For my holiday, I went to Switzerland with DH's family. They have a timeshare, so all we had to pay was flights! They even managed to get a rental car as part of the deal. We were going to stay in a chalet, but were able to use the facilites in the sister hotel (pool, gym, sauna, bar, restaurant, wireless etc). It's not ski season (I don't ski) so there was to be limited snow. I was looking forward to 5 days of relaxation, on top of a mountain.
So, ourflight was 6am in Bristol. We also booked MIL, DH's step-dad, DH's sister and friend's flights so we had their boking ref details etc. We set the alarm for 1am (I was flying back from amsterdam at 8pm the previous evening) and drove to Bristol arriving at 4am, in plenty of time for our flight. We gave MIL a call to see whereabouts she was (they were coming from South Wales, so we expected them to be just outside Bristol on the motorway) and she said they were still at home.
We had a coffee/cake and were wondering what do we do if they don't make the flight, since the chalet was booked in her name. They arrived with 5mins before check-in closed, were rushed through security and were the last people on the plane. Phew.Arriving in Switzerland, we went to the car hire place and they didn't have a car for 6 people. So, we were given two cars. As we're under 25 we had to pay extra for being a young driver and there was extra tax. To be on the safe side we (DH and I) decided to take out extra insurance - the basic stuff was already covered. They wanted to charge a ridiculous amount to have me as a named driver too, so only DH was registered to drive our car.
We drove in Switzerland without too much of a problem, but had to keep stopping as DH literally didn't go to sleep the previous night. He has(had) a paper submission [for his DPhil] due the following wednesday, so was working really hard and late to get as much finished as possible, and as the alarm was set for 1am he ended up not going to bed. Additionally, he's the type of person not to be able to sleep on planes.
As we got nearer the Alps, we started climbing this mountain. Fortunately, DH (and family) are from the Welsh Valleys so they're used to driving on tortuous roads. I'm not and I was petrified. After what seemed like a million miles (in reality is was about an hour) we safely arrived at the resort.
Entering reception, we were told that the hotel was closed (so no facilities), reception was only open a few hours a day, dinner at the restaurant had to be booked the previous day (with menu decided), one computer with internet access (which needed to be paid for) was only available when reception was - ie closed for lunch and after 5pm - and DH had his paper due in 4 days time... Oh, and we all had to pay tourist tax additional to what was already paid.
Nevermind, we arrived. The chalet was a decent size and I was looking forward to relaxing. Inside the chalet, we had central heating (I don't have that at home) electric cooker/over, pretty furnished kitchen, but no kettle. DH's family are big tea drinkers. There wasn't much to do that evening, but luckily someone brought some cards.
The next day, we went for a walk on the mountain. There wasn't any snow, but there was some terrific views, and even though I'm petrified of heights, I enjoyed it. We cooked food (fortunately we went to the supermarket before we climbed the mountain) and went to bed.
Overnight, it snowed, snowed and snowed some more. The morning looked like something from a Christmas card and we had 6 inches of snow! Of course, our hire cars were summer ones (not winter ones, nor did we have snow chains to attach) so we knew we may encounter some problems...--------I told DH that I'm considering driving to work in the new year (my current train season ticket lasts til Christmas) and he thinks I should see if I can shift my working hours by 30mins so I can leave work early to ensure I catch this train. I said, I'm more likely to try and shift it the toher way, so I start and leave work 30min later, but it will mean coming home an hour later than now, so I'm not sure yet. When DH finishes his degree, we want to live somewhere where we both can get to work in around 30mins. That would be ideal.-------
Anyway, back to the holiday...
I forgot to say that MIL phoned a week in advance to double check the facilities and they said they were all open. So when we arrived she complained and made the person at reception phone RCI (the timeshare people). they said they would get back to us first thing Monday (they were now closed for evening and closed on sundays) to let us know of any other opportunities. Well, Monday came and they did get back to us. They said we could go to Italy as a replacement. BUT they wouldn't change our flights (we owuld have to pay to do that) so we would need to drive! By the time we would arrive, we would have to start the journey back to Geneva to get the plane home! So we decided to stay where we were.
On Monday the highlight of our day was going to the bottom of the mountain to the supermarket. DH and I cooked fondue one evening (the kitchen didn't have a kettler, but did have a fondue set) so we bought lots of cheese and cream. I'd had fondue before but had never attempted cooking it. If I must say so myself, it was lovely. we had bread, croutons, apple, pepper, carrot and cuecumber to dip in. we also bought a large goats cheese, which we were going to fill with sugar and bake for a dessert a different day, and we bought stollen. Yum.
On Tuesday, it had snowed some more. As DH had to hand his paper in on Wednesday, I stayed with him all day whilst everyone else went out. They decided they wanted to see the nearby glacier. So, they went off in their car. Apparently, the fog was so thick they were told to turn back as they wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. So, they decided to go to the thermal baths. Closed for summer. So they went to a theme park. Closed for summer. So they went to another amusement place, and the only think open was some go-karts. So they went for a meal in a restaurant. Apparently the food was lovely, but they had to rush itdown and not have dessert because otherwise they would be snowed in. They then had to drive on the mountain road back to our resort. Except, due to the snow, the road hadn't been cleared and there was a lot of ice. The clever swiss people did have barriers on the side of the road - but only on the straight bits. Around the blind bends (of which there were many) there was no barrier, only a sheer drop at the edge of the road.
Meanwhile, we were in the chalet and DH was getting his work done until around 3.30pm when the power went out. In the mountains, the sun seems to set slightly earlier so we were in pitch darkness. Of course, this was the time when the others arrived back, and MIL was visibly shaking from the death-drive she had to endure.
