So seeing as Marki is my first official guest (Hotel Mel is now offering vacancies if any of you are wondering), I wanted to take her everywhere and show her everything. But with two days off this week, yeah, not happening. No worries though. Thankfully Montreux is small enough that an hour of strolling is enough to get a fairly complete tour. We stopped for coffee at the café and made "plans" for the rest of the day. Lakeside walk to Chateau de Chillon, food, wine, relax, then who knows! And obviously since we're us, our chatting followed us throughout the day. Two months is a long period to be apart especially after spending our summer in retirement together. Oh how I long for the seemingly endless days when the most brain-consuming decision we'd have to make would be... eggs or pancakes? Hmmm... that's a toughie.
The weather gods must have known how much I have been hoping and praying for sunshine on Marki's first day in Switzerland so she could experience the lake, the mountains, and drama of the lake meeting up to the mountains. And it was a beautiful autumn day indeed with enormous falling yellow leaves and those brown ones already sacrificed to the ground that make the perfect crunching sound when you jump on them. I took her to most of my favorite spots around Montreux, and we made the trek lakeside to Chateau de Chillon, joining in on all the tourist fun with our cameras hanging from our wrists and rented iPods and earphones that tell you all about the castle's history. I had done the castle thing when I was ten-years-old with my mom and uncle, and it was still a blast this time around. The rooms are remarkably well preserved. I swear, sometimes I'd step into one and I felt catapulted back in time. It could be 1565. Oh god, please no. The toilettes would suck. And the people would seriously smell. Ugh. And the beds would be way too small. And then the lady talking in my ear starts telling the story about Lord Byron and the time he spent at the castle and 2009 feels so wonderful all over again. Ah modernity. How I love you.
Starving after our history lesson, we feasted on Italian-style pizza from a restaurant I have been eyeing since I arrived here. I think I actually lost my focus during our conversation a couple times because the marinara and cheese and ham and mushrooms all swimming in olive oil were consuming every bit of my brain and body capacity for a few isolated moments of heaven. Oh la la la la, cheesy heaven it was.
And just to make sure we did the first day right, we sat by the lake in the sprinkling rain drinking wine out of the bottle. Ah, the Swiss life. You are so good to me.
Hello there fall!
My favorite bench. With one of my favorite people. Love them both.
See? I told you the beds were too small. Yes, the people back then were not graced with as many inches as us modern folk, but they also slept propped up on pillows. No thanks.
Boo!
Looking out from the watchtower.
And finally, picnic dinner! Tuna sandwiches, bread, cheese, wine, salad, and chocolate.
That picnic looks good...
ReplyDeleteOh to be breaking bread with you too.