Switzerland

Switzerland Album #1 Here

Switzerland Album #2 Here


Panoramas to come!


Well, it all started out ok but now I find myself sitting in some random cafe in some random town on the Italian Swiss border becuz of a fire in the only tunnel that leads out of here and into Switzerland. Apparently a train was struck by lightning and the fire is on the Italian side. Which explains exactly why there is still no information or resolve to this issue. It's been over 4 hours since it happened and I still have no way out of here, no advice, and possibly no host in Switzerland despite my early efforts to secure one. And um... Lightning strikes passenger trains and sets them on fire???!! That happens!!!??? I heard more than a week later it's still blocked but couldn't find anything about it online.

Figured out thru hear say there is in fact a train that goes to Switzerland another way, contrary to the train station employees who just tell u 'no, no switzerland', like no soup for u, nothing u can do. So I jump on this SLOW train, a little irritated but just so happy to get out of Italy to finally be on my way. The train struggles and starts pulling itself up the incline which was when I realised this is a scenic route train. Although basically every train in Switzerland is scenic, this one snakes up thru the mountain valleys at snail speed, with windows that open. The entire way ascending to shoulder waterfalls and rapids beneath clouds clinging to the sloping peaks above. A noticeable change in architecture occurs near the Swiss border, roofs of different materials in the classic over hang steep slants. Every place I go is so different and beautiful in it's own way. Nice that my prior knowledge of Switzerlands' beauty doesn't taint it in the slightest.

Found a host, finally made the round about mission to Interlaken and wait, what month is it? Is it not June? Summer has been started yet here it is absolutely freezing across Switzerland. Apparently it had been beautiful for the last month. Now the days are a foggy haze, cold temperatures and lingering gentle rains. 3 days in now with one nice day so far, which I used to my advantage by hiking up the mountain with the girl who's surfing with the same couchsurfing host. Our host, an Australian working here as a guide and hostel employee lives in a barn, which has been slightly cold the past couple nights due to the sudden inclement weather, but still really awesome.

The Greenfield festival (a 3 day rock festival in Interlaken every year) happened to be on my first day here. Unfortunately I was unaware of Flogging Molly, System of a Down and Foo Fighters performing the first nite and never went out there to try and sneak in. The second nite we went to sneak in but then decided there were no bands playing we felt were worth the effort and the terrible weather continued to rain on our parade, so we just went for a ride on the 3 person bike about town. We were determined to go the 3rd day tho, except I seemed to be the only one who cared about seeing the bands at all. Getting everyone to leave and making the trek there was frustratingly slow. Even after we snuck in it was frustratingly slow and I was getting irritated with everyone who would rather stand around near nothing interesting than go see the bands. In hindsight, I should have ditched them to begin with cuz I would have found my way in the same way and would have gotten to see the bands I really wanted to. Once ur with people, u tend not to venture out of ur group and really have a chance to meet other people, which was exactly the case and every time I did meet people, I was dragged off to walk some great distance for someone to get cheap beer. Their obsession with beer price eventually cost them not being able to come back into the concert. I had a good nite even though I was fairly annoyed with my companions and having to take care of everyone, walking 2 girls home when I hadn't wanted to leave where I was. I went back out both times and managed to find myself at least some mildly entertaining conversation until 4am.

I was surprised I had made it with ample energy till that late as earlier in the day we attempted to ride tandem bikes to laudderbrunnen valley.... 9km away. Laura and I shared a bike and made it most of the way before we had technical difficulties with our bike. We were originally riding the bike that one person faces forward and the other backwards. Since she couldn't hold our weight cuz she could barely touch the floor, I was driving. When we had problems with that bike we switched to the tandem where both faced forward but when I tried to drive my arms and legs were too extended and the handle bars felt so loose. So Laura tried to drive and I just couldn't help feeling unsafe. Not becuz of her driving cuz I didn't trust myself with her on the back either but becuz we were on dirt road, near a river embankment and the steering was so loose. So I told her to go ahead with out me and that I would meet them in town. We had lunch and I couldn't help feeling a little judged for not wanting to continue on the bike. My ass killed from riding triple tandem the day before, I didn't trust myself with her and I just didn't feel safe driving or on the back, it felt like an accident waiting to happen and I thought it was safer for both me and Laura if I just hitchhiked back to Interlaken. Hitchhiking in this area of Switzerland is so awesomely easy by the way.

