The Echo’s Good Life weekly feature held a writing competition a few weeks back. Those who entered were placed under the pump.
We gave them three days to submit a short account of a funny travel anecdote. We received a surprisingly healthy number of entries.
Thanks to all who participated; and like all races, there can be only one winner. Linda Calder is our winner.
A Byron Shire resident, Linda gives us an account of her honeymoon in Switzerland and the hot music that accompanied the classic Swiss fare.
As their prize, Linda and her husband Bill dined at Cicchetti’s Italian restaurant in Byron Bay.
Here’s the winning story
Melting Moments
By Linda Calder
During our honeymoon in Europe, we biked and took a train to get us from Italy on to Switzerland.
There’s nothing like a bit of exercise to really enhance one’s appetite, a problem particularly when arriving in a new town during siesta. Everything just shuts down mid-afternoon and we were starving.
I was determined to have the traditional Swiss cheese fondue to celebrate our first day in scenic Geneva. It didn’t take long for us to find a quaint, rustic, and chic-looking restaurant that specialised in fondue. We were the first people to arrive, and the romantic ambience inside was perfect.
Dimly lit, the atmosphere had the warm feel of a large log cabin. After being welcomed and seated, we were presented with an awesome menu and promptly ordered wine.
Taking a deep breath (it had been a big day), we took in our surroundings and reflected upon our good fortune in finding such a gem so quickly.
We ordered our fondue and as we enjoyed the peace and quiet, a pulsating rhythm started as music was piped throughout the restaurant.
It’s a bit difficult to describe the sounds; it was a kind of erotic grunting with lots of ooohhs, and aahhhs. A ‘doof doof’ techno beat followed, then the lyrics ‘I want to suck your c@#k’.
The sounds and lyrics repeated over and over again. There was no mistake, what we were hearing was X-rated.
We just looked at one another; my husband, Bill, suddenly started to groove, gesticulating in time to the music. We couldn’t stop laughing; we laughed and laughed. I think with all the commotion they figured out what was happening.
A couple of minutes into the song and there was a loud yell from the kitchen, ‘someone change the music!’
That was the last time we heard this kind of song in a restaurant.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
