It’s simply unbelievable how quickly you can change continents by plane. With our car we would have been on the road for a few weeks to drive from southern Africa to Switzerland. By plane (and a stopover in Dubai) the journey takes a good twenty-four hours!

On March 16, 2024, at 1:30 p.m., the Emirates A380 from Dubai landed in Zurich. There were over 500 passengers on board. (I preferred not to imagine what kind of scenes would take place on such a plane in the event of an emergency!) It was drizzling from a gray sky and was refreshingly cool. But as Swiss we know the spring weather in this country – we had a rain jacket and fleece with us!

After spending the night with friends who live in vineyards, we drove to the Bernese Oberland on Sunday. We have been back in Kandersteg for a few days now. Here, when we look out the kitchen window, we don’t see palm trees like in Swakopmund, but mountains of snow almost 4,000 meters high. What a change of scenery!

The food changed as the scenery changed. We ate the last cod in Swakopmund a few days ago. Here, in Kandersteg, we enjoyed a fondue last evening, accompanied by a Fendant from Valais. (For dessert we had meringues with cream – I was looking forward to that for a long time!)

PS: If you want to know where you can eat the best meringues in the world, read here.