Tuesday
A mostly travel day today. We said goodbye to Felicity and Florian and headed to the bus and train that would eventually take us to Brugg. Not a typical stop for someone touring Switzerland however Dierk had a meeting at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland where he is teaching. While at his meeting, Deanna and I walked around some ancient Roman sites including the remains of a large Amphetheter. We met for lunch which was sausage prepared on a BBQ grill outside on the campus. We said our good byes to Dierk and headed toards Sion. This involved a couple of train changes but everything went like clock work. Get off of train, find platform for next train wait a few minutes, get on train etc.
Part two of our Swiss adventure includes hanging ot with Dana and Cedric. Dana is the sister of Tim, one of the fellows I work with at Entero. She moved to Switzerland from Vancouver about 11 years ago. They live in a beautiful house in Saviese which is “up the hill” from Sion. Photos can’t do the views justice.
They prepared a fabulus meal that included some traditional Swiss meats, pickles and crackers to start followed by Raclette. Oh my Raclett may become one of my new favorite things. Melty cheese with various condiments. I know what I’ll be searching for when I get home. We had some very good Swiss wine, made close by of course and some after dinner digestifs. My goodness. Our hosts are spoiling us.
Wednesday
Super fun day today. Deanna and I headed out with Cedric for a hike (really a very nice walk) to Le Torrent-Neuf ou Bisse de Saviese. A Bisse is an irrigation canal that was used to route water from a source to where it was needed. In this case the vineyards and farms close to Saviese. It’s really an amazing piece of engineering, routing water around a mountain. It was originally built in the 1400s and remained active until the 1930s. The trail follows the bisse. It includes a couple of mountain shrines and information plaques that explain a bit of the history along the way. As is typical of Swiss hikes, there are huts at the start and end of the hike that serve drinks, food and a place to sit and relax. These aren’t rustic little huts, they’re fully stocked and make for a very civilized hiking/walking experience. We stopped for an apéro at the mid point of the walk before turning around and coming back.
Dana was at home, she’s hobbling around a bit on a broken foot. Before heading out again in the afternoon, Cedric whipped us up some spaghetti Bolognese. Unexpected an again, very tasty. There was beer, and wine (anyone noticing a theme here?) to be had with lunch.
After lunch the four of us headed across the valley (a short 30 minute drive) to the town of Evolène which is what I think every Swiss town should look like. Old wooden buildings with interesting decorations and a quinisenttialy ‘Swiss’ feel to it. Of course, we had to stop for an apéro and bask in the beauty of this swiss valley.
We headed back to Dana and Cedric’s, stopping to pick up a few things for dinner. Deanna and I are on our own tonight as they’re headed to see Sting at an outdoor concent in Sion.
