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sunset, lake
and there are mountains behind those cloudsAs I'm procrastinating from studying anyway, I'll take the opportunity to write about my amazing trip to Switzerland over the Pentecost holidays. Heck yes, we got off from school for Pentecost! As it should be. So I jetted off to visit my dear friend Ms. Buffington in la Suisse. Trip there went fine except -- so ironic -- i accidently had a Swiss Army Knife in my backpack, left there from a hiking trip a few weekends ago, and (I quote the guard security guard who manhandled me), "You can't bring a knife to Switzerland!" Haha. Likely a ploy to get me to buy a new one while there. But apparently I was leaving the country just as Condi Rice was arriving in Vienna, so of course they didn't want to take any chances 😉
Though the weather was cold and rainy on Thursday and Friday, Lindsay and I didn't have any problems keeping ourselves entertained. Nice cafes, creperies, etc. We called up Jessica, a friend of mine from the language course I took in Tuebingen way back when. She is a native of Lausanne and is always delightful. There happened to be a beer and music festival going on so
mountains!!!
finally revealed we met up there and then, "I have a plan," Jessica said, "eat dinner and then we'll go bowling." Bowl we did. Who even knew there was a bowling alley in Lausanne! It was pretty much just like being in an American bowling alley except very very clean. I was doing so well at first that I thought maybe I had missed my calling to professional bowling, until the second game, when I couldn't throw anything but gutter balls.
On Saturday the weather was finally nice, so Lindsay and I hiked up the hill over Lausanne to see the beautiful lake and mountain views, and more importantly, to see the Endangered Wooly Pigs of Switzerland. I kid you not, these things are real, and the most repulsive/adorable creatures ever. They are covered in thick, wiry black wool. Then they roll around in thier own filth and cake thier coats (and anyone standing too close!) with a putrid combination of mud and poop! There were even wooly piglets at this park. Lausanne is doing a great service protecting the biodiversity of Switzerland, which has been for the last century sadly overrun with normal pigs. All I have to say is, can
you imagine a football with this hide! (says the good vegetarian, haha).
So then Saturday afternoon, after eating an entirely cheese-based meal (two pieces of bread in a pan covered with what had to be a pound of melted cheese and little pickles, delicious!) we headed off to the mountains to be wildery and have alpine adventures. Apparently Lindsay's colleagues at school pictured us hanging from cliffs with ice-axes. Our version was a little more docile. We stayed at a hostel called The Hiking Sheep in this mountain village (Leysin), admired the view, and then Sunday just wandered around the hiking trails in the area. We were almost overtaken by a herd of swiss cows and the cow herders yelling "jajajajajajaja" or some variation on that (Swiss mountain french is almost as crazy as Swiss German). Every single cow had a big bell around it's neck, the sound was terrific. Awesome views everywhere, every turn in the trail presented breathtaking alpine panoramas. We're pretty sure we could see Mont Blanc.
Monday night I had to fly back to Vienna but I had a few hours in Lausanne. Coming down from the cold mountains it was warm and sunny, felt like
heaven to my sun-deprived body. We rented a paddle boat and went out on the lake, chased the swans around, admired the mountains and tried to plot ways to get ourselves invited onto a sailboat. But there wasn't time for our shenanigans, I had to catch a plane from Zuerich, and now it's back to school... still waiting for summer to get to Vienna!
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rach
non-member comment
my eli! and my lindsay!
i didn't even know this thing existed!!! oh my golly how fricking fabulous and gorgeous you ladies are and all your photo-fun in the fucking most beautiful vistas, made more beautiful by my nostalgia. (I unfortunately didn't get to see Die Swiess in all its glory. too many bloody clouds.) but now thru your entry i see all anew and damn does it make me miss you guys. i'm sorry i didn't even know you had a travel blog, i'm a terrible long-distance friend. i oooo'd over these pictures with my mom and she said "when are you going to introduce your brother to some of your awesome friends?" hahaha, wanna marry my brother? can't wait to hang with you from a mountain-top or just from a college park window, maybe in our new HOUSE! haha, love! -rach