Day 3 Gesundheit

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Today I woke smelling like a bed of roses. Even despite the goings-on of the previous night, I had no hangover and I felt fine. Sadly, the same could not be said for some of my comrades. On today’s agenda was a trip to a cheese making facility owned by a man named Hans. Now this may seem like a rather laid back, domestic day, however, the winding trip up the mountain in a tiny, hot van, the day after consuming copious amounts of alcohol proved to be too much for some folks. Now I’m not going to name names, but I will say that Nathan Whitman projectile vomited all over the window of the van on the trip up the mountain. It was insane. After getting that ordeal under control, we resumed our journey to meet up with Hans. Hans was very passionate about his job and his cheese making facility. He gave us the royal tour, explaining how everything worked, the history of his business, the importance to the local economy, and he even let us sample some cheeses and perhaps the best apple juice I’ve ever tasted. Hans works very closely with local farmers, whom own cattle and each depend on the other to make a living. After leaving, we headed for Lucerne to take a guided tour of the city. Before leaving, however, another of my fellow students fell victim to a little “stomach bug” and lost it in the back of the van. After that small setback, we were off to Lucerne, where we had a date with tour guide Doris, whom had crazy armpit hair. She showed us around the city, and pointed out many of the important historical sites including Chapel Bridge, the Dying Lion monument and the creepy white guy on a pole whom we shamelessly coerced into flashing an axem-jacks sign. I feel as though Lucerne is easily accessible to foreign tourists because of its location in the center of the country, its public train station, and the fact that most everything in the town is within walking distance. Also, a large portion of its residence speaks English, which made communication much easier. After touring the city, we had a bit of free time to shop for souvenirs and then it was back in the van to head home.

Later in the evening we were carted up the mountain to eat our first real, traditional Swiss dinner. The dinner was noodles with cheese and potatoes, and while I’m not a big fan of strong cheeses, I actually really enjoyed it. We did take a bit of a break from eating to go outside and play with the cows. When I say play with the cows I mean we took pictures of each other petting them, and then were forced to run for our lives when the cows began to get excited and stampede down the hill. The journey back was by torchlight down a very treacherous hill, and I ended up leading the pack. Let’s face it, that path was basically one giant slip and slide, and that’s exactly what we did all the way down to the foot of the mountain. I still enjoyed it though, and I was super impressed with the fact that I didn’t catch myself, someone else or the mountain ablaze.

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