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Published: October 6th 2007
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Conquered
Nothing quite like it... Our tall tale last ended on our voyage through France into the little town that could, Geneva. We arrived at approximately 3am after 7/8 hours of driving. Suffice it to say, the Cap and I were way too exhausted to exhaust ourselves with finding a hostel (not to forget that hostels are around 30-40 Fr. a night), so we laid rest at the first parking lot we could find and slept in the car. I woke to the sound of children at approximately 8am. Thats right, children. For we had parked ourselves in a 15 minute child drop off at some suburban elementary school. Thats right, two stinky old men were parked right in front of a drop off zone at a school for about 5 hours. Surely those Swiss children were terrified. Lord knows I would be. Regardless, we slept for another 2 hours, for if creepy travelling hobos we need to be, then creepy travelling hobos we shall be.
GENEVA The next day found us travelling around Geneva - a nice town, but nothing on Brugge or Aberdeen. My main mission was to take as many pictures as possible, in hopes my mom would recognize some of
French help
They didnt speak English, we didn't speak French. But they helped gas us up when we were on empty. Merci! the locations for she used to live there back in the day. Also, I will be name dropping quite a bit in this post, not to be snobby or self-righteous as that would be pretentious for me to assume you didnt already know I am the greatest, but for my mom's sake. So, once again, LAY OFF!!!
We also took it upon ourselves to visit the many acronyms that call Geneva their home: WMO, UNICEF, UN, and so forth. Afterwards, we decided it was time to acquaint (or in the Cap's sake, reacquaint) with Marie - a friend from Perth.
And let me say, Marie is the shizz. She holed us up in her place for two nights, and basically took it upon herself to show us some Geneva - the highlight? going out for legitimate Swiss Fondue (glorious when mixed with wine) .
The next night, Marie took us to a house party where we hung out with international students, all interested in helping the international community. I felt awkward as my goal is somewhat the opposite to theirs. Geneve (french for Geneva) is actually located in
General's building
This building was in front of General Durfor (sp?). Recognize it mom? the french portion of Switzerland, which was perfect since the Cap and I are so fluent in french, as reiterated by this quote, "J'aime Francois!!".
Unfortunately, we couldn't party all night as we literally had to drive completely across Switzerland to Locarno - located in the Italian part of Switzerland, the next day.
LOCARNO This drive was AMAZING! The views as we drove north of Lac Leman through to Simplon Pass (in the alps) through Italy and back into Switzerlands were truly some of the best in the world. There's no way my camera or the Cap's panoramics could do them justice.
During the second half of the drive, it was my time to drive (taking up the duty at the peak of the drive at Simplon Pass). This was fantastic. Between the pass and Locarno (approx 85km) we drove mostly through Italy, and not on any sort of conventional highway. Literally, you could not go 10 meters without needing to stop or turn - it was the most curvy road of all time. Thank God the Captain slept, or surely he would have had a heart attack with all my stalls and close calls.
Historic wall
A bunch of Geneva greats in a nice park. But alas, we arrived at Locarno. "And so what, First Mate Hawkswan. What the heck is there?" Oh, only the worlds largest bungee jump as performed by James Bond at the beginning of Goldeneye. Please see the videos and pictures for further explanation. The Cap didnt want to do it, I had to do it. And did it we both did; the Captain even did it twice, as he was unsatisfied with the pictures the first time through. It was the best experience of my life...that I remember anyway.
And so, we find ourselves off to Luzern where our good friends Rebecca and Marco await us. And by good friends, I mean we met them briefly for 5 hours in Mykonos. God bless travelling.
Luzern We arrived and commenced our search for a hostel, as is typical in our voyages. Instead, we found an Aussie named Kris who joined us on our venture. First stop? Angels pool bar where we met up with a bartender (another Marco) and his brother and girlfriend.
Let me set the scene: hotel bar, three Swiss (the bartender, et al.), two Canadians, one Aussie, and a former pro handball player
Wise men
Recognize any of these four wise men? from Yugoslavia, and his woman. One of the Swiss guys (the bartenders brother) had the most amazing uni and was huge into German black metal...and knew no english. Metal became our bond. And so for the next three hours, the 6 of us (the Yugoslav didnt partake) "Probsted" (Cheersed) everything from beer to shots to shots of peanuts while listening to Sepultura, some German band called IceRain, Meshuggah, and Children of Bodom.
From here we went to this Wallstreet bar where the prices fluctuate based on demand (much like stock). Every now and then the market would crash and all prices would go down. Suffice it to say, after the night was through, we slept in the car quite well...in an apartment complex parking lot...except for the Aussie...who slept under a tarp next to the car...and it rained.
The following day we met up with Rebecca and Marco and they were gracious enough to let us stay at their house and drink wine with us all night, even though Marco had to get up early. It was a great night that made me love Switzerland (as I'm sure you can tell by the length of this post). Switzerland
Four B-something square
Cant remember the name. LOVE SQUARES! is basically a giant transformer, like Unicron or something. I'll explain in more detail upon request. But, in my mind, Switzerland isn't neutral, everyone is just too freakin terrified of them to attack or request their aid.
Phew...well, after all that it was time to head off to Oktoberfest to meet up with Kennah and B. Mills for presumably some sight seeing and rest.
The Captain, Marco and I head off to Munich on October 1.
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