Somepeople went down to reception to find out when the power would return, to be told "keep all doors and windows closed as it may last hours, it may last days". The only thing in the chalet which didn't run on electricity was the fondue set, so we lit that but it didn't give out much light.
So, they went to the shop to see if they could buy candles. We also needed toilet roll (meant to be provided) but cos there was 6 of us, we were close to running out. The shop's tills ran on electricity so wouldn't work. As such they said we couldn't buy the toilet roll. We couldn't even give extra money, nor leave our name/chalet number for it to be collected later. However, when they said they wanted a candle, they were willing to sell a tealight for 6.30CHF (that's around £3). After trying explain that if a candle could be sold, why not toilet roll, they said they didn't speak much english. So SIL and her friend stole one from the cafe's table top. That was the only light we had for the night, and was much brighter than the fondue thing.
Fortunately, the power came back on a short time later, but the shop would be closed in 15min, so DH ran down to the shop to get the much needed toilet rolls and a few odds and ends for tea.
On the Wednesday, DH and I wanted to go to the longest labrinthe in the world, but due to the weather, we didn't know if we would be able to make it back safely, as it only opened in the afternoon. we decided to go to a village at the base of the mountain and spent a couple of hours there before returning. Fortunately, DH was able to submit his paper on time.
Thursday was the day DH and I were due to come home, although everyone else were meant to be staying until Saturday. They paid extra to change their flights and returned on the same flight as us. Our flight was at 5pm in Geneva, so we decided to go there for the day. Driving into Geneva was fine, until we got there. It was very congested, the roads were confusing and we kept losing sight of each other. Fortunately, we thought ahead and I gave them my mobile so we could at least keep in contact. We found signs for a carpark, told them that's where we're heading, and went for it. We followed the signs, turned into the car par, went down the ramp, came to the barrier and thought "Bugger". We just went down the 'out' ramp. So, after lots of "Stop, stop, stop", "turn, turn, turn" "go back" "go forward" and the lovely smell of burning, we finally managed to reverse our way out. of course, by this time, a car was following us as he was coming up. It turns out, that sign was directing pedestrians. We eventually found the 'in' ramp (on the other side of the building) and waited there.
When MIL arrived, they were flustered too. It turns out they did the exact same thing. LoL. At least it wasn't just us...
We went into geneva, and by this time only had time for a quick coffee. It came to 20CHF and someone put down a ten, so I picked the note up and replaced it with a 20.
On driving out of Geneva, towards the airport, we couldn't find where to return the hire car. We also needed to get petrol. After much time and driving round and round in circles, we eventaully found the right place. By this point, we only had 30mins to check-in for our flights. MIL was already in the carpark but they were having a heated discussion. Apparently, there was a scratch on the car. They (DH's step-dad) said the scratch was already there, and they had documentation. Avis (the hire car people) said there was no such documentation and they would be required to pay 1200CHF. So, DH's step-dad opened his suitcase and tool everything out and did find the documentation. Phew. That was until the Avis woman pointed out that the scratch was marked on the wrong side of the car diagram. When we said this is clearly a mistake since there is no scratch on one side, a scratch (already there)on the other, obviously the checking out clerk made a mistake; she said no and we would have to wait for her supervisor. We said that check-in was almost closed but she said we had to wait. We made the decision to leave...
At Geneva, Easy-Jet is self service chec-kin. Of course, the machine I chose the printer didn't work. We managed to check-in with minutes to spare. So, of course, that meant security would be a problem, and yes the queues were massive. Fortunatley, we weren't the only people flying in this queue. DH and family stayed in the queue and I was floating around the front trying to find out if we could get past sooner.
By now, our flight was boarding and we'd moved about 2 feet. The security guard kept saying that we needed to join the back of the queue and could not go forward. When final call was heard, he relented and said we could join near the front - which we did - but we still weren't moving. Finally, another security person came by and he suggested we used another security queue which was further away from here, but nearer to our plane. So, about 10 of us, in total, made the mad sprint to the other security place. The walls were glass, so we were waving frantically trying to get the people-at-the-gate's attention. At this security place there was barely any queue and we went straight through. We were the last people on the plane!
After, breathing heavily for a few minutes, we calmed down and relaxed. I thought a nice baileys would make me feel better, so I opened my wallet to check I had the money. As I mentioned earlier, I was in Amsterdam the prevous week so had both Euros and CHF in my wallet. I thought to myself "why is this 10CHF note in the wrong section?" then it occured to me. At the cafe earlier, I must have put down a 20Euro note, not a 20CHF- which meant I essentially gave an almost 100% tip.
On arrival in Bristol, our luggage came out first, we went to the car park place and we got away fine. Of course, as DH's family were meant to be returning on Saturday, their car was in the middle of a million cars in a secure compound somewhere else, so they had to wait. But, they still managed to get back home before us.
So, that's about it. I've probably missed out the funniest* happenngs, but I do know that I could now do with a holiday...
*It's amazing how much fun card games, charades, name game, pub-name game, made-up-quizes, mr&mrs and all other games like that can be when there's nothing else to do. When playing Mr&Mrs the girls made up questions for the boys and vice versa. Of course, I had to be the one who answered first, when DH went out of the room, and my first question was "What is DH's favourite position?" How was I meant to know they were talking football-position? (Fortunately, I didn't answer like that, but said DH's favourite position was on the sofa, in front of the TV. hehe.)
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Oh, I forgot to say about the goats cheese. It turns out, it wasn't. It was some disgustingly smelly cheese (and I like my cheeses!) that had a big thick skin on and smelt of vomit. We put it in a bag, tied it up and threw it away. That was the most expensive thing we bought.
Good thing I've got a good sense of humour. It's made me laugh reading that back. Hehehe.
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