My WWW in the Swiss Alps

It all started a few months ago when I found out that I wouldn’t be able to attend my last WWW because I had to fly to Switzerland for my brother’s graduation. It was definitely a bittersweet feeling, as this was my last opportunity to go on a school trip with friends until who knows when. At first I really wanted to go on the Jaffna trip because I haven’t been there since I was a little kid. Colombo and most parts of Sri Lanka is only surrounded by Buddhism and other religions, but Jaffna is mainly hinduism and I think that being able to see the difference in culture really would’ve given me a wider perspective on the country that I’m from and how many different religions are integrated into our culture. The first few days after WWW started was really boring. I didn’t have any of my friends to talk to so it was quite lonely :(.

But eventually Tuesday night came around where it was time for our flight. We got on the plane headed to Zurich airport and the flight was actually great. On the way there, my dad and I got the 2 seats at the very back of the plane from Colombo to DXB. It was nice because we didn’t have to sit next to a stranger. Then from Dubai to Zurich, the plane was half empty. So I got an entire row to myself and my dad went and slept in the middle rows where he got 4 seats to himself. It reminded me of the time we flew from New York to Dubai and the plane was the same and I was able to get the best sleep on that flight. After arriving in Zurich we went to the other part of the airport building where the Airport train station was. My friends might know this as “Zurich Flughafen” which I tend to quote on a daily basis. After getting on the train, the short transit to Zurich main station was packed and we had nowhere to sit. Keep in mind that we were traveling with 3 huge suitcases because the South Asian in us will never learn how to pack lightly.

After we arrived at Zurich main station, a lot of people got off and we were able to secure a seat. It was a 3 hour journey to Visp where we changed to the opposite platform and headed for Sierre, this took about another 30 minutes. Once we got there, we waited around for my brother, Nehe to come and find us and this took about 20 minutes because we had no idea where to go even though we had been there before. After finding him, we got onto the Swiss funicular which was a beautiful uphill ride to Bluche which is where his university was. Being located in the middle of the Swiss alps was definitely a beautiful experience and a view that I will never forget. Once we got situated there, we got to spend time with my brother.

The next day rolled around and we didn’t get to see Nehe much because he was spending time with his friends due to him leaving soon and not being able to see them again for a long time. We went down to Sierre and explored the town a little and grabbed lunch at this beautiful restaurant where my dad made me take a photo with the waitress (embarrassing). We went back up and finished the night off, preparing for the graduation the next day.

Graduation day rolled around and we got to get all dressed up and fancy to go. We went to the school where we had to wait around for Nehes friend, Karan, who had graduated the previous year but was here to see all of his friends graduate. The ceremony was the most boring experience of my life. It was around 2 and a half hours of random speeches and everyone receiving the diploma. Turns out, Nehe graduated with Merit! Which is basically the honor roll for anyone who’s wondering. He didn’t even know if he passed and to see that he had gotten merit was a surreal feeling for all of us. That night we watched the fireworks the school had planned and were excited for the next day where we got to spend a lot of time with Nehe and his friends. Once the next day rolled around, my dad and I went up into the town of Crans-Montana. It was really sunny and because of the high altitude, the heat felt so painful and I had a horrible migraine. Eventually we sat down at this beautiful open air restaurant that was looking over a frozen lake, where I then proceeded to have the best nachos of my life. It was genuinely life changing.

After lunch we decided to go back where we then called my brother and asked if we could come over and see his house that he stayed in with some of his friends. He said no. but my dad was not taking no for an answer so he just decided to break in LOL. Nehe was not happy but it was a nice time with his friends and of course, the house was quite messy. In the evening, we went back up to Crans with Nehe and his friends and we went out to dinner at this amazing burger restaurant. It was one of the best in that area. Finally after dinner we made our way to the lanterns. The walk was about 30 minutes and it was really painful due to how cold it was but once we made it, it was the most boring thing ever. It was just a path that was lit up with standing lamps, the floor was extremely slippery due to the ice and it was a long walk. But once we got to the end we got to have hot chocolate and watch some guys fire dance.

On our last day, we had to leave at around 2pm for our 9pm flight. This is because we had to take a 3 hour train ride back into Zurich in order to go back home. Once we got onto the train, we realized that it would’ve been so much easier to come from Geneva because the train is just direct and no stops or interchange. Once we got to the airport and onto the plane, I had the best sleep of my life from traveling all that way. This trip was so relaxing and I’m so grateful to be able to experience such an amazing place. My brother came home about 2 days after us because he still had to pack up his house. I’m glad to have him back, but I miss being an only child…just kidding.