehh? And a snow bunny needs more things than a summer hippie? Either way, I was definitely at the limits of my ‘take what you can carry’ –rule. But I made it –and the following day I could feel it in my body, too.

It starts to rain somewhere after Montreaux. It’s still raining in Martigny, but from there on, the closer to the final destination I get, the rain gradually turns into something more solid. Snow. By the time I get up to the mountains, the landscape has turned to white. The bus driver has installed chains into his vehicle and the bus slides slightly in the turns on the serpentine road. While the bus does the usual turn around the village, I start to remember short cuts, recognize familiar chalets, spot places. Other notions: the village is even smaller than I remembered, I don’t get overly exhausted after walking uphill (credits to all the walking in Seville!) and my favourite muesli is more sugary than I remembered.

I buy my basic starter-pack form the grocery store: yogurt (raspberry and blueberry, respectively), muesli, olive oil, spaghetti, broccoli, cherry-tomatoes, bananas, toilet paper, green tea, herbal tea, salt, pepper and biscuits. The next day I go to get few necessities and some extras: sponges to wash the dishes, black bags for the bin, hand-soap, cheese, apples, nuts and natural yogurt, which I couldn´t find on the previous day.
 
Settling in.