We are just home from a few days in Switzerland.  We flew to Zurich on Friday lunchtime, arriving in the late afternoon and feeling very happy to be there again.

It’s always been a favourite, ever since our first visit as a couple in the summer following our wedding in 1980.  Driving past a road sign to Effretikon just a few miles from the airport brought back happy memories of that first trip, when the generosity of lovely Swiss friends of my family enabled us to discover the character of a country which enchants us both.

Even though the weather forecast didn’t sound too promising, the late afternoon sunshine highlighted the Alpstein nicely to greet us and the clouds revealed Säntis there on the horizon.

We left the laptop at home this time, so there are still a few stories to tell and a lot of details to share.

We stayed in St Gallen, where the peach and grey building holds a treasure trove of riches to interest me.  What better place to spend a rainy Saturday morning?

For sadly, the sun doesn’t shine continually and those green fields need a drop or two of rain to keep them looking lovely.  Saturday was especially wet and driving to a concert in Winterthur in the afternoon we made sure we had umbrellas and raincoats with us.

My Hero will surely be reporting on this grand occasion, when the highlights of the programme were works by Joachim Raff, bringing Swiss, German and British Rafficionados together to share enthusiasm, research and friendship throughout the weekend.

We might have enjoyed a few “white angels” lovingly created in the brewery next door to our hotel, the oldest brewery in Switzerland, no less.

At this time of the year, there are not so many visitors around, so we enjoyed peaceful times by the lake.

We were the only visitors – the only people – in the museum where the cloakroom is imaginative and utterly charming.  That was a fantastic place to visit!

When the weather brightened, we drove out and up into the mountains to new places and old favourites.

Sadly, the aroma of a Swiss cheese shop simply cannot be effectively communicated.  You simply have to be there.

The Gold Bunny on top of the car park was a reminder of something else on the shopping list.

Finally, with a couple of hours to spare before returning to the airport, we never have a problem simply sitting in a favourite place and watching the world go by.

So, the next few posts will surely be about our glorious weekend.  I’ll try not to forget to share the story of the Zuger Kirschtorte too. Textiles, transport, music, landscape, Weissbier, chocolate, cheese, rösti, friends, mountains, lakes and fun.  We love it all.

Oh, and there’s this, too.

Wood.  (I’ll explain later)