“It’s the Toblerone Mountain!!”, I said, excitedly, with a childish grin stamped on my face, whilst my friend, an actual adult, held her 6 months old baby daughter, whilst her partner struggled to find the diapers. Who was the actual child in there?
Jokes aside, I love that I can still feel excited and marvelled by the world. It doesn’t matter if it’s on my doorstep, of if it’s on the other side of the planet. I have times when the demons hiding in the dark corners of my mind speak louder and the world turns grey. And everytime I fear I won’t come back. That somehow I’ve lost myself in that colourless world.
So far, I’ve managed to untangle myself from the insidious demons. Always shouting lies at me, sucking the energy our of my limbs, making me emotionaless, apathetic. And one of the things that makes me fight them back is knowing there is so much world I do still want to see.
Even if it’s the Toblerone Mountain in Zermatt.
This Summer was hard. The sunny days did not uplift me. Instead, the abnormal hot days of London suffocated me, tired me. The demons found a way back in. I was so tired, I let them.
September has now come. Whilst many may moan that the grey British weather is back, I rejoice. Nature was sick this summer, so sick She could not even cry. The land was dry, dustry, sterile. The air was dirty, the parks dead. How can I savour summer when She’s sick? that sickness was contagious to me. Which is why it has taken me an enormous amount of time to be write about Peru and Switzerland, both trips completed in May.
I love Switzerland. One of my closest friends lives there and that has served as a great excuse to have gone there a few times. She lives in the wonderful Swiss Alps where I shower in mountain air, gasp and the harshe toothy peaks, fill my stomach with fantastic cheese, with the help of fruity Saviese wines. Switzerland always spoils, whilst leaving my wallet empty.
Everytime I visit I do something a little different, but the main goal is always to see my friend. Which is why I end up not taking as many pictures or take as much time to note things down. But I still thought it was worth to tell you about this trip – especially as we ended up doing a visit to Zermatt, the quaint swizz town where cars are restricted, the buildings are multi floor chalets and, from the restaurants, the aromas of cheese and wine invite you know.
And of course… the Toblerone Mountain, which is in fact the Matterhorn. This is the mountain that is on the Toblerone packaging… or used to! In fact, since 2023 the brand was forced to remove it. This is due to the Swissness Laws, which prevent using antional symbols like the Matterhorn on milk-based products that are no longer exclusively produced in Switzerland – production has expanded to Slovakia.
Either way, Matterhorn will always be the Toblerone mountain to me, as a Toblerone lover myself. And here am I, making my inner child super happy:
For lunch, I ended up getting a Swiss dish -a crispy potato rösti. No chocolate at all. It was a hot day, about 26 degrees – a beautiful day indeed, a premonition of the Summer we were all about to have in Europe – and chocolate isn’t something that appeals me when its warm. But potato? there is always a good time for that.
Love, Nic
Where I stayed in Sion (and recommend) : Holiday Inn Express & Suites Sion by IHG. Book here
The Winged Bone 