-
When You Imagine Me in Switzerland…
Posted on September 3, 2012 in photo essays, travel tales
I wasn’t ready to leave the Bernese Oberland when I did. So when a couchsurfing host invited me to come to gorgeous, lakeside Thun at the end of my trip, I replied with a resounding YES. And, just like when I first arrived in the Bernese Oberland the week before, the first thing I did was start walking.
This time, up and up and up toward Schilthorn until we found a mossy, green hill surrounded by mountains at a height somewhere around 2,500 meters. There, we pitched a small tent, climbed to a higher point for a dinner of tasty, homemade potato curry, and watched in awe as the landscape around us shifted and changed.
I wish you could have been there with me: watching as the fog rolled in from all sides, curling in tendrils like fingertips, reaching out for us. Like something out of Lord of the Rings. Or Hunger Games. Or whatever other wonderful fantasy book tickles your fancy.
And then there was the sunset. The pinks and blues and yellows in the sky over the ridge. The gradual fading of green to dark all around us.
And then a thunderstorm started in the distance, lightning flashing from cloud to cloud over the mountains. The wind picked up, throwing my hair behind and around me in strands. The clouds rolled. The smell of rain was in the air.
Words can’t do it justice, really.
We just stood there, me and my new friend, watching everything change from minute to minute, in awe of the grandeur, the power, the mystery of it all.
And then my new, handsome friend slipped his arm around my shoulders.
In the distance, lightning flung itself between clouds. The fog retreated and then returned, like waves in the ocean. I stood on my tip-toes for the kiss.
So began my third stay in the Bernese Oberland. And my first romance in a very long time.
So when you imagine me in Switzerland, imagine me with a lightning storm behind me, fog rolling toward me from the east and west, and the lingering traces of an orange sunset in the skies above me. Imagine me with my hair wildly blowing and my heart racing. And then imagine a windswept kiss with a tall, strong, handsome, likable Swiss man.
In other words, imagine me happy, free, full of life.
Like this post? Get future posts by email!
13 comments:
Leave a Reply
most popular posts
- How to Stay Stylish While Living Out of a Bag, Part I
- Congratulations, British Immigration. You’ve Obviously Just Caught a Dangerous Criminal.
- How Much Does It Cost to Spend a Month in Umbria, Italy?
- Traveling is Not as Expensive as You Think
- How to Make a Temporary House Feel Like Home
topics
- beautiful spaces (6)
- luna the traveling pooch (58)
- manifesto fest (16)
- pack your bags (13)
- philosophy (138)
- photo essays (177)
- ridiculous (390)
- tasty eats (27)
- things i like (246)
- travel tales (235)
- travel tips (28)
- week in the life (2)
- writing & business (98)
also featured on…
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing – it sounds like you’re having a wonderful time.
Thank you. Vacation has been absolutely amazing! Switzerland is officially my favorite place in the world.
Having lived in Switzerland … I understand very well what you lived. The country is truly unbelievable. I don’t think enough people go … then again maybe it is a good thing.
I know! I think everyone should experience it, but at the same time, I love that I can avoid crowds…
[...] day in Thun, I finally went to town (because, as you may already know, those first two days I was far too busy climbing mountains and getting kissed). And, dear god, is it a pretty town. All terra-cotta rooftops, swan-filled waterways, cobbles, and [...]
For YOU to name an official favorite place is pretty impressive (and with plans to return AGAIN no less)! Love the photos, love the backpacking adventure, love the romance, love it all.
Yay! Me too! Love it all!
I love how your view changed so dramatically. What a setting to begin a romance too!
[...] in my utter adulation on arriving in Thun, I completely neglected to tell you about my two-day jaunt to popular, touristy Zermatt and its [...]
Very cool story! Would love to hike in the Swiss Alps.
Thanks! Yeah. Hiking the Swiss Alps is one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. So much so that this was the second time I’ve been back. I am so drawn to them…
Go Gigi!! Right on.
[...] most amazing things I did this year: – Hiked the Swiss Alps – Published my first memoir – Attended my second content strategy conference (Confab 2012) – Walked [...]