Far East Cynic

Swiss Miss

And we are back. After our day in Zurich-we stayed in a hotel and then got up the next morning and drove to Interlaken. Which was a great drive-albeit taxing as it went over the mountains. But then down to the lakes and we got to see some great scenery.

We stopped and had lunch in the town of Interlaken-then went further SW towards the town of Tun-along the Thunsee.

This town is 20 Km west of Thun.

A closer view:

On the way back over, going over the mountains-we decided to stop at a scenic overlook. As I stopped the car and got out-in one of those uniquely embarrassing moments for both involved-I stepped out of the car and looked over the top of the car back into the woods. As luck would have it, a female pair of eyes, attached to a body in the squatting position, having thought herself concealed well enough, gazed directly back at me. I quickly averted my glance and snuffled a well deserved snicker or two. Unfortunately, the SO also caught a glimpse-and in a move that surprised me-expressed some level of disgust. Not wishing to compound on embarrassment I told her in Japanese ( which I assumed the lady peeing would not understand), “when you have to go, you have to go.” She still was not amused. She is becoming more and more of a prude as she ages-much to my own chagrin and disgust-since mentally, I am moving in the opposite direction.

Her boyfriend-obviously not in as much urgency, comes out of the deep woods-having taken the time to give himself more concealment. We by that time had crossed the road and took in the view-hoping that they would get in the car soon and leave, thus ending an embarrassing situation for all concerned. We puttered about taking pictures of the Obersee:

The Obersee has a lot to see-including what appeared to be a tram on the other side:.

After shooting some more pictures-it was back into the car and back to Zurich. What amazed me-was how docile the drivers were-it was nothing like being in Germany where Porsches and Mercedes run down in the left lane in a heart beat. On the A4 towards Zurich, the cars all stayed at the posted speed limit which fluctuated between 80, 100 and 120 km/h. I got the distinct impression more people took the train. Then again-it might have something to do with the huge traffic fines.

One of other thing we noticed-Zurich is not cheap. Dinner even in a modest restaurant could set you back 50 bucks-and that is with only one beer. The other thing that drove the SO nuts was the amount of Chinese women she saw. Not women who were tourists-although there were plenty of those-but rather, women who were well dressed and gave the appearance of living there. I tried vainly to remind her that China has money and a lot of it flows through Zurich on the way to points beyond, like Africa. She never grasped that-probably because she still can’t accept the fact that China has passed Japan’s economy.

Perhaps I should return alone. It looked like it had potential.