Switzerland

On the day Shannon departed I headed on a bus to Como (the town) en route to Interlaken, Switzerland. All I can think about is my flight from Zurich to Kuala Lumpur in 2 weeks. I'm so excited to go back. I decide to head north towards my flight in search for some short term employment. I'm thinking a hostel where I can work for accommodation or something of the sort. Some nice American travelers tell me about the Jungfrau region of the Alps and I head there to the jumping off point - the town of Interlaken. I meet all kinds of backpackers on the train, find some friends and head to a hostel. The hostel, well and the whole town, was full of frat boys looking for the next rush from skydiving, canyoning, paragliding, etc. - this place is sort of the Queenstown of Switzerland. And, well I've been to Queenstown and I jumped out of a plane -- and there's a Hooters in this town and I've gotta get out. But I had a good night where I chatted up the locals to find out where a good hostel for me to stay and work (in the more remote areas in the mountains) would be. A nice Kiwi guy, Dean, tells me the perfect place, the Mountain House in, what sounds like to me at the time, Grindlewald. Great, I know where to go in the morning. So I go back to the hostel and tell skydiving stories to some kid who was waking up at 6 AM to do it. It was fun and time to leave.

So, as you might imagine if you say it in your head right now, Grindlewald sounds a lot like Grimmelwald. Right?!? And who knew, but there's a hostel called the Mountain House in BOTH towns. Riiiight. Sooooo, cut to me with my big huge backpack (which at this point I think of chucking over bridges often) are in the WRONG place. But that's ok, the nice woman at Mountain House "2" agrees to let me store my pack while I figure out a plan. I spend alomst the day scouring the village for work. What I quickly realize is that it's off season and no one needs any help. About mid day I made friends with the local bike shop guy and we sat outside his shop while he actually introduced me to a few business owners who rode by. Even with a reference it was no luck. I did have one offer, but I would have to commit to 3 months. So no deal there.

Finally I get my pack and go to another hostel (Mountain House "2" is out of price range) where I settle in for some amazing local cheese, bread and for dinner. I know this doesn't sound like the dinner of champions, but this cheese is really really good. Plus I think everyone knows about cheese for dinner. After this I meet Micheal and George, my new roommates. At this point, little do I know they are going to shape the experience of my next 10 days on the planet. Or planet Switzerland that is. We go out that night to Esspresso Bar which is more of a pub than a coffee shop. At some point in the night locals marvel at the fact that I literally know the majority of the people there and I'm chatting with everyone. But if you go to a town with 4,000 people and spend the day talking to everyone, it's pretty easy to know most of the town in a day.

Micheal, George and I head out for a long hike in the AM. We take the gondola up and go on a 5 hour hike with a fantastic picnic lunch--complete with wine and the obligatory cheese. It's a spectacular hike. I'm invited to come to Geneva (where they both live while completing summer law internships) for the week before my flight. I abandoned the idea of working and decide Geneva is the way to go. At about 6:30 PM, we get to our end point and realize that we've missed the last train down the mountain. Although feeling like this was some sort of conspiracy against us, we found refuge at a mountain resort complete with a 5 course dinner. Not bad. The photo you see with the Swiss flag is the view from our room. But we had planned to go to the real Grimmelwald that night and stay. . also I still had a small glimmer of hope for work. When George cancelled our reservation with Petra she said she already had help--Geneva here I come.

It was so crazy as our train passed by Lake Geneva and the amazing wine country leading up. I was excited and just couldn't believe I was here! That night we went to a bar in the artist courter where Michael dj'd (see fist flyer above). The rest of the week was fabulous as it was filled with good times with good friends. Again the opportunity to see a city through the eyes of those who are actually living there is priceless. Also there was tons of activity (and fun rides) along the waterfront for the a huge annual festival giving the city a great vibe.

I also felt like being in Geneva, where it is so international with people speaking different languages on every corner, was the perfect culmination to my planned travels thus far. And I just loved having so much time there to explore the city at my new, turtle-slow pace. I spent my days visiting amazing museums, strolling through lovely parks, having picnics, drinking coffee, people watching and writing in my journal. I really enjoyed the United Nations tour and learning about the international relations process. Also just being on the grounds and chatting with a few of the employees, all so friendly there at the UN. Across the street at the International Red Cross Museum I walked through a heart wrenching gallery of photos on war time aid throughout history. Seeing photos from places that I've visited was moving to say the least.

On a lighter note, I discovered that I can understand a very small amount of French. But as I already knew, I'm not really willing/able to speak it. Only one time was a really compelled, when I found a little 5 year old girl who had wandered away from her mother along the waterfront. She was just about to realize that she was all alone and start to cry when I said hello to her, she mumbled back something in French, so cute. Maybe it was, "I'm lost." Anyways, she reached for my hand and I led us towards the merry-go-round where the other children played--it only took about five minutes to spot frantic mom. Oh the look of relief on her face as she held her daughter in her arms!

It was very sad to say good bye to Geneva and the friends that I made there, it was a really special time for me and one I won't forget it. But I headed off to Zurich to spend the last three days leading up to my flight. There I stayed with my new friend Matthias from http://www.couchsurfing.com/people/brausepeter - of yeah I did it. So many travelers were telling me to try this and I just hadn't had the opportunity with all the friends I'd been with along the way. Anyways, it was a GREAT experience. I read the profiles of several people and e-mailed a few, very last minute--and told each person I was looking for a place in Zurich. Matthias graciously accepted me. He's a chemist finishing his PhD and lives with 5 roommates from all around the world. If you click on the link you can see how he and I have given each other references. I would definitely do this again and I look forward to having the opportunity to host in the future. Anyways it was so fun because the first night we went to see The Simpson's Movie with his friends. Yes! English with French and German subtitles. Double yes! We laughed and laughed and then we all went to this great park along the water where tons of young people were hanging out. It was so European.

In Zurich I thoroughly enjoyed the Kunsthaus (Museum of Fine Arts) collection and the excellent audio guide they provided. I could have spent 8 hours there I swear. So many of my favorite artists were represented, from Rothko and Pollock to Dali to Van Gough and Cezanne--all there! Heaven. But I have to admit while I spent time touring the city, the weather was gloomy and I used the opportunity to update photos and blog entries--big thanks to Matthius for his laptop! P.S. This is the view from his kitchen window.

The 9th quickly arrived and after a mess at the airport (I found out that airlines don't like you flying into foreign countries without an onward flight somewhere) I made it on the plane. But if it wasn't for the hour delay I wouldn't have. Some things just work out. Off to Malaysia!!!!