Wednesday, 07 April 2010 17:00 Last Updated on Monday, 07 June 2010 10:23 Written by Billy van Graan

From Milan we rode north into Switzerland. The previous evening we phoned Claudine's uncle (Beat) and brother (Louis) and together it was decided that the best route past the Alps would be through the 16km long St. Gothard tunnel. We wanted to make sure that we didn't go anywhere near roads that might have snow on them.

Riding into Switzerland was pretty amazing. It has some of the most picturesque landscapes you can imagine and the very green grass, lakes and snow covered mountains all around you are jaw droppingly beautiful. On the other hand the prices in Switzerland is so high it will also make your jaw drop. Luckily for us Claudine's mom gave us quite a bit of Swiss Francs before we left so we didn't have to worry about the prices all the time.





Most of the last 100km to Claudine's grandmother's house was done in the rain. Claudine's mother is Swiss but lives in South Africa, but her grandmother, uncle and other family lives in Switzerland. Her brother Louis is also studying in Switzerland at the moment so we arranged to stay for one week with her grandmother and visit the family and Louis. Claudine's grandmother lives in the same house as her uncle on the 3rd floor which is kind of in the roof. When we arrived we greeted everyone, made ourselves at home and then started to wash most of our things. First on the list was some of our dirtiest clothes that included our jeans which haven't had a wash since Kusadasi in Turkey (20 February). Sometimes our jeans get so dirty that after you washed your hands you try and avoid contact with them, but this was on a whole different level. I actually felt bad sitting on peoples furniture with those jeans on.

Louis arrived the next day and it was good to see him again. In the 7 months his been living in Switzerland he managed to learn a lot of German but that didn't suprise us too much because it is the kind of thing you expect from him really. During our week in Fribourg we relaxed a lot, did research about cycling after we are finished with the bike and got some work done as well. Louis cooked most of the time and he even baked two tarts as well.

Fabienne, Claudine's cousin took us to the Schwartsee, a lake 30km from their house, which is surrounded by snow capped mountains. Then on the Sunday of easter weekend we went out for lunch with Claudine's uncle, grandmother and other family and I got to eat a horse steak. This might be normal for some people but in South Africa we don't eat horse meat and I don't know if it is even legal to sell horse meat in the supermarkets, so when I saw it on the menu I just had to give it a go.

Claudine's uncle showed us around Fribourg University were he works and also drove us around town to show us some of the main sights. Then on another day he took us to the Callier chocolate factory. Callier is the oldest brand of chocolate in the world and one of the best makes of Swiss chocolate. We expected a tour of the chocolate factory but it was really just a history lesson (all in French) of how Cailler became the first chocolate manufacturer in the world, but at the end they lay out all the brands of chocolates they make and you can taste as much as you like.

The week went by quickly and it was soon time to leave again. We really enjoyed ourselves and could easily have stayed another week.




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