After my first few days exploring Zurich, my friends and I stayed in Baden, the town where my host friend stayed and worked. She stayed in an apartment that had been held by Canadian interns in the same program for many years, so there was some interesting Canadian/touristy items left behind by past interns.
The best feature was the raclette grill which gave us the opportunity to enjoy another form of cheese that evening. But before we can get to dinner, we went out on a hike on a ridge that rises right out of the town.
A Hike on Our Doorstep
As a Canadian living about an hour from Banff National Park, I was used to driving at least an hour for most of my hikes. In Baden, we didn’t need any form of transportation to get to the trail. It was very fun to be able to walk through the town straight into a hike.
We climbed the ridge and passed some other hikers who greeted us with “Hallo”. It took me a moment to realize they were greeting us in German, as it sounds so similar to English. I had thought they just knew we were tourists. Just like in Canada, the Swiss always say hello (or hallo) when passing other hikers on the trail. This made us feel right at home.
As we hiked along the ridge, we passed over small towns on either side. Being from an area that is so vast, it was fascinating to see so many municipalities that were clearly defined, yet so close together. In Alberta, towns are many kilometres apart with wide fields and pastures stretching between them.
The other detail I noticed while hiking that was distinctly Swiss was the sound of cowbells. You could hear the bells from the tops of the ridge which belonged to the cattle that grazed below. As far as I am aware, cowbells aren’t so common in Alberta; at least, I have never heard them. Something about the sound was so quaint and magical!
We ate a late lunch on a large rock. Switzerland in late October was in full autumn colours. The spot where we sat to eat was particularly orange. We walked a little further down the ridge until we made it to a steep section where the ridge came to a rocky point. After a few steps along the ridge we decided to call it a day and walked back the way we came. We walked back through the town and were excited to make it back to the apartment for our cheese dinner.
Swiss Raclette
For those who haven’t had raclette, we ate it over roasted potatoes and bell peppers (although you can add many other foods). We placed the cheese slices into the trays and slide them under the grill. Once the cheese begins to bubble it’s ready to pour over your potatoes. We seasoned it with the typical Swiss raclette seasoning which is a blend of paprika and pepper. It was a fantastic way to end our long weekend in Switzerland.
