Switzerland and other updates

I have decided that maybe film is not the best form of expression to record my travels and couchsurfing experiences. Though the filming I have already done will come in handy in my next project. Sometimes I wish I were not so prone to the swift changing tides of being a Gemini. But, perhaps some day it will bring me to the exact place I need to be....

Richard suggested that I write a memoir of sorts about my travels. I think it is a brilliant idea. I was always prone to literary endeavors as a child. I could never finish any book that I started writing though because I like reality better than fantasy and it seemed to me all my books were too similar to other books I had read. This, however, is a book I can get behind. My travels have been interesting enough to keep a reader turning the pages. Making the book fiction would serve to allow me some creative license as well. So, I can write a book that includes my travels and some adventures that may not be entirely true. This is now my next project. And since I will need notes to remember my travels, I shall change this blog into a place to keep up with my notes. Which, frankly, still follow the lines of being a blog about documenting couchsurfing. :) It's nice when things seem to fall together.

Enough about my plans. Here's what's been happening since I arrived on the 26th of July. :)

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July 26th
Arrived on a different plane than I had expected since my plane from LR to Chicago was delayed 2 hours. Of course, this meant that my baggage went on a different route, the one I should have taken (and therefore it arrived the next day at the airport). Without my luggage I was left with a dress in my computer bag, the clothes I was wearing, a computer, a camera, and an extra shirt and tiny amounts of bathroom stuff from the airline. The shoes I was wearing are very old and finally decided to fall apart, I am afraid. :( I loved those shoes...probably why they are so worn out.

So, I walked around Zurich for a while with Stenli. We had a nice picnic lunch in the park by the river. Took lots of pictures along the riverfront. I love that in European cities they have shops that go right up to the river. You can eat sitting next to the water and enjoying a beautiful view of Lake Zürich if you are close enough. After only a few hours my feet were tired and I was starting to feel the jetlag, so we went back to Stenli's flat in Roggwil. The rest of the evening was passed quietly with me being highly annoyed at my lack of clothing.

July 27th
The next day worthy of note was Friday. I still had no clothes except what was in my carry-on, but that included a dress, which was perfect for this day. Stenli's German friend, Matthias, took me to Lucerne where we spent all evening dancing, drinking and listening to good music. :) Arriving in town at around midnight, we went to the annual Blue Balls Festival, which is a huge Jazz music festival. I very much enjoyed the number of people that were in Lucerne that evening. I got to see the inside of a fancy hotel (Schweizerhof), which is where the music was moved after they were no longer aloud to play outside. Listened to a cool Spanish Jazz band ( I never knew Jazz could be so lively). Then we went to an Australian bar where we drank and danced to American pop music for two hours. Followed by the Rok Club where we danced to electronica until around 6 a.m. :) (http://www.rokklub.ch/)

I do love spending a full night dancing. :D

July 29th
On Sunday I was finally able to go retrieve my backpack from the airport. Which meant heading back to Zurich. On the train ride I sat across from these two couple, one of which was obviously the parents of the younger gentleman. They were talking about a vegetarian restaurant in Zurich and since I believed it to be the restaurant I had an interest in (Hultl), I asked if I might join them. Unfortunately, they had made reservations for the lunch and it was a family lunch, so the younger woman informed me. Considering she and her significant other had gotten onto the train fighting, I had expected to be declined. However, it still kind of stung because she was so forceful with her answer. (I still like the philosophy that it never hurts to ask.) When we got off the train I quickly made my way toward the front of the station. However, the younger lady caught up to me and told me that even though they were having a family lunch she could give me directions to anywhere I needed to go. I think that maybe her significant other requested that she make amends for being mean on the train because she did not seem to really care. I did, however, appreciate the gesture. I asked for directions to get to the boats on the river.

I managed to find my way to a boat port (quai) and get a ride, which was pleasant. (I don't have any photos from this, however, because it was raining that morning so I left my camera at the flat.) Then, I attempted to attain a Eurail Pass, with quite a bit of failure since I had forgotten my passport in Roggwil. (le sigh) So, I went to the airport and retrieved my bag and went back to Roggwil. I determined that I would go to Bern, which was closer to Roggwil, and get the Eurail Pass on Monday.

July 30th

It seems to me that all of my plans for this trip were destined to fail. :/ I did finally manage to acquire a Eurail Pass, which is more expensive if you buy it in the EU. I definitely recommend that you buy one online before you leave (you have to have it mailed to you, so buy it at least a week in advance!). However, my plan for the day had been to explore Olten and take pictures, then meet up with my friends Andreas to hang out that night. Sadly, Andreas fell ill and was unable to join me in Lucerne. However, I wanted to take some pictures of Lucerne at sunset and dusk. So, I decided to go on anyways.

I did manage to get some beautiful photographs of both Olten (first two) and Lucerne (all others). I also managed to find this cute little park in Lucerne, right along the Lake. Which was a nice place to sit. I only had two people try to talk to me (one guy as I was leaving), however, and found myself quite lonely. :( It is in moments like these that I am saddened by the fact that my husband is not with me. Though, I have missed him pretty much since day one.

I met this nice French boy, Tao, on the train back to Roggwil. :) It was good to start practicing my french-speaking skills, haha.

