Back to Switzerland!

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Geneva


When I stayed in Berlin my host, Claudia, told me about her friends in Geneva and said when I go there I should ask if I can stay with them. So Chris and I did, we stayed with Guiseppe and Claudia’s ex Carlo, two Italians who work in CERN in Geneva. Their house is quite far from Geneva centre, in fact it is in France! They were so lovely, they showed us around the town a bit, we saw the bridge over the river and the huge fountain which goes 40 metres in the air or something. We went to a restaurant for some fantastic chicken and walked around the old town.

Chris and I went to explore the town in the morning, we walked a lot! We went on the pier where the huge fountain is and got soaked by the spray! It was such a hot day so really refreshing! We walked right down the side of the river and found a park to wander around in, dipped our feet in a fountain, walked up to the posh building on the hill. We saw that somewhere is some archaeological excavations so we tried to find them but couldn’t. We ate in the chicken place again, salad this time! And we walked around the town for a bit. The shops are very expensive and fashionable in Geneva so didn’t really see much to interest us in them!

We then took a walk down the other side of the river to see what we could see there. There was a ecological exhibition on the pathway, huge globes painted to promote different ecological issues, another photo exhibition set up by a charity wanting volunteers for working in third world countries, another lovely park where we went for a paddle in the fountain. And right at the end we came to the massive lake Geneva, stretching further than you can see. We saw a few people on a little pebble beach but the wall and bushes around were so high it took us a while to work out how to get down there! We stayed on that beach for hours, swimming in the freezing lake, sunbathing, Chris made a fire, it was so relaxed and hardly anyone else on the beach. I found some string and made a necklace out of it and a pebble from the beach, free souvenir!

In the evening we met up with Sarah, who I stayed with in Luzern, who just moved to Geneva for a month to do some work and practice her French. She is really enjoying it! We brought a picnic and went back to the park near the beach, where we were earlier. There was a huge blow up cinema screen set up and loads of people sat there to watch, so we watched the film and ate our picnic. The film is called ‘’Bagdad café’’, it is American so was in English with French subtitles. It was really good and funny! Afterwards we had to get the last bus back, unfortunately Guiseppe and Carlo were working so couldn’t come and meet us out, but they picked us up from the bus stop and we had a bit of a chat before going to sleep.

The morning was really wet and rainy. Chris and I decided to go to the United Nations building for a tour. It’s a huge building and the tour guide was really good! Although we got completely lost trying to find the entrance for the tour and ended up on a different one, the woman panicked and told us to follow a different tour group, then eventually our actual tour guide found us and brought us back to the start! It was interesting seeing the conference rooms, it reminded me of ‘’The Interpreter’’, just like that with the interpreter’s booths and everything. And loads of artwork around, donated by different countries. By far the most impressive gift was from Spain, the entire ceiling of one of the conference rooms was painted to look like the sea. It was painted from the ground, shooting paint up to the ceiling! But the effect was so impressive, beautiful!


Lausanne


We left on the train for Bern and stopped off in Lausanne on the way. We walked down the hill to Ouchy, where the lake and harbor is. The weather had improved loads so it was really nice, the mountains around were a bit misty but it looked pretty! We had a nap on a wall, had an ice cream, walked a bit more, then went for a walk around the town. The old town was lovely, cute little streets and shops. Then we headed back down to the station to go to Bern.


Bern.


Chris and I went to stay with Patrik again! We met him at the station and went back to his flat. He had four other couchsurfers staying that night1 Daniella from Argentina, Adrienne from Canada, Lia and Klaus from Germany, Chris and I. In the evening we all went for a swim in the river. It was almost dark by the time we got out and freezing, but so much fun! We asked a drunk guy to take some pictures of the seven of us, which was funny, we had to make strange faces and things! We went back to the flat and cooked a huge bowl of pasta, chatted and drank vodka all evening, was great fun!

Adrienne and Daniella had to leave early next morning but the rest of us got up late and made a huge breakfast. We ate up on the terrace, Patrik’s friend came as well. Lia and Klaus left after that and then we were three! We wanted to have another swim in the river so headed into town. On the way Patrik spotted a place where you can rent electric vespas for free for half an hour. So Patrik rented one, went home to get me a helmet, and Chris and I got on the other one. It was so fun, zipping around the town on a vespa! The bikes are so quiet!

We went to the river for a swim and Patrik and Chris jumped off a bridge into the river! Some of Patrik’s friends were there as well, so fun, I love swimming in the Aare! After that we got the train to Thun to go to Patrik’s parent’s house. It was Sarah’s birthday and we had a barbeque in the garden. We met Sarah’s boyfriend and the cats, so now I have met the whole family! We had such a lovely evening, eating and talking and laughing, I love them all! When we got home Dominik and his friend were watching Paranormal Activity which was way more scary than I thought so Chris and I had trouble sleeping that night!

