missing my trips to the city
and how
the abandoned cokeworks
rotting away
by the train tracks
sent my thoughts
to that place
where things were so different
a secret world
I want to write about
immersed
in an industrial
wastelandscape
how can I capture this imagined
space
I don’t have those skills
or patience
scrolling in my bed
past my headache
reading about runner’s face
and Nick Cave
and grief
and grace
Photo by Darla Hueske on Unsplash
her first album
I was back from
Switzerland
calling Melbourne
quite often
listening
catching
the train
on up the coast
on Fridays
randomly
I fell
in a moment
unexpected
but so vintage-sweet
my cardigan
under the bed
where
your handcuffs
held my grief
that weekend
(he died)
and now there’s
a new album
it repeats on
and on and on
her voice
a yearning
for another
happening
do I welcome
love now?
summer’s here
again, again, again
Soundcloud recording of this poem: https://on.soundcloud.com/65nRL
Photo: Claire Doble
scaggy bits of behind-fences
scan past, scad by
on the side of the train track
and I see the torso of
a dead deer or kangaroo that had
too many ribs too close together
and some of the skin was still there
my unuttered scream
is trapped somewhere in my chest
or at the base of my neck
an anxious vapour, a cloying veil
I am so afraid I can’t cut through
and share the poignancy of the world
beside the railway or
the pink clouds over the ocean
that are the colour of a ribbon for a girl
a pink ribbon that would show a spatter of blood
bright red at first then fading to brown,
rusty like dirt like old wounds like
dusk of the golden hour like
Sunday on the shortest day of the year
as evening closes down like
unshed tears, a stain
somewhere near my heart
a red-brown patch that
will never be washed away
do you know this feeling. Do you? Do you
do you unweep, unscream
and hold that feeling, yes that one
in your body
on a train?
Photo by Emile Guillemot on Unsplash
my sands are shifting
and the tides
always the same but
look at the minutiae
different every time
so how
do you justify or feel safe
always, it vibrates
buzzing with life or at
mechanical pace
like the train rattles by my place
at night, dark speedthought tangles trace
catch and drag
that undertow when sleep
is lying backwards
underwater and
looking up at the light
nowhere else to hide
and no place to return to
do, do, do, do
ideas massed like kelp piles, stinking high
how do I…
where is, why,
just write.
Canton: Nidwalden
Destination: Stanserhorn (mountain) and its open-air cable car
Interesting thing: The CabriO build cost around CHF30 million, but the idea was so popular the funding rounds were oversubscribed, attracting around CHF7 million alone from local donations.
Special guests: my parents-in-law
The canton of Nidwalden is located right in the centre of Switzerland. Something I only just realised looking Nidwalden up on Wikipedia for this entry! It seems fitting, then, that our last major outing with the in-laws before they return to Australia was here – in the heart of Switzerland.
Our plan was to ride the open-top, double-decker CabriO cable car from cantonal capital city Stans, up to the peak of the Stanserhorn mountain. It was a good plan and the weather was lovely.
The Stanserhorn CabriO is the first and only cable car of its kind in the world so far. The original 2-stage cable car was struck by lightning in the 1970s, causing much destruction and burning down the hotel at the top. It was replaced at the time but, as 2010 rolled around, they were looking to upgrade and this deluxe, 90% Swiss-made model with its rather impressive USP opened in 2012.
First you have to catch a creaking cogwheel funicular railway up the bottom part of the mountain. This ‘oldtimer’ celebrates its 125th birthday in 2018 and, due to its age is quite tiny – with capacity for only 40 people. Because we’d come on a busy Sunday, this meant a bit of waiting around, which was rather frustrating. They have a slightly odd system of time-slot tickets that didn’t quite work as well as it should, but is necessary given the small size of the cogwheel carriages (the Cabrio has capacity for 30 on top, 60 below). Chatting to the train driver on the way back down, he said they’d experimented with various ticketing methods and this was the one which worked best. My advice would be to pick a less-busy, ie: non-weekend, day if possible to avoid some of the kerfuffle.
However, it’s worth putting up with a bit of potential annoyance, because the view at the top is just superb. You’d think I might be sick of these alpine vistas by now, but each one is different. From the Stanserhorn’s highest peak (1,898 meters above sea level), you could see so many other mountaintops: Titlis, Santis, the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, and a bunch of others besides. Then, if you look down, there’s the stunning Lake Lucerne below, as well as chocolate-box scenes of green fields and wooden farmhouses studded with cows and goats. Just so, so pretty.
A QUESTION FOR READERS: Last time I did the photos through the post, this time I’ve gone back to a slideshow. Which do you prefer?
Cantons visited / to go so far.
Basel-Landschaft
Basel-Stadt
Bern *
Fribourg
Geneva
Graubünden
Luzern
Neuchâtel
Nidwalden
Obwalden
Schaffhausen
Schwyz
Uri
Vaud
Zug
Zürich
*I haven’t written this up yet!
Canton: Ticino
Destination: Bellinzona
Special guest: just the family this time
Cool thing: The Gotthard tunnel is currently the longest train tunnel in the world. At the “deepest” point you’re below 2.3km of mountain and temperatures can reach up to 45 degrees C.
I’m reaching a point in my life where it’s a tad embarrassing to admit my favourite food is pizza (yes, I’m 25!) but the fact remains. So we figured, in the week of my birthday, why not head to Italian Switzerland for one of the country’s finest oven-baked dough-and-cheese treats? So yesterday we headed south.
It was actually pretty good timing – Zurich, and indeed all the bits of Switzerland we passed through on “our” side of the Alps, were full of squally snowstorms and subzero temperatures, while in sunny Ticinio it was, well, sunny! (full disclosure: there was some snow on the ground and an icy wind, but it was 10 celsius and lovely in the sunshine). We got to travel through the recently opened Gotthard tunnel, which meant our travel time from Zurich HB to Bellinzona was a shade under 2 hours. This was excellent because 2 hours is about as long as Himself and I can manage to entertain two young children on a train journey while maintaining our own sanity (thank goodness we decided not to visit Australia this year!)
Bellinzona is famous for its three castles, which are UNESCO listed. I’m pleased to report we visited all three although, being winter, they weren’t looking too lively – you could walk around the grounds and the ramparts but not go inside (however this also saved us paying any entry fees, ha!). There’s usually the dinky little Artù Castle Train running a few times per day to take you up the very steep hill to Castello Montebello and Castello Sasso Corbaro but this was also on “winterpause”. No matter, we lucked in by getting to the postbus stop at just the right time (buses were only once every 2 hours!) so we caught the bus to the top (Castello Sasso Corbaro), took a look around, then walked down to Montebello, which was the biggest castle with the most to see, as well as a small playground for the kids, and then it was time to catch the postbus back to the station and get the train home.
Did I mention the pizza? In between the Castlegrande and heading up the hill to the other two, we had a nice wander through the town of Bellinzona, checking out the Saturday produce market (we bought some cheese for our newly-acquired raclette grill) then stopped at a local pizzeria for some very tasty birthday lunch.
A brilliant day out in beautiful Bellinzona and that’s Ticino ticked off the list. However, I feel like we may have to revisit this canton before the year is out, as there’s so much to do here – eg: I’m slightly bummed we didn’t go to Swissminatur yet!
clairevetica 