After arriving at 4am the next day, I woke to Laura asking me if I wanted to go canyoning and since I surprisingly didn't feel terrible after the prior nite, I decided to go. I'm glad I went becuz I learned my limits, my preferences and how I never want to do that again. Canyoning is a mix of repelling, climbing, sliding and jumping thru a canyon river. This particular canyon was right up near the glacier so it is beyond cold so we had to wear wet suits. I hate getting into a wet suit. There always made for skinny girls, with anorexic thighs and hips not meant for bearing children. It's really one of my number one top annoyances, squeezing into those bloody things then wriggling out one limb at a time. Call me naive but one would think if ur gonna go run around in a cold ass glacier river, one would wear dry suits. That's not the case. Instead, let's make everyone put on 3 wet suits. 3! One is hard enough! Then! Let's have them put suits on before we get to the canyon a 45 minute drive away. Then! When we get to the canyon, make u hike in full gear up the freaking side of the canyon u will be climbing down when they could have driven u up! (which is apparently the way it's normally done) So here I am, the only 'thick' girl on this trip, dying with this suit cutting off my circulation before we even started this 10 minute extreme hike up the canyons' shoulder. My legs and arms felt numb and I could barely lift my feet to climb, let alone breathe in all of it. I ended up ripping most of it off half way but the thighs were still so tight it made no different in how I felt walking. I had asked the guy for a bigger suit and he said noooooo, you'll want it tight. The instructor is laughing at me and basically everyone else on the trip doesn't understand why I'm having any difficulty if they're not. So we finally get to the top and start the expedition down, but not before the guide accidentally pushes me directly in the uterus while tightening my climbing gear. There were slides and jumps and a zip line and it was so cool being in the canyon but alot of it felt pretty damn dangerous and I injured myself a couple times from having to jump and try to land on my ass. I've always been taught to jump any great distance with arms crossed and legs straight but u can't do that here cuz it's not deep enough and it is hard to break the habit and hurts landing any other way. I have bruises from landing on the water. So then we have a moment to pause so I sit down cuz I really feel like my blood flow is constricted due to this misfitted, multilayered wet suit, but when I sat down it pushed on my diaphragm even more and then I really couldn't breathe. No matter how hard I tried to stay calm and take deep breaths, there was just no room for expansion. My hands were so frozen (cuz they don't give u gloves, did I mention that?!) that I couldn't undo my wet suit zippers and I started to feel my whole body but especially my face rippling with pins and needles. No one noticed that anything was wrong, it took Laura coming off her jump and out of the water to notice that something wasn't right, calling it to the attention of the guides. I hate how everybody expects some one who is in an emergency or possible situation to express it in full sentences. Like when I get sea sick, if I were to speak on word, it's all over. People can't communicate when they can breathe. Obviously if I'm pulling at my gear and my face is turning white, get it the fuck off me and don't expect me to answer questions. They get some gear off so I can take a breath, immediately I feel my face and arms again. I ended up keeping one jacket off, deciding it was better to be cold than to risk fainting, which I know full well, I was only minutes away from. Then later someone mentions my 'panic attack' and I couldn't help but be a little sharp when pointing out how well I did not to panic, making every breath deep and remaining still and calm standing there. I felt like I was made out to be the drama queen / least competent one, pretty unfairly. Put me in a wet suit that fits and I could have pranced all over that canyon. After taking off the jacket I was a million times better and we continued down, only to have a rope nearly scratch my cornea but luckily just scratch my eyelid. My hands became increasingly weak from the cold but I did my best to remain on a neutral level and focus on other things and the beauty of everything around me, as I likely would have just stepped off one of the falls, suicidal over this decision had I let myself dwell on the negative. Excitement for this was impossible to conjure at this point. I felt bad for Laura becuz she was the only one in the group with the kind of excitement that should normally come with the experience. Despite her failing comrades, she maintained her sunny disposition and energy thru out. I really admire that. After it was all over, I was starving, thirsty and feeling like my body had never been so relieved. I walked away from the group, down to the riverside to change and get some peace. After ripping that damn wet suit off (laughing hysterically at the extreme difficulty of the task) I just sat there for a minute and cried in sheer exhaustion of the last few days. Conclusion? I'm a rock climber, a diver, slow hiker, pavement walker and non-glacier water activity enthusiast and I hate people making me feel shitty for being at a particular pace or for knowing myself well.

