JustJess
Our holiday time was supposed to be great. We started with an amazing trip to Glacier3000 and as the weather was great, it seemed like the week was about to be full of adventures and exploring while enjoying the sun. But then… My friend Jo got sick. And as she was at my place for the whole week, we had to change most of our plans.
To tell you the truth, it’s not that surprising that she got ill, because on Saturday (a day before we went to Glacier3000), she was out only in a jumper. Yes, it was a beautiful and sunny day but it was still cold enough to catch a cold. So after our glacier trip, we simply stayed home and she slept, slept and slept.
It was not that bad for me. The weather was amazing, with approximately 10 degrees celsius, and a lot of sun. So I took my French textbooks out and I was learning the language by the lake while relaxing. I also took my running shoes out of the closet and started a running season. A month earlier than I expected. I was just wondering if the cold weather would come back. Because the last week seriously felt like the end of March, not February.
While I was relaxing, working on my projects and learning languages, Jo was silently suffering through her illness. On Tuesday afternoon, she decided she will probably need to see a doctor, because she was still not feeling better and had a fever. But… seeing a doctor in Switzerland is not easy in a normal situation. In times of covid-19? A funny story.
To explain a bit. If you have health insurance in Switzerland you can’t just go to see the doctor when you feel sick. You have to call your health insurance company first and tell them that you want to go. They will make a little theatre, ask you if it’s really necessary and then, they will approve you to go to see the doctor. Of course, you can go without calling, but then the insurance company doesn’t have to pay for expenses. Maybe it doesn’t sound strange to all my readers, but to us, Czech and Polish girls, it is a bit ridiculous. The health care system simply works differently in our countries. If you are not feeling well, you go to see a doctor. As simple as it sounds.
Jo called the insurance company. She had to explain what’s wrong with her and after 15 minutes of talking to the lady on the phone, she was told they would find the best solution for her and call back in half an hour. So we waited and waited and after 45 minutes, Jo got a call back. But it was not the insurance company anymore. It was a doctor. And the doctor did a medical examination… through the phone. She asked about symptoms and added some more questions like: if she can move her head from side to side without pain and so on. In the end she asked Jo to send a photo of her throat.
A photo of her throat.
As ridiculous as it sounds, I was taking a picture of the inside of my friend’s throat. Then she sent it to a doctor via email. In a few minutes a doctor called again, saying that it’s probably some virus and she will send her medicine recipe. Also, she said that even when it’s probably not covid-19, she has to take a covid test. So Jo found the nearest testing centre and was able to book a test for the next day.
As much as we were staring in disbelief through all the phone calls, in the end we were kinda happy it all worked as this. Because if the health insurance company would send her to an actual doctor, she would not get the treatment immediately. Like this, she could get some help even when it was after 7 PM and she didn’t have to leave the house. Which I think, in the covid-19 situation, was the very purpose of the doctor on the phone.
The day after Jo got a negative result of the test and she finally started feeling better. And as my legs were already hurting from all the sitting at home, I was hoping we would be able to go somewhere. At least, for two trips. Because we only had 4 days left of our holidays.
Unfortunately, it was impossible with Jo’s medical condition. Even when she felt better, it would be a bad idea to take her out on a full day trip. So in the end, I packed myself on Saturday afternoon and decided to explore another part of the track through Lavaux vineyards. I did that twice before, during the autumn. First, I went from Chexbres to St-Saphorin, then from Cully to Rivaz and this time, I decided to take a trip from Lutry to Cully. That would mean that I’d have practically the whole Lavaux area covered. Well… more or less, because there are so many tracks, that I would need at least three more trips to cover them all. But let’s say that I would have covered the length of Lavaux terraces.
Firstly, I took a walk through Lutry and enjoyed the view on romantic historical aisles which are typical for all cities in the Lavaux area. I also admired Château de la tour Bertholod, which rises from the vineyard area next to Lutry. It is a small castle with a circular tower from the 13th century.
From Lutry I headed forward, to vineyard terraces and soon I realised I picked a bad day for a trip. Because it was extremely windy, and these terraces are not shielded from wind anyhow. So even when it was quite a sunny day, it was very cold. I also made a mistake by taking a path in the upper terraces, where the wind was even stronger. So after an hour of walking, I got to the point where I couldn’t go further, because the wind was simply too much and I was frozen to the bones.
I managed to get above Cully, which was my final destination. But I had a problem. I couldn’t find the way down to the city. Because the official final destination of the upper track was Chexbres – which was more than another two hours of walking away. For some reason there were no signs leading down the hill to Cully. Normally, I would use google maps, but there are many places around the lake where my phone catches French phone networks, so I couldn’t use data. I ended up a little lost and damn frozen.
I decided to go down by the main road and then I saw a pair of people taking down the path through vineyards. I followed them and with kind advice from this pair, I got to Cully train station. But I had to walk through a few private properties, which was probably not the best idea. I was tired and frozen, so I didn’t care that much. But anyway, I recommend studying the track in advance, if you are going to Lavaux. Because getting from upper terraces to the lower can be tricky without a map.
I can’t say that I enjoyed that trip a lot. I will definitely have to take it one more time. Because with the strong wind I was in no mood to take in the view. But I managed to take a few pictures anyway. These terraces are beautiful at any time of a year. But in some it’s harder to enjoy.
So that’s how my holiday time ended. We started with an amazing trip to the glacier, but then, we didn’t have the opportunity to see anything else because of the illness. But at least we learnt something new about the Swiss health care system. Let’s hope we will not need it again in April when another school break comes. And so another holiday time for us Au-pairs.