We were planning to leave the next day but Patrik said we should stay and spend a day with them going down the river, so we did! We all got up early and got on the train to a place near Thun where you can float down the river for three hours to Bern. While Patrik was blowing up his boat, it popped! So we were without the outer ring of the boat, meaning only two people at a time could go on it. But Patrik and Dominik had lilo’s to go on so it worked out ok. We had some beer and food and had a great time floating down the river! Sometimes we had to row pretty hard to keep the boat far from the bank and it’s difficult!

The views from the river are amazing, Thun is right near the Alps so we got a great view of the mountains from the river. I had a go on the lilos as well but ended up getting near the edge and had to cling on to some random people’s boat to get free! Great fun! Another time I was on the boat with Chris and we were heading straight for some people on the edge, I tried to grab onto the edge to push us away but ended up grabbing some guy’s bum oops! So embarrassing! Another time I was on the lilo, kicking to pull the boat away from the edge and I got cramp in my leg so ended up being more hindrance than help, but it was so fun!

We stopped for lunch at the side of the river and there was a bridge nearby. Patrik, Domink, their friend Anya, and Chris decided to jump off it. First they jumped from half way, then from the top, then I decided to have a go! It was 6 or 7 metres high, I was so scared! Eventually I plucked up the courage and jumped, I screamed so loud on the way down, but actually hitting the water wasn’t so bad! I was shaking for ages after though, but glad I did it!

After we got back into the water we lost the other two boats that were with us and so it was just me, Chris and Domink for the last leg. It was nice and chilled though, sunbathing on the boat. Dominik was all annoyed with Patrik for going off on the other boat with his cigarettes, but eventually he calmed down haha! We got to Bern and relaxed on the grass for a bit before heading back to the flat. We made tortellini and chatted and exchanged music all evening!

Next day was a bit more chilled, Chris and I went for a walk through the town and saw the bears. He brought a Swiss army knife. And we cooked fajitas for Patrik and Dominik in the evening. We went with Patrik and Anya to see Inception at the cinema, the new Leonardo DeCaprio film, it was a really good film!


Murren


Next day Chris and I decided to go on an adventure in the mountains. We took a few trains and a cable car, and went to Murren, a town in the Bernese Alps. There were gorgeous views up there and we could feel the altitude as soon as we got off the train. The village is touristy but cute and we found a lovely bed and breakfast run by an English woman called Denise who had been there for 30 years! And I don’t blame her, it’s a fantastic part of the world! Patrik’s Grandmother used to live there so he told us about it.

We went for a walk from Murren to Grutscalp and back, basically a three hour easy, straight walk, pretty much along the train tracks, with great views! On the way back we stopped in a bar and had a beer, we really felt it after just one beer because of the altitude, so the walk back was interesting! The B and B gave us a voucher for the local pool so we went in there and in the sauna. We didn’t have an swimming stuff so had to rent some lost property which was a bit ridiculous and didn’t fit too well!

In the evening we went out for fondue in a restaurant. It was great food! We brought a stupidly expensive wine, the most expensive (but also the best) wine I have ever had! And the food took ages to come so we were starving by the time it did. But it was worth the wait, I love fondue!

The next day we took the cable car up to Schilthorn, a really high peak in the Alps. From there we could see Bern and Thun, and on the other side Jungfrau, the highest and most popular peak in that area. The views were stunning, I am so glad we went up there! At the top is a revolving restaurant so we sat there for as long as we could without buying anything, then took the cable car half way down to Birg. From there we hiked for three hours down the mountain, back to Murren.

It was a steep walk down but really fun, again great views, the sheep with cowbells all over the hills. We had lunch near a lake a gazed out at the view. I was tempted to go in the lake but then I put my feet under the small waterfall for a second and they went numb so I decided against it! At one point we stopped in a meadow and led down, but when I looked down between my feet it was just a drop down so I got a bit of vertigo! We made it back to Murren, tired and happy, and got the train and cable car back to Bern.

We chilled for a bit in Patrik’s flat then went to meet him at the river, where a guy called Mich Gerber was playing the cello in the middle of the river. He plays on the ferry that goes from one side to the other, his music is for ‘’The Blue Hour’’; the hour before the sun goes down, and that is when he plays on the river. So we went to see him and it was fantastic, so atmospheric with the running water as well. It was the perfect end for our stay in Bern.

Chris had to get a flight home from Zurich the next day and I headed for Salzburg, Austria. Patrik, his brother Stefan, and Dominik are all coming to England in December so I will see them again, can’t wait!

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