I like it here and it's indescribably beautiful but I am feeling like no one really likes me or is interested in my story here. It's so awesome when u find people that just fall in love with u and want to know everything about u and vice versa, when hours go by discussing everything, sand is forever slipping thru ur minds hourglass. I feel like I haven't really had that in a while and a lot of people here have treated me like I'm stupid (example- dude says he has a peanut allergy, i ask if he carries an epi pen, he says condescendingly, 'do u carry around a paramedic kit in case u get in a car accident? WTF. Not the same thing idiot, die unnecessarily if u wish then.) Or I am just of no general interest to them despite me making efforts to know them. I don't know. Guess I don't like myself much right now, maybe I shouldn't expect anyone else to. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will embrace the summer and retire the spring so I can set off on foot up into the mountains. I need some time of reflection, solitude and meditation. I miss my family and friends, I miss people that I so naturally become the person I like to be when I'm with them. I miss home and the warm salt air. Maybe Spain will bring some of the comforts I find at home. I'm going to try and make this all, the very last of my bitching.

I woke up this morning determined to hitchhike somewhere. Packed up what I needed and left the rest to pick up later. I didn't even have my thumb out for 10 seconds and I had a ride to exactly where I was going. It's some of the best and easiest hitching I've ever experienced here, such a small town, traveller friendly vibe. A 72 year old man picked me up and we talked the whole way. Most of the time I hitch, I am saddened when I reach the destination cuz I want so badly to keep talking to the person. He was a civil engineer who helped work on the Suez canal and told me how Egypt was when he was there and how he too used to hitchhike and liked that he could return the favour that so many people did for him. He dropped me off with handshakes and goodbyes near a cable car that smoothly swayed ascending above the fog and clouds of the gloomy day, up towards the mountain top town of Mürren. From there I walked to Gimmelwald, a pedestrian only town an hour away. Camping is not remotely possible in this weather, even when it's sunny it's freezing so I wandered around looking for a hostel and checked in for a nite. It over looks countless waterfalls, sitting on the steep mountain edge with clouds brushing over the roof top and hostel ladies in classic Swiss attire. I wandered around taking photos and petting farm animals for a while, then took a much needed shower (first time with the showers u pay for - 1CHF for 5 mins) and began my mission of friending up people in the hostel. We played spoons until the required silence time, learning little of culture but enjoying distracting comforts. Feels good to get away from the city life of Interlaken.

I ended up staying at the mountain hostel for 3 nights when I only meant to stay one. On the second night I flipped a coin that said I should stay another. My hangover lasted that long so it was a good thing I didn't try and pack up everything feeling like trash. It's so magical up here and there are so many cool people, I really didn't mind paying the extra money to stay.

A girl from Australia and I decided to take the cable car up to Schilthorn, a nearby mountain. We got up early becuz we knew the weather was supposed to turn and we didn't want to pay a fortune to see nothing. After emerging thru the clouds on the 2 long cable cars up, we were atop the mountain. Snow surrounded us, and clouds lingered beneath our feet. 10,000 feet, officially the highest I've ever been still standing on earth. The glaciers glistened in the distance and birds darted around us as we wandered down the paths on the tip of the mountain. The rock was like shiny slate and flowers grew directly from it everywhere. It was surprisingly warm in comparison to the cable car stop a few hundred meters below. As we sat in awe a cluster of clouds rolled and creeped eerily up the mountain side and engulfed us and everything around us. Soon the entire view was replaced by a thick white out and nothing more than 20 feet away could be seen. We had made such perfect time, getting to see the view for about 45 mins before the dense fog rolled in. I felt terrible for all the people we saw just going up, they got to see nothing and paid so much.

