Switzerland

I finally made it to Switzerland to see my sister... Leaving Melbourne at 11pm Friday, three blood noses and 2 hours sleep later I arrived in Hong Kong and stretched my legs and back on the plane for another 12 hours, another blood nose, more films and very little sleep... Needless to say by the time I got to Heathrow I was cranky, sweaty & tired. My first withdrawal of Euros was exciting, and when I bought a magazine and a Peter Rabbit toy for Jo from Harrods, I got my change in Pounds! Aargh, I was so confused!
The flight from London to Zurich was OK - nice and short, 1.5hrs, and full of Swiss students who had been to an English language camp in Turkey (go figure). They were loud and funny, I got talking to one of them and she was lovely.
There were no customs people at Zurich airport, I felt naughty walking straight through, and there was Jo, all smiles and long hair, and we were both in tears and hugging for ages. Probably tears of relief for me, and I suspect Jo was pretty overwhelmed.
I had torn my pants on the plane within the first few hours (I had a dodgy arm rest with a sharp bit on it, so I had a hole which showed my thigh for the flight - classy!) so I was desperate to change before meeting Jos host family. (Please note there is no apostrophe to be found on this keyboard & there are a few letters swapped around!)
I bought them some wine and managed to buy myself a ticket to Frick, where Jo lives, without much help from her.
The train took about 50 minutes... more sitting on my sore bum!... and then meeting Jörg and Maggie was lovely. I got a bit stressed about the whole driving on the "wrong" side of the road, I must admit!
Their house looks like it should be from a storybook, cream with blue shutters and a view of the church which chimes every fifteen minutes, and goes on forever on the hour, and some "hills", I have been told they dont qualify as mountains here!!
We at raclette for dinner - melted cheese and sausages, onions, potatoes and salad, and the wine got to me so I was in bed at 10.30pm Saturday night, which is 6.30am Melbourne time, and slept like the dead until 12pm Sunday... feeling SOOOO much better now.
Maggie made muesli (minus the sultanas, yay!) for breakfast and I had my first coffee in a few days. Jo and I took the dog Bipo for a walk up the hill and I saw some new, very modern houses being built, as well as some older houses with nice gardens. Lots of vineyards around here too, and roses, sunflowers & cows that look like they should be in an ad for chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, Maggie bought me a HUGE Toberlone with a Swiss flag, and a huge box of Lindt chocolates too!
Tonight we have 10 people to cook for - risotto and chocolate cake, my specialities, and probably more wine.
Its about 24 degrees here and I am in shorts and a tshirt, sweating after our walk.
So, thats about it for now... We are off to Basel tomorrow, Tuesday we may be going to Lucerne to see REAL mountains, Wednesday brunch with Rhea and Carmela who are coming back from Tanzania (Rhea is Jos host sister), then Zurich in the afternoon, Thursday we are going back to Basel to Jos school, some markets, and maybe Jörgs school. Friday I think we will relax and then I am going on a train to Paris at 3pm... How I will say goodbye to Jo, I do not know, but I am SO glad to be here with her. Its strange, it doesnt feel like the other side of the world but then again, it is rather amazing.