Trip to Switzerland – Part 2: Letting the Light In

In the first part of this blog series, I shared how an unexpected feeling drew us to Switzerland in May 2023. I found myself longing for the clarity and freshness of the Swiss Alps, but looking back, I now realise that this journey became much more than an ordinary spring holiday. Only now, three years later, can I see how many important decisions actually began there.

So what was it about Switzerland that touched me so deeply?

When we arrived, low clouds were hanging between the mountains. The sky was grey, the peaks disappeared into the mist, and much of the landscape remained hidden. In the mountains, clouds often linger far longer than they do in the flat landscapes of the Netherlands. It felt as though the scenery wasn't quite ready to reveal itself.

As I mentioned in Part 1, after a few days the sun finally broke through. From that moment on, everything changed. Not only the landscape, but also the way I looked at it.

At the Blausee, I experienced truly crystal-clear water for the first time. I could see straight to the bottom, where rainbow trout quietly swam past and even the famous underwater mermaid sculpture remained perfectly visible. I could have watched it for hours. There was something about this water that stayed with me. Why did it feel so different from the water back home?

The shop felt more like a small museum than a store. Everywhere stood enormous clear quartz crystals, smoky quartz, amethysts and many other minerals. Most of them collected by the owners -Lukas and Paul- themselves in the Swiss mountains. What impressed me most was the way the crystals were displayed. They were carefully illuminated inside dark showcases, allowing every detail of their internal structure to become visible.

It is a remarkable thought that these crystals were formed millions of years ago, deep inside the earth, hidden in complete darkness. Only in the light did their beauty truly reveal itself. The video below probably shows better than words why this place left such a lasting impression on me.

Lauterbrunnen overwhelmed me for different reasons. Of course, there were the spectacular waterfalls falling from the steep cliffs, but what caught my attention most was the light itself. Tiny droplets in the mist sparkled like thousands of little diamonds, while rainbows briefly appeared before disappearing again moments later.

It almost felt as if the light was playing with the water.

A little further along stood a simple stone drinking fountain where fresh mountain water flowed continuously from a tap. I filmed it without really thinking why. Only much later did I realise why that simple image had stayed with me.

The final place that made a deep impression on me was Lake Engstlen (Engstlensee). The lake was still partly covered in ice, its surface almost perfectly still. The surrounding mountains reflected like a mirror in the water while the first crocuses were blooming beside the melting snow. Normally the lake has thawed by May, but after such a long winter we had arrived at exactly the right moment to witness a landscape that probably exists for only a short time each year.

It felt like a gift in ice.

Only afterwards did I realise that all these places had something in common. It wasn't just the water. It wasn't just the crystals. It wasn't just the mountains.

It was the light that revealed everything.

Light shining on clear water allows you to see deeper. Clear quartz crystal lets light pass through. Reflections only appear when the water becomes completely still. Everywhere I went, nature seemed to tell the same story. Not through words. But through light.

A few months after returning home, I discovered the work of Veda Austin about the intelligence of water (read here my earlier blog). Her way of looking at water immediately caught me and also brought me back to Switzerland. While diving further in the mysteries of water by using her freezing method, I realised my attention during the trip had already been drawn towards the same themes: water, crystals, light and clarity. I even caught myself wondering what the ice crystals would look like if you froze fresh Swiss spring water. Probably a good reason for a new visit!

The renovation

While reflecting on our trip to Switzerland, my thoughts kept returning to how the trip impacted our own home. Suddenly, I realised something.

When I bought our top-floor apartment in 2017, the attic level still felt unfinished. There were two bedrooms beneath a sloping roof with small roof windows, but that was all. There was no bathroom, no toilet and not even running water. Because of its triangular shape and simplicity, I jokingly referred to it as "the tent." It was dark and it felt rather cramped and enclosed.

One day, while talking to my neighbour about how much I missed having a bathroom upstairs, she looked at me in surprise. "But don't you have another room behind the landing wall that belongs to your apartment?" she asked. She assumed I already knew about it. I had no idea what she was talking about.

Did I have a secret room?

After obtaining the necessary permissions, we opened the wall. Behind it we discovered an entirely hidden room that had remained unused since 1953. Plans were made for a large dormer window. But then COVID happened. The world came to a standstill, and the renovation plans were put aside for years.

Until Switzerland.

Somewhere between the crystal-clear mountain water, the quartz crystals and the remarkable play of light, I began looking at the renovation plans differently. No longer as a dark attic that simply needed more room, but as a place that deserved more light. A place connected to the sky, the clouds and nature.

It was in Switzerland where we made our decision: We were going to renovate, one step at a time, starting by replacing the small roof windows with the largest Velux roof windows available. Only later did the idea of transforming the hidden room into a bathroom begin to take shape.

Over the past few years, four new roof windows have completely transformed the attic, filling it with natural light. We now sleep beneath the stars, and soon we'll be able to soak in the bath beneath them too. As I write this today, we are in the final stage of that renovation of the bathroom. Looking back through all the photographs and videos from Switzerland, I suddenly noticed something I had never realised before. Almost everything we chose for the new bathroom can be traced back to this journey: The colours of the Aare Gorge, the natural river stone basins, the Swiss quartz crystals. Even the new tap reminds me of the drinking fountain in Lauterbrunnen.

Without consciously planning it, we slowly brought a small piece of Switzerland into our home. Looking back, I can't help noticing a remarkable parallel. In Ireland, I became fascinated by ancient stones. In Switzerland, it was light that captured my attention. And at home, we first had to break through stone before we could let the light in, just as crystal seekers break their way into the mountains in search of hidden crystals. Perhaps my attic was never really a tent. With four large roof windows and a bathroom beneath the sky, it now feels as though we're living on top of a mountain.

That is the wonderful thing about inspiration. You often don't realize where an idea truly begins.

In Part 3, I'll share how this journey would eventually have a profound impact on my work, my brand, and my new collection, Water – A Source of Life.