Hotel Krone Thun

all the train beers
-scenery: vineyards, Alps, water
arrived to immejate chaos in Bern (where France was playing Holland in Euro 2008)
-orange everywhere
-soccer balls being dropkicked by everyone; dude next to us breaks a window, utterly disappointed in himself)
-free wardrobes for all from Dutch marching band: troll hat, Smead's new raincoat
-old soccer ball acquired ...

... church officials walking with palms and singing into the church. It was really neat to see, even though we were far away. I saw the Rialto bridge, had my first taste of real Italian food and gelato (delicious ice cream), and we even splurged on a gondola ride through Venice. Definitely worth it! Our next stop was Florence, Italy. We traveled by train everywhere else throughout our trip after the initial flight to Venice. It worked out quite well and you didn't have to worry ...

... called Fendant. Drinking water along with your raclette is said to interfere with the digestion of the cheese & I believe it - our bellies were pretty swollen. While we there C. became God father to one of the girls - as the 2 youger children were being baptised on their grandparents church, so we were at a christening party all day Sunday & just went for some late even rambles in the boreens with out host.

So Thursday we decided it would be a good idea to go to Switzerland, so that is what we did. And wow, the country was as random as our decision to go. We took a train to Geneva, and tooled around the city for about five hours. Within the five hours we managed to see a VERY clean public bathroom, a band with soldiers, enormous chess boards in a park, a man dressed up as a prisonner (that we later threw ...

... really enjoyed our day cruising from Thun to Interlaken (on the Thunsee) and back again. The sheer size of the snow covered mountains, the green meadows, the towns built into the side of mountains, waterfalls, the castles and of course the reflections in the lake. It was spectacular. * Swiss Chocolate Refer also to comments attached to photo's

... little walk around near a little airport and all I could see was the mountains and the beautiful city. We watched some little kids playing soccer (very big over here and Thun are now in the Champions League! Hopp Thun!!!) and people zooming past on their roller blades, some with special blades that are like skis, with the poles, practicing for when the snow comes. The next few days / week i spent catching up with some of my friends here and i visited a couple more host ...

... The cruise was kinda cool, best though was the fact there was beer. The cog train is the steepest in the world at up to about 48 degrees. After arriving back up at Pilatus we took a bit of a walk around. It's easy to get puffed at 2100m, which Trudie tok a while to realise. The views around were amazing. Trudie managed to whack me in the back of the head with a snowball, she was very happy with herself! Had a quiet night in and gave the families a call on the calling ...

... ubig** in einem Tempel v**spürt. Die Nähe zu Gott, zu ein** höh**en Macht, zur Schöpf**kraft. Dabei w**den Wäld** zu Kathedralen und Sonnenunt**gänge zum Gebet. Das Bewusstsein d** eigenen Winzigkeit und V**gänglichkeit und schliesslich Dankbarkeit, hi** sein zu dürfen und von d** Natur geduldet zu w**den. 2. And**e Kulturen und Lebensweisen kennen l**nen: Wir Europä** od** Bewohn** d** westlichen Welt allgemein halten uns g**ne für etwas Besond**es. Wir glauben uns vom ...

... ist und mich schnell auskühlt. Ich versuche, nur die allernötigsten Pausen einzulegen und auch diese nur so kurz wie möglich zu halten, da ich sonst gleich richtig zu frieren beginne. Die Fahrt ist enorm eintönig, doch eigentlich stört mich das gar nicht besonders. Meist folge ich einfach der Hauptstrasse richtung Milano, die auf einer Länge von über 300 km praktisch nur geradeaus und ohne die geringste Erhebung verläuft, was etwa drei Tagen auf dem Velo entspricht ...

... of about 80 minutes before I turned a left then a right and there in front of me was ... no, not Rue de Vers... the train station. I had walked over an hour, never made it to "Lake Geneva" and ended up back in the same place I started. I called the place I am staying and they came and picked me up. Where am I staying? #2 Rue de something-or-other, Geneva. With a nice Swiss family that I met while they spent 2 months in Barcelona. They lived in the same house as Becky ...