Hello friends… Happy Happy New Year! Yes, I know I’m way behind with my post and it’s been ages. The last quarter of last year (wow that feels weird) was a crazy roller coaster, I was trying to balance weddings, clients, work, and travel - any chance I got to sit and relax I was using as off-screen time so writing took a step back. I’m working on this, this year I will try and be much better.

But to be honest, I planned this particular one to be posted after New Year’s and there’s a really good reason for this. You know how towards the end of every year we all start to look back at the year to reminisce and reflect and confirm if we reached our expectations from the year before, I know we all do it. Anyway, whilst I was doing this I realized the highlight of my life this year was my trip to Switzerland. It’s really weird how I got to this conclusion so brace yourselves for this one!

At UCT (University of Cape Town), Film was one of my majors. Now, I learned so much about Hollywood, The French New Wave, Queer Cinema, African Cinema and more but I never got a chance to learn anything about Bollywood cinema. Because of studying films I began to analyse every film I watched, including the Bollywood hits and as much as this does get annoying sometimes it’s actually really amazing when I can explain the film in detail to someone - I just feel important and smart, haha!

So you’re probably wondering what does studying Film have to do with Switzerland? Don’t worry, I’m getting to it. Now you know I’m a Film fanatic, especially Bollywood movies and Switzerland is on the top 10 list for Bollywood movie destinations. The funniest part was before I never realized where these locations in the film were or I never really bothered but after I started paying attention to detail I realized how popular Switzerland is for Bollywood!

It’s usually song sequences shot there with Switzerland’s beautiful backdrop with snow-capped mountains and clear aquamarine lakes. One of the best Bollywood movies was shot there, in 1995! It’s been popular since then. But you know what, Switzerland is not only popular to Bollywood but also Bollywood is equally popular in Switzerland. This was confirmed when I came across a statue of Yash Chopra (one of the best Indian directors and filmmakers) in Interlaken and there were loads of people just waiting to take photos with the statue - this was new to me, I was genuinely surprised to see how important Switzerland has been for Bollywood. Hey if you think I’m lying check out who the Ambassador for Interlaken was in 2017…

I told you it was random and weird how I got to this conclusion… but hey, if you’re still reading that means you’re interested.

By now it made sense to me why I was so attracted to Switzerland subconsciously. I visited Geneva, Montreux, Zermatt, Interlaken and Zurich.  Out of all these Zermatt was my favorite and more so the view of Matterhorn from Gornergrat. Zermatt is a small town that lies in the center of Switzerland’s southern Valais Canton. It’s mostly known for skiing and hiking.

When I say small I mean really small - it has only one main street called Bahnhofstrasse that runs from one end to the other. There’s no cars allowed because well the street is too small, apart from their ‘trucks’ and ‘buses’ which look like toy cars. It’s population is only about 5,500 but changes because of tourists in and out during different seasons. It was the most peaceful from all of the rest and most habitants lived higher up in the valley.

Here comes another movie reference… Have you heard or ever watched the movie Heidi? It’s based on a children’s novel by Swiss Author, Johanna Spyri.  The film’s about a young orphaned girl who is sent to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Mountains. It portrays the adventures that she faces while living in the mountains. There’s more to the film than just this - click here to read more about it.

Even though Heidi wasn’t actually set in Zermatt, being there made me feel like Heidi. Living in the town for the few nights, walking around the small street, living in a room that had the feel of a wooden hut all seemed so familiar to the movie. The only thing I didn’t get to do that she did was herd cows!

The best bit of Zermatt was when we went up to Gornergrat to see the Matterhorn peak and visiting the same peak the next day. Not only were the views unreal but also the air was so fresh and clean. It was honestly such an amazing experience and I could just imagine waking up to the same view every day. The air in the town further down was also so clean and it was such a simple life, honestly I could imagine living there forever!

So here’s the cool part, a few months after I got back from the whole trip and back to normal life, I watch a Bollywood movie. Guess where the sequence song was set? In Switzerland, on the Swiss Alps! Yes, I know there’s lots of Hollywood movies set in Switzerland too - but I’m a Bollywood freak!

The second best was Montreux, not just cause I visited a chocolate factory and played with snow for the second time in my life but because it reminded me of Cape Town a lot. All those that know me know Cape Town holds my heart! Especially the promenade with a view of Lake Geneva and a range of mountains right there - a complete postcard view!

Montreux is another small town but much bigger than Zermatt and mostly known for the Montreux Jazz Festival that happens every year around March.

The sunsets were the most gorgeous views and what made it even better were the swans swimming around near the shores of the lake. There’s swans all over Switzerland’s and they just beautify the place even more. There’s something serene about the views in Switzerland.

While in Montreux we visited the Callier Chocolate factory in Broc, the Medieval castle Château de Chillon and tried the famous Cheese fondue at the La Maison du Gruyère cheese factory. I couldn’t walk around the cheese factory because of the strong smell of cheese but I ate loads of cheese with crackers and wine after!

Apart from the stunning mountain ranges and castles, we visited a couple of waterfalls. Originally, on this day we were supposed to go up to the Jungfrau region - a main summit of the Bernese Alps but we decided to do something different since we visited Matterhorn just the day before. Instead, we drove to see the Giessbach waterfalls and the St. Beatus Caves, a couple of minutes away from Interlaken. It was a refreshing sight and we were lucky to get a kind of clear day to see these.

And with all of this my favorite experiences were sitting by the lake, taking in the sun and enjoying the breath taking views, the amazing architecture - both in Geneva and Montreux, and driving around Switzerland to get to these different cities. The views we got on the way too were just as amazing and honestly I would advise everyone to do the same. All we did was hire a car and had Google Maps by our side.  At one point, we reached a little town, Riex, where a wine festival was going on and we had a chance to experience this too!

Sometimes, having things unplanned and going with the flow is a blessing in disguise!

Sorry about all the Bollywood Drama but if you’re reading this sentence it means you still loved it…Haha!

Have a great 2020 and make it as memorable as my trip to Switzerland!