If you had to tell me six months ago that I’d be celebrating my birthday at a breathtakingly beautiful castle in Switzerland overlooking the Rhine Falls with a pretty Swiss girl I’d say you were bludy shitting me. But that’s exactly what happened. When she heard it was my birthday she made all the arrangements. First we went by boat to the falls and then at sundown a candlelit dinner where she surprised me with a cake and all.

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This country is nothing short of amazing. They way they see to every little detail, the way everything works like it’s supposed to - the trains, the buses, the trams ... the way it’s all organised with the precision of those timepieces they’re so renowned for, and the whole way they have managed to integrate the old with the new so seamlessly, is something that has me totally captivated. To top it off everything is so damn clean and beautiful.

Saturday we went by train to Luzern and Berne. In Luzern we took the boat across the lake and then headed to Mount Pilatus where I got to go on my very first cable-car ride, and also saw snow for the first time. Berne in the evening was something of a ghost town ... which I am told is what you will find in most cities in Europe - everything (except for the restaurants) shuts by 7 and is closed on weekends. If something is open it is most likely run by an Indian.

The women ... What can I say - they’re gorgeous! And so, so stylish. Black seems to be the colour of choice … and leather a hot favourite. In the five days I’ve been here I have yet to see a shabbily dressed Swiss girl.

Quite surprising to see so many Indians here though. Plenty of Madrasis (or Tamilians as they prefer to be called). But you should see how well behaved they all are. Oh yeah, they will cross on the pedestrian crossing and throw their thrash in the bins, and most importantly - not talk too loud.

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Here till the end of November so there’s a lot more still to come. Geneve, Lausanne, Basel, St. Moritz … all in the pipeline. Waiting for a buddy of mine to come over and then then the party starts. But things are pretty expensive here. Every time I see something nice in a shop window (like those soft toys) I think about how thrilled JC would be if I bought it for her. But all she’s getting are the Godiva chocolates.

There is one thing though that is damn cheap here - Beer! And boy have I been having lots of it.

Song that was playing a while back at the Burger King I had lunch at. Where the Pakistani girl at the counter spoke to me in German. For Ishani, whose birthday it was yesterday ... and for Bunny whose hippo birdie it is today.