Weekend in Lausanne Region

So the weekend in Lausanne was really Saturday (the 4th) through Tuesday (the 7th). I had planned to only stay through Monday morning, but as you can tell my plans tend to change frequently on this trip. Anyhow, here's how the weekend panned out:

August 4th
I arrived in Lausanne around 2p.m. on Saturday to meet my host at the train station. Pascal was very easy to find, which is something I am always worried about when meeting in such a crowded place, haha. We went back to his place to drop off my bag (I packed a small bag for the weekend rather than bring my hiking backpack). Then he showed me all around Lausanne. This was almost good enough of a trek to be called a hike, especially given the hilliness of the area. Add in the fact that we walked "up the hill" to climb this awesome tower to see the amazing view of the city and you've definitely got a hike on your hands.

Following this hike, we gathered up ingredients for a picnic dinner in the park and went to hang out with some of his friends. We were in the park for several hours, chatting, drinking, eating. At one point Pascal and I went swimming (briefly). Lake Geneva is quite cold, especially when it's close to dusk. I may have stayed in the water for 15 minutes, haha. After this we stayed in the park waiting on another of Pascal's friends to arrive and his other friends departed (during which time we finished the second bottle of wine). It began to rain just as this friend arrived. We returned to Pascal's house to change clothes, where I tried four new kinds of liquor, none of which were very pleasant. Pascal's roommate Matt joined us and we went out to this bar Batte (which is pretty much a bar for geeks, but amusing still). At Batte, we all got a tall drink that was bright green and tasted like gummy lifesavers, haha. It was very strong and I ended up sharing mine with Matt and another friend who met us there. Poor Pascal was bet that he couldn't finish his drink in 10 minutes and put up a valiant effort trying (not the smartest idea). As far as I know it didn't have any ill effects until the next morning, haha.

After Batte, we took his friend back to her car and Matt went home. Pascal and I were dropped off at Jagger's Club, where we proceeded to dance until 3 a.m. It was definitely a good night, but maybe not the best decision to drink so much, considering we had planned to go hiking the Lavaux vineyards the next day.

August 5th
Thankfully, when I awoke at 8:30a.m. I felt fine. :) However, it was raining outside which meant no pictures if I decided to take the walk. So, after a shower and a nap until ten, I checked on the weather again. Still raining. Stupid plans and their inability to actually work. :/

I had lunch plans with a couchsurfer in Cully, so I ended up taking the train to Cully and arriving pretty much exactly on time. Kelly met me at the train station and we walked to her home where we had a delicious lunch of grilled vegetables and couscous. :) Kelly and I talked of everything under the sun, including the homeschooling of her five children (three adopted). Homeschooled kids are always the brightest kids I meet and her children were no exception. Apparently they play a word game were they have to think of a new favorite word every day. That day her oldest daughter chose the word uncouth. This girl is 13 years old! It fascinates me. We also talked of how moving to Switzerland for the year is affecting her family and they seem to be taking it well. Their father is a teacher at Cornell and this is his sabbatical year, which he is spending working in Switzerland, how cool is that?! Like I said, there are worse professions that being a college professor. Anyhow, I spent a good portion of the day with them and Kelly invited me to spend Monday night with them so I could have an extra day to walk the vineyards since the weather was not supposed to improve much.

Upon returning to Lausanne, I learned how to use the metro system (slightly confusing since it's in German and all). Made it to the square where I was to meet another CSer, Jonathan. Jonathan and I went to another bar, which is quite cool. It is built into the wall and is open air (which was great until the downpour around 8). I tried a local red wine, a Gamay from the Lavaux vineyards that I found to be quite tasty. Then I tried a Spritz, which is a drink local to northern Italy, but is also served all over Europe. It consists of white wine, bitters and carbonated water. I really like this drink. It is especially a favorite for hot summer days (something to take home, eh?). Jonathan and I talked about our travels, linguistics, literature, college, etc.

Here is where I come back to my note on linguistics. This is undoubtedly my favorite topic when talking to someone who speaks multiple languages. It's not a topic to discuss with someone who only speaks English because there is no way they can understand the complexities of speaking multiple languages. But, here in Europe, speaking about linguistics is absolutely fabulous. Just think of all the nuances that go into languages. A good example would be from a story Stenli told me. He said something in German to Matthias (who is German) and Matthias told him that he was wrong. When Stenli asked why, Matthias could only answer with "it just sounds wrong". There are phrases in English that are the same way. When someone who speaks english as a second (or third) language, there are certain phrases which they could use that just don't sound right. It's not that they are grammatically incorrect, per se, but spoken language is different from written/learned language. Which, I suppose is why they say that you should immerse yourself in a language in order to learn it.

Back to my story, though. I got to practice my French speaking skills often in Lausanne because this is a French speaking part of Switzerland. Which was much nicer for me than the German speaking part, since everyone begrudges me when I ask them to speak English (except for CSers). Jonathan was great company and we ended up drinking back at his place, chatting and losing track of time. It was 11 or so when we went to meet up with Pascal (who had been at band practice until 9:30). All in all it was a good day, even though it had not gone as planned.

August 6th

Pascal and I in his awesome tiny kitchen

On Monday I awoke around 9a.m. and had breakfast with Pascal. Then I departed for Cully, determined that I would walk the vineyards. The day started off decently well. I took a train to Pully (since Pascal recommended I start my walk from here), then walked along the beach for a good portion of the trip. It was quite cloudy so my pictures are much less impressive than they would have been if you could see the mountains. The walk was quite picturesque even despite the stormy day, though. :) About an hour and a half into the walk, it began to rain. So I found myself a little alcove and read my kindle for about an hour until the rain abated to a tiny sprinkle. Then I finished my walk to Cully. So, I have rainy pictures of the Lavaux vineyards as well as bright ones. :)

Nice and rainy.

Eventually it cleared up.

After arriving in Cully, I spent the rest of the day hanging out with Kelly and her family. The kids and I played a game of scrabble. Then we walked to the store to get groceries, where I picked up some bread and Suisse Brie. Suisse Brie is quite delicious, it is very buttery tasting though. A game of Ticket to Ride was played as well, the European version, which is quite interesting in it's nuances. I barely won that game because in the end I got longest route and a few extra points. A surprising win considering how many tickets Caleb (Kelly's son) drew throughout the game.

These were what my walk was about.

Beautiful colors as the sun was setting

Hey look, mountains!

Despite the rain, it was quite a nice day. I enjoyed playing games and spending a day relaxing with company. Sometimes you do have to take a break, even when traveling, and this was a good one for me. The view was also quite excellent as you can see. :) The next day I awoke around 10a.m. (latest I've slept since I arrived here), had breakfast, said my goodbyes and head back to Roggwil. I decided that I didn't actually have a reason to visit Geneva and therefore it could wait until I decided on something I truly wanted to do.