Switzerland

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up at 6:50 out of the hostel and trek to the station by 7:45 to catch the 8:02 train to brussels.

3 countries 12 hours on a train. what a bitch. our train to brussels was packed. our train from brussels to paris was packed. 2 hours in france and i already dont like the french. they were rude and smelly. we could not book our TGV ride to switzerland from france in belgium so we had to do it when we got to france. guess what, train is overbooked so you pay your fee and get on in hope of a seat. we found one, the jump seats (square pullouts) inbetween carriages. none of the frogs admitted to speaking english so we couldnt ask if there were seats further down. thankfully some people got off at a stop and we managed a seat. had to change in lausanne. this train was worse. packed to the brim. luckily a gentleman informed us where the baggage store was. thanks mate.

our lonely planet guide came in handy when we got to Bern as we couldn't find a tourist centre to get a map. thanks mum and dad

12th May

Strawberries, Sunshine and Cough syrup.

What a Day! we got up this morning and made our way to the pharmacy for some cough syrup for Bradley. hopefully it has worked! after that we bought breakfast and some strawberries and ate them in the kleine shanze park. to the Bear pit! traditionally used as an entertainment area where bears were cruelly made to dance for amusement, it is now home to atleast two brown bears. amazing! we kept bumping in to this Japanese guy we met whilst cooking dinner last night (which wasn't great because we got kicked out of the supermarket before getting the mince we needed for bolognaise. mmmmmm bolognaise sauce and pasta). what is better than a random japanese guy who you know?...a random japanese guy that you know who has a local friend!!! we spent the day with these guys (kazoo and Marinne) just touring the city. we saw the bear pit, rose garden(really nice rose named swiss greetings), munster (awesome view from the top: too many stairs), had lunch in a park and tried a swedish fizzy drink and biscuit thing similar to almond slice. after lunch we ventured around town and ended up at the botanical gardens.



I officially love this country. words cannot describe it. we left Bern and headed for Interlaken. now this town is amazing. right between two fantastic lakes of the most gorgeous colour with mountains as a backdrop. our place in Interlaken is a hotel named Falkan. it is phenomenal. the shower and bathroom is great and the view from our balcony is fantastic.

our first day here we decided to take a cruise on lake Thun. this was awesome but would have been nicer if there was less cloud.

Day 2 lets head to the mountains. we thought we might be able to make the clouds go away for us. sadly it wasnt to be so we only went to the base camp of mount Schilthorn. nice nonetheless. Lauterbrunnen and Mürren were great.

Day 3 to Lucerne. coldest i have been yet i reckon it was minus 50. not really but i was pretty cold. the sun came out for a bit and let us take some nice photos. our random Swiss friend (Marianne) invited us to dinner so we trekked it back to Bern from Lucerne. DINNER WAS AMAZING: a swiss pasta potato and ham dish followed by dessert! best meal we have had yet!

Wednesday May 16

planned to sleep in today but was rudely awaking by sunlight beaming through my window. ignored it for 15 minutes and thought that after yesterday this couldnt be sunshine. i got up and checked the balcony oh my god i can see mountains from here. quick shower and off to the station. bradley decided to sleep in but after some much better decision making ended up coming with me.

Schilthorn is a famous swiss alp that has a revolving restaurant on the top of it. Schilthorn was the sight for the 1969 bond film òn her majestys secret service'the view from here is indescribable. i hope the photos show how amazing this sight really was.



I cant belive i nearly forgot this part. i saw snow (insert exclamation ,arks here. i cant figure out this french keyboard) strange stuff. it was all fluffy. i threw a snowball at brad...he wasnt terribly amused...



I will upload photos shortly but for now the internet cafe i am at doesnt allow me too.

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