The hostel nites were full of more spoons, other card games and late nite pool games with deep conversations till the early morning. It was hard to take advantage of the days when the nite ran on for so long. I had to leave sometime tho so I packed up, said goodbye and headed down the mountain to hitchhike back to Interlaken. Flicking thru a magazine on the way down I decided I wanted to go to Grindlewald at some point. Took me forever to get picked up but finally a delivery van pulled over. He spoke no English but he told me he was going to Grindlewald and I said why not, I'll go there now. I played guitar for him the whole way and tho he could understand a word, he loved it. He dropped me off outside the tourist office and I put my stuff in storage and headed out to a lake up in a mountain valley. An obscenely long cable car ride in a personal gondola takes u near the top and an hour long hike on a well beaten path takes u to the lake. I didn't stay long but it was a nice easy hike with a spectacular finish. Then I hitched my way to Interlaken for what would be my final night in Switzerland. Tried to go out, with nothing catching my interest, I headed back to Balmers tent village to see if anyone was still up and to see if I could find somewhere to sleep for the night. I indeed found all that. We hung out for a while and they let me crash in a bunk in their space. Wish I had met them all sooner.

I went to leave Switzerland, bored of what it had to offer and feeling like everyone I really connected with had to work more than they could play. So I headed to the train station past all the yodelfest performers in classic Swiss attire. I was concerned how much the ticket to Prague would be but decided no matter how much, I would pay up. My friend in Prague gives me the best musical critiques and advice that I have ever had and I felt like it was due time for just that. The cost was 187CHF, a fortune to say the least. I had 100CHF left so I told him to put 87 on my card. I got my ticket, walked out and caught the next train to Basel, a Swiss border station. When I was asked for my ticket I realised that I had also picked up the 100CHF off the counter. So I paid only 87CHF to get to Prague! Ha. Awesome. I had to take this round about mission tho as all the more direct trains were fully booked, with the journey taking about 14 hours in total. I got to Basel, with ample time to kill. Took a nap on the station floor with my feet up on my guitar and my bags in safe clutch. Woke up to some freaking dog barking at me, had it not been on a leash it surely would have attacked me in my sleep. Hate waking up by something scaring me, automatically puts me in a mood. So I'm sitting on the train station floor playing guitar and some dude walks up to me. He seemed really cool, inviting me to some party in a park just down the way. He said he was stopping at home to have a drink and a smoke and if I wanted to meet him in the park, I could come jam. After talking for a little while longer I decided he was trust worthy and ended up going to chill at his house for a while. We never even made it to the party in the park, talking for what felt like an hour but was actually 5, about politics, religion, design, communities and music. We sang, laughed, messed around with his loop pedal machine. He is an industrial designer, designing light fixtures right now, living in Switzerland but is of Italian decent and speaks like 5 languages. I love trusting my intuition, it always puts me directly in the hands of awesomeness. I almost missed my train cuz we got so caught up in talking, at least if the train hadn't of left 20mins late I would have almost missed it. We literally ran. Haha. Before I left he asked if I wanted to take something and in astonishment of him reading what would have been my after thought, I said 'YES!' and asked if he had anything small and metal to put on my increasingly random and heavy charm bracelet. He said he had the perfect thing and I said jokingly, with great excitement, 'do u have a coin with a hole in it!!!???'. In fact he did! And not just any coin, cigarette machine coins that verify u are of age to purchase cigarettes in Switzerland. So awesome. He also gave me a little bottle with dirt and a papyrus plant inside. Somewhere along my way I will find the perfect person to give it to. Such an amazing layover and in hindsight of what happened next, I should have stayed there a day or 2.

Notes:
don't go to switzerland if flies really irritate u cuz I can't even begin to explain the sheer numbers. Actually one of the reasons I left early.
Had somebody confuse couch-surfing with cow-surfing. Easily confused in these parts, I guess.
Have I mentioned how many people think I'm from the Bermuda Circle? I feel like numbers and letters are easy to confuse.
But geometric shapes?! Hahaha