Seraphiel´s blog: MONTREUX

Montreux, the place where Freddie Mercury loved to spend his time and a place, which turned out to be his last resort before he died. This place was on my list for last thirty years, but for some reason there was always some obstacle in a way. This time I decided to go, no matter what, even if I should venture alone.

I travelled by myself with CK AKORD, a Prague based travel agency, on 21st July till 23rd. We went by a bus, which is my least favourite means of travel, as it’s very long journey that can turn tiresome and boring. This one was, however, everything but boring. They sat me next a girl that also happened to travel solo and as luck would have it, we hit it off well right from the start. We laughed almost all way to Switzerland, which took perhaps eight hours. Her name was Martina and she was as crazy as me, so the time flew by. We departed in the evening hours and arrived in the early morning hours, reaching a first stop in Switzerland, GRUYERES, only stopping at a petrol station, but having already a chance to sniff the fresh Swiss air coming from the mountains. The only trouble was the weather, which was becoming increasingly wet and rainy with each approaching mile. After the stop, we continued to move towards the promised land, MONTREUX. The first stop was by a medieval castle Chateau de Chillon, famous for its past inhabitants like Lord Byron. We only walked on the surrounding grounds, as the entrance was closed at this hour. The views of the lake were spectacular and so tranquil, exactly as I have imagined they would be. There was a misty horizon forming between the mountains, as the rain was quickly approaching, but so far, we did not have to use our umbrellas. As soon as we sat on the bus, this changed and it started raining. Lucky me…..

The bus parked on the main road and me and Martina rushed ahead of the crowd, because I wanted to be first to see Freddie’s statue. Usually, it would stand on the pedestal in the main marine, but due to the upcoming Jazz Festival, it was relocated to a nearby park. Freddie’s statue looked so much smaller than I had imagined and there was literally nobody around, no flower wreaths wrapped around his neck and it looked rather sad, but it was still great excitement to finally see it, after watching it in photos of other fans for many years. As the crowd of our co-travellers was slowly approaching, we raced along the promenade and through the little streets, to be first in the MOUNTAIN RECORDING STUDIO, which was basically a little Casino and even smaller studio on the first floor. I knew I should not expect a lot from the studio itself, as the exhibition was quite poor, with only four costume exhibits and some displayed collectibles. What I wanted to see though, was the tiny room that was originally Queen’ s recording unit, which comprised of a mixing desk and a platinum plague on the floor, where Freddie stood for the last time while singing his swan song, Mother Love. Of course many other hits were made here, from seventies till early nineties. The original mixing desk was gone, replaced by a replica, which was a pity, but I found it very emotional when I positioned myself on the plague where Freddie stood exactly 33 years and 31 days ago, giving it all his best, never being able finish the song, as he was already in excruciating pain. I imagined him sitting here behind the mixing desk, laughing, giggling, smoking his cigarettes and giving guys the orders that they should play it again, until he’ s completely satisfied with the result. This place was definitely an energetic hotspot, I could feel his energy still lingering in the room. But nothing lasts forever, so we had to move and continue on our journey. If I could, I would stay around for ever, coming here just to absorb it all again. The rest of the journey became quite a challenge, as the heavens broke loose and the rain was pouring down like crazy. Goodbye beloved Montreux, I will see you again, next time on a sunny day. We then moved by bus to Vevey, which is similarly small town with a close by port. Our tour agent gave us one hour to spend time walking around, but how do you do that in a downpour like that? We decided to visit one cheese shop, where we bought some salami, cheese and chocolates. Then we sat in a nearby bistro, where we ate the most delicious paninis with chorizo and cheese. And then we rushed in rain to the port, where was not even a shelter, so we got drenched and our shoes soaked. After fifteen minutes of waiting with the rest of the group, we embarked onto the pre-paid boat LA SUISS, which was a marvellous cruise boat, run by a steam. It reminded me of Philadelphia from All The rivers run, the eighties Australian series with John Waters and Sigrid Thornton. Although this boat was significantly bigger and better. We sat on the top deck in a fancy restaurant with glass windows, from where we could comfortably watch the journey. I ordered glass of wine, as I thought I deserved it after such a tiresome and energy demanding trip. The lake was enormous, probably much bigger than Loch Ness, but had non the less charming views of surrounding hills and tiny stone houses. We also went to the rear deck, where was literally nobody at all, having the whole space to ourselves, enjoying the wind rushing through our hair and listening to the fast pace of the waves crashing against the boat. I loved it so much !

After one hour of boat ride, we disembarked in Lausanne, the largest city of them all. We rushed to the metro station, where our tour agent had a slight problem buying group tickets, so we lost maybe half an hour, which wouldn’t be for the first time, since one guy lost sense of time already in Montreux, where we also had to wait extra half an hour. We took maybe five or six stops by metro to the upper city of Lausanne. Our tour agent, an aging lady, who should be sitting at home and knitting jumpers, sent us this time to the top by elevators, which were constantly taking people down, instead of up. And yes, we needed to get to the street level. It took maybe twenty minutes to get a group of pitiful Czechs to the top. What a charade, ha-ha. I think Swiss people felt sorry for us.

After very adventurous journey by metro, we finally managed to climb through the city to some castle, whose name I cannot recall, and one cathedral, which we have entered to see at least something from a history. The most bizarre memory of this trip was waiting for our crowd to exchange at the local miniature toilets. We had to wait maybe half an hour, because every single person on the tour decided to take a leak ( no, they would not be able to go to toilet in their free time shortly after). It is like with babies. A baby tour. And that's an understatement of the year....

Despite all the terrible tedious stuff, we managed to squeeze in also some more fun, as me and Martina laughed at everything. It’ s better so that you maintain some sense of sanity. Life will seem much better and easier. Later on we visited a big shopping centre, where we bough some more stuff to bring home and then we walked down the hill to the promenade, according to instructions of our ever smart tour guide, who told us to go straight down and then to the left on the promenade, to find a bus waiting for us. It sounded very easy. Down and left. We had a plenty of time and the sun miraculously started shining, so we took a breath by the gorgeous Geneva lake, flickering with sparkles. Twenty minutes before the said departure, we started to panic, as we did not see anything resembling a bus nearby. I had to send a message to our tour guide, who completely confused everyone, including herself. She confirmed to keep walking down the promenade, so we did. She forgot to mention to everyone that the walk will take around 20 minutes though!

The lake was so splendid, I could not get enough of it. If I could live in this city, I would, without any hesitation. It seemed so tranquil and charming, but I suppose to live here, one would have to be a millionaire, as this part of Switzerland belongs to the most expensive ones. After everyone gathered on the bus, a group of four people was still missing. Ten minutes…..twenty minutes…..they were god knows where, lost on the promenade, probably walking in the opposite direction, heading to France by now. Well, they found us after half an hour, when everyone else was already considering a suicide by jumping in the lake. THIS is an ORGANIZED tour for you. I can’t imagine less disorganized one.

And this is, where the story ends. It was fun, it was short and beautiful, it was rainy, it was painful at times (yes, 8 hours on a bus with small seats is NOT my idea of fun), but I am happy that I made this special journey. And so should you, but please, take a plane.