It had all the makings of a magical experience. But mostly it was cold. And grey.
You see, we are spoiled. Jaded. Rotten I tell you! Oh, we're in a European city with narrow cobblestone pathways meandering through cozy eateries smelling of coffee? Been there. What's that? A beautiful clear blue sky soaring over the white ridges of the Swiss Alps while we sit eating cheesy fondue at the base of the Matterhorn? Ok that one was still able to tickle our fancy. We're not total zombies yet. But really, once we had taken the train out of the mountains back into Zurich, it was a total let down. We'd spent the last 72 hours holed up in a teeny cabin watching the snow pile up outside, dreaming of a day when we too could own such a place, hopefully with less of a space heater and more of a wood-burning fireplace. So when we drank the last of the spiced mulled wine, covered every body part in multiple layers of clothing, and hiked to the train station on the hill, I dont know what we were expecting Zurich to offer us after all that. But we lost the snow and gained the rain.
Looking back on our pictures of the city, we were surprised at ourselves for not really enjoying it more. But we get so much grey in Dublin, so much rain, so much darkness even in what is widely referred to here as "summer". I think it doesnt matter where in the world you are, that grey gets into every corner and cranny and transforms what would have been a great place, into just another place. Zurich wasnt immune to the phenomenon. What I saw through a peep-hole in my zipped up, cinched up, double-down coat and hat didnt really ignite my curiosity. I was more interested in "how long till the flight leaves" than "isnt this a good cappuccino". We were desperate to get out of the cold and the rain, and spent two and a half hours trying to make our coffees last just five minutes longer. Im glad we never really run out of things to talk about, and when we do, we end up just talking about what other destinations we dream of traveling to. But if that destination is rainy, so help it!! I believe we've been rained on enough for anyone's lifetime. Theres a reason suicide rates in Ireland are so high. I used to think rain was romantic. Living here has dispelled that for me once and for all. Maybe after we're back in the...whats it called again? Sunlight? Maybe then all this rain will just feel like one long nightmare, and the autumn time will again leave me spellbound.
So yeah. Switzerland was Switzerland. The snowy part was fun, the cabin part was relaxing, the Matterhorn part was excellent. The games of Monopoly played in the loft bed at night, the ones where I beat the crap out of Jon both times, that part was really great. We're spoiled, and the rain is rotting our brains. The grey's got in to our souls a little bit.
I asked Jon today, "Hey whens the weather supposed to get better?" He looked at me.
"In exactly 71 days."
