A few weeks ago I made an impromptu trip to Montreux (roughly pronounced mont-row) Switzerland. If you remember one of my last posts I had an open weekend in april that I wanted to fill with a trip and was still deciding where I would go. Well I chose to go to Montreux and as the pictures will they you there was good reason to go. However as tranquil and beautiful as Switzerland was getting there was a bit of a mess.
I had planned to only spend one night in montreux and come home after I had seen what I could see. However the Italians in driven by their incredible work ethic decided to have all train workers strike every friday of april. I found this out about 2:45 in the afternoon on thursday. I had already booked a night in a hostel so I was set on going. At the train station I confirm what I had feared. I HAD to leave thursday if I wanted to get there at all. The snag... the last train heading up to montreux left at 5:00 pm. I was informed of this at 3:30. I had an hour and a half to run home, get my bags packed, take care of everything i needed to for the weekend...it was a bit of a rush. Also I didn't have anywhere to stay once I got there. My hostel reservation was for friday night and I had zero time to try and book a room for thursday. I hoped on a train to montreux that would arrive at 10:30pm with the notion that I would just "figure it out"
In my infinite wisdom I did not take into account the fact that Montreux was on the french/swiss boarder and nobody for a good 100 kilometers (yes kilometers) would speak Italian or any language I know. It would be all French. That made it pretty tough to just "figure it out". I arrived without a problem, I don't really remember if I ate dinner that night, but I got to where I needed to go. I let my mother know I was alive and assured her I would "figure it out". five minutes later I received a stern call form my father telling me to find a hotel and just pay for it. I was too tired and frenched out to really object. Getting to montreux was a mess but I got there.
Montreux was a "kill two birds with one stone" trip. I had a goal of seeing a real castle and a goal of going to Switzerland. Both goals where meet. Chateau Chillon is the most visited Historic Monument in all of Switzerland. It was how my medieval friends would say "a most pleasant experience, one mustith vist such a grand spectacle. Hath there be a more joyous place?" Chatueu Chillon, was beyond awesome. I pretty much spent all Friday there. The castle as I saw it was about 800 years old, but the oldest structures at the foundation of the Castle were over 1000 years old. It was great. If you find yourself in the area of Chateau Chillon, I highly recommend it. There was too much to see in the castle.
Montreux the city was great. As you can see the scenery was quite exceptional. The people were friendly and the city was small but awesome. Think Tahoe but much classier and bigger mountains. I would actually rival Montreux with Tahoe...however there is one thing that still makes Tahoe better. And it is the lake itself. Lake Geneva was a bit bigger but nowhere near as clean or clear as good ol' Tahoe. Score one for California! Can remain neutral on that Swiss!
Montreux was also a big hangout for some big names in music through the years. Our chap Freddie Mecury actually lived there for a good part of his life, Led Zapplin was a frequent visitor and When the casino burnt down in the 70's the fire served as the inspiration for Deep Purples "smoke on the water". Also every July the city hosts a giant Jazz festival. The greats of jazz came to montreux. There was a park I found that had statues some of the festival regulars. Statues of Miles Davis, Louie Armstrong, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald. Needless to say, a fair share of musical talent had passed through that city.
Switzerland was awesome, I would go back if I could and I'm really glad I made the trip even though I had to do it by myself. Also I made a good discovery. I found out why some people have been mistaking me for a frenchmen (i know, I thought it was a bad joke too). I encountered alot of French and swiss french people. I must say if there was a place where I could blend it. It was there in the French side of Switzerland.
When I get more time I can post about Munich, Pisa, and other things here in Florence. So sit tight
Somebody to Love- Queen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxbFLYa0_bw
Black Dog- Led Zeppelin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2M6yV6mueg
Smoke on the Water- Deep Purple
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtEfquKtj6M&feature=related
All of Me- Louis Armstrong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFzxo-XI8As
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