Okay, i really dont know what to call this :)

(this is fact and wishful thinking combined in a fit of panick-striken writing when i was asked to give in 700 words about 'nothing'. so here's my piece of incredible fluff.)

It has been a month since I came here- my husband’s here for a six-month project - and I’m still getting used to the alien tastes and smells this place has to offer. Roaming around Luzerne, the heart of Switzerland, I realise why this is not home. The hundred whiffs that stray to the streets from restaurant kitchens, the strange flavours my tastebuds examine, the unexpected textures that my tongue encounters are still to be assimilated into my bloodstream for conditioned responses. So while at times I’m pleasantly surprised by the undiscovered pleasure-mines in my mouth, I’m also often revolted by the cold, clumsy tongue-shakes with unidentifiable assailants.

But my grand ‘welcome’ to the tastes of Switzerland was hospitable enough. I stood before a cosy snacks shop on Luzerne station baffled by the variety of breads stored in that small space. They smelled delicious, baked oven fresh on that cool morning, their brown crusty bodies giving off an inviting warmth that I was finding very hard to resist. I settled for something that looked harmless and lonely amidst the glorious shapes and sizes of bread with many diverse fillings. Croissants, since then, have been my pet. Oh, the unbearable lightness of their being – overwhelmed my tongue and thankfully underwhelmed my tummy. I love the idea of carrying them in the pretty pink ‘takeaway’ parcels (I’m saving those papers as souvenirs, I swear) accompanied by coffee in the other hand and relishing both while gazing at the peaceful beauty of the Alps. I have had my issues with coffee here, though. I prefer smelling it to drinking it. It’s a habit my husband’s getting really annoyed of, especially when he sees his hard-earned money being wasted on this addictive, perishable perfume. But it’s not my fault, I’m essentially a tea person and this coffee is way too bitter for me. It’s just one of those things I do to feel at home here with the hordes of busy, newspaper-reading fellow train commuters, silently trying to slip into the stream that’s carrying them together in its flow.

Another thing I often do is to pretend to like the Cheese fondue. I like the salted potatoes, brocolli, breadcrumbs that are supposed to be dipped in the pot of melting cheese. The cheese, however, is tart for my taste, but the experience, so Swiss-cottage like, I savour. Speaking of cheese, there’s this place in the very picturesque town of Engelberg, which they call cheese factory. I’d imagined it to be this huge industrial-looking place with big cans of milk and massive rollers churning out threads and threads of unadulterated cheese. But sadly, it turned out to be a ‘tourist overkill’ where this pretty lady was stirring something that looked like pre-processed cheese with a huge ladel in a glass camber while tourists gleefully clicked snaps and shouted ‘ Say Cheese!’ But the point is, I never knew so many kinds of cheese existed in this world. And I never knew they tasted so, well, unlike cheese.

And cherry cake, which I ordered on of my boat rides, also turned out to be so unlike cherry. I mean, I’d imagined a pastry covered with red fruit, but it was just a fresh-looking piece of cake. So I ate and ate till I figured my head had started getting just a bit dizzy when the waitress obliged to tell me that it contained liqueur. She forgot to add ‘And How!’ By the time we had to get off board, I was delightfully swooning under the Swiss sun. So much for aftertaste!
Thus, when it came to the Swiss chocolates, I was very careful. ‘Liqueur in this?’ I animatedly asked. But liqueur or no liqueur, chocolates here are a wonder. Whenever I’ve nothing to do, I check into these beautifully decorated shops and just admire what’s around me. I’m sure the way these chocolates are wrapped and displayed, like they’re straight from some fairytale land, I’ll soon start dreaming of them.
But what I couldn’t even dream of getting here, I’ve just stumbled on. Imagine my joy at having found a small kiosk selling, hold your breath, wada pav and masala chai in Engelberg! I got off my cable car ride from Mount Titlis and my nose sniffed familiar scentprints and my mouth started watering. And then my eyes saw this spectacle that rocked me more than Mt Titlis did. And so here I am, sitting on the banks of river Aare, sipping chai and digging into wada pav, marking this moment on my laptop. Switzerland, I’m finally home!