July 31st
On Tuesday, I had a much better day. And all my plans managed to pan out, haha. I met up with a couchsurfer, Heidi, at 10a.m. in St. Gallen (pretty much the other side of Switzerland). She and I walked around and saw all of downtown, then we stopped at a Suisse shop and had lunch. I discovered Rosti, which is quite tasty (and reminds me of latkes). I also put aside my determination to be vegetarian again for this trip. So, I tried the local sausage (think sausage link, not breakfast sausage). It was okay, though I am not really a fan of pork in general, so that probably colors my preference.

Abbey Cathedral

After lunch, we went "up the hill" to see a great view of the whole city and Lake Constance. All of the landscapes in Switzerland are absolutely breathtaking. :) I have determined that all the cities in Switzerland have a hill that you can go up to look at the city. Anyways, while we were there we also went to see the "little lakes", which were man made lakes, small enough to be an extra large swimming pool. They looked to be a lot of fun. :) I wish I had brought my bathing suit with me because I would have loved to go for a swim, especially after all the walking. After this, we hiked back down along some long stairs. Heidi tells me that St. Gallen is renowned for such stairs. Our last adventure together was to eat gelato in a tiny little Gelateria down an alley, haha. I love how everyone in Europe is so good at packing so much into such small spaces. :)

"Little Lake"

One view from the hill

All in all, a pleasant day. Made all the more so because nothing went wrong and I had pleasant company. Heidi and I talked of many things, including travel and linguistics (special note for later).

Aug. 1st
This should have been a very interesting day, considering it was the national holiday. However, Stenli decided to go into work instead of enjoying his day off. :/ So, since I had planned to spend the day hanging out with him and discovering awesome holiday festivities, instead I found myself sitting at his flat and reading. Which, is not to say that I did not enjoy the day. I do enjoy spending time reading. :) However, it could have been more interesting. I had though that there was to be a parade in Zurich, but was mistaken. ( The "Follow Your Heart" parade was to take place on Aug. 11th, when I planned to be in Milan.)

After Stenli got back from work, we went over to Langenthal and walked around trying to find some celebrations. I was not in the mood for traditional Suisse food, however, since that included mostly meat. Instead we found this pleasant Italian restaurant and I had delicious gnocchi. :D I did manage to take some awesome photographs of the older gentlemen dressed in traditional Suisse garb and playing Suisse horns. :)

When we got back to Roggwil it was dark and the fireworks celebrations had begun. I took about 400 photographs of fireworks, which was kind of nice since I was unable to take very many in the U.S. this year due to the draught. We even managed to get back to the flat right before it started to rain, hahaha.

Aug. 2nd
On Thursday, I got to hang out with this lovely couple, Christophe and Anne-Francoise, who are originally from the French-speaking part of Switzerland. :) They were quite lovely and we talked of gardening and travel. I got to practice my French skills, which apparently are not too bad, since Anne-Francoise does not speak much English. It is very amusing because they live "up the hill" in Roggwil. Anne-Francoise took me on a walk through the forest at the edge of the city, while Christophe bicycled to Langenthal for a doctors visit. (Would that I could bicycle to a doctors visit!)

View of Roggwil from top of the hill

Pretty forest trail

Christophe and Anne-Francoise had grapes growing along their porch.

Upon his return from Lagnenthal, we borrowed the neighbors car and drove to Zofingen, a small town about 20-30 minuted from Roggwil. It was quite a lovely town and we explored downtown for some time. While we were getting ice cream, I saw that boy Tao again down the street. Unfortunately, I was unable to talk to him because he was going to opposite direction. It would have been nice to invite him to go to Lucerne with me to dance on Friday. But, oh well. After ice cream, we came back to Roggwil and the couple dropped me off near Stenli's flat. I enjoyed the company that day and the history lesson from Zofingen. :) I also remember just how much I love the french language. It is very nice that the Suisse speak French quite a bit slower than the French do, haha.

You can tell the building is old from the 5 sided roof. :)

In the foreground, Christophe and Anne-Francoise.

Aug. 3rd
On Friday, Matthias was supposed to accompany me to Lucerne for another night of dancing. However, he decided he was still too tired from being out late on Wednesday to celebrate the holiday. Of course, Stenli was once again at work, so I abandoned my plans for dancing that night.

Lovely fountains, as I said.

Art Museum

Neat sculpture.

However, the whole day was not a waste. I took the afternoon to go to Basel, which is actually a very interesting city. I went to the Kuntsmuseum and looked at all the artwork on display, except for the Renoir special exhibition. It was almost double the price and I saw the Renoirs that are usually displayed in the museum, which was fine for me. Sadly, you aren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum. :( I also walked over to the Munster Cathedral, which is quite fabulous. It has a lovely view of the river Rhine. I discovered that my camera is quite good at taking lovely photos even through dirty windows. :D

Munster Cathedral (part of it).

View from the Cathedral of Rhine river.

View in the other direction.

Basel has many beautiful water fountains around town and also moving sculptures. They even have a museum especially for this. However, I was unable to visit this museum because I was still under the impression that I was going to Lucerne that evening and was on a time limit. :/ I did get to see the sculptures around town, which are very impressive. I'm sad to say there was no good angle for me to photograph my favorite one. :(

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Okay, that's quite a lot for one post. I shall update about Lausanne and the Lavaux vineyards in my next post. :) Enjoy.