switzerland   

.: 7th April 2003

Switzerland was gorgeous. Exactly how you would imagine it. You could take a picture anywhere and it would end up looking like a postcard. Snow capped mountains at every turn and clear blue lakes popped up everywhere.

It was time to visit Lucerne and straight into a Swiss Army Knife shop. So when in Rome, or Switzerland as the case was, I ending up buying one for myself, complete with a laser light, and one for my brother. I also got our names engraved on it.

We then went for a little look around and stopped in a discount watch shop where Shaughn and Narelle bought some watches. After more wandering we went and picked up our knives and then proceeded to our pickup point. On the way we walked along the famous chapel bridge (for those of you who don’t know, its not the original, that one burnt down about 10 yrs ago when some woman left a burning ciggie on it). The thing that I thought was great was how clear the water was. It was quite deep but I could see right to the bottom. The white swans that were swimming on it also added to that alpine atmosphere.

Full of Swiss army knives, watches and red Swiss t-shirts we made our way to the last stop of the day – Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese-Oberland region. The rest of my chillout album was played and received well. (I’m listening to it now as I’m writing this).

So now in the small village of Lauterbrunnen. We were supposed to be staying in the Chalet but another Contiki group was there so we stayed in the cabins instead which some people were miffed about. They were ok. There were 2 bunkbeds in each cabin but they were pushed together so it looked like 2 double beds on top of each other. It was also unbelievably hot, so much so that we slept in singlets and knickers. I guess it has to be hot though otherwise you’d freeze in the middle of winter. I woke up at about 3am each night so hot that I had to go outside in just a singlet and jeans just to cool off. (This being minus degrees outside and sometimes snowing.)

The Internet was a big ripoff though. 6SF for 20 minutes. But at least the place had a mini-mart and laundry facilities, though I never got any done because of the queue.

That night we had hamburgers and fries (aka pommes frites) they went down well. Afterwards a group of us went up to the Horner Pub which was about 5-10 mins up the road. We were later joined by Dave, GT and some other Contiki reps. We had a few drinks (Ben had a lot) and I played a few games of Foozball. I thought I did pretty well against Martin but in the end he totally kicked my ass.

Some people left early but I stayed on. One of the reps was from Perth (Wembley), so I was talking to him for awhile about home. Unfortunately he was an Eagles supporter. Later on I revealed my true passion for football when I told some of the guys how I had changed a few flights back home so I could get there a few days earlier and get to the Dockers vs Eagles Derby. (I ended up getting back the day before.)

I left it at that and went back to the others for awhile before heading back to the cabins.

.: 8th April 2003

Today up bright and early again. We had to catch the train up to the top of the Jungfrau mountain. The previous day had been quite cloudy but today the weather was perfectly clear with not a cloud in site. An ideal day to go up there. I had lost one of my normal gloves so I desperately needed a new pair. They were selling thermal ones at the mini-mart which I bought for SF26. Rip off but I needed them.

We walked into town and hopped on the train. An extra person had decided to tag along so Dave was one ticket short and had to rush back and get another one. The train started leaving as he came back and he had to run and jump on. Just like out of the movies heh. It took us up through the higher valley’s in the area and through various tunnels. We had to change trains at Kleine Shiendegg (I love that name) and onto a cog train because of the steep ascent we had to make. A few stops were made along the way. Mainly for photo opportunities at mini stations inside the mountain where they had actually built in windows overlooking the area. I had earlier told some of the people a story about how a guy was climbing in that area, he had slipped and died. His foot or something was caught on a rope and he was left hanging there. His body could not be retrieved and for quite a while if you looked out the window at a certain angle you could see him dangling there. I don’t think they believed me but at the next stop I asked Dave and he confirmed it. So ner! Hehe.

After about an hour we reached the top. It wasn’t that cold. We went to the Ice Palace first where everything was carved out of ice. Not really that cold. It was fun to slide around on the ice though. Then we went to the Plateau. I walked outside. I guess it was a bit cold. I walked up to the top. HOLY CRAP! THIS IS FUCKING FREEZING! MY FINGERS ARE ABOUT TO FALL OFF!! I CAN’T FEEL MY CHEEKS OR EARS! I THINK I HAVE FROSTBITE!!!!!!!!

Have I mentioned it was cold? Minus 26 degrees to be exact and that was without the windchill factor! My freezer doesn’t even get that cold! I’m so glad that I bought those thermal gloves. Even though my fingers were still extremely cold I cannot even begin to think how cold they would be if I was wearing my old gloves. Even worse was when I ran out of film and had to change over. The gloves were so bulky that I had to take one off to put in the new film. I was expecting the tips of my fingers to be black from the pain I could feel but they were only a slight blue colour. Phillipa had a hard time walking in the snow with her Doc Martens. They had no grip that worked on snow and she stacked it a few times. I meanwhile was doing alright with my sneakers, that is until I ran down the hill to join a photo opportunity but I guess my sneakers didn’t have enough grip to stop, so I stacked it and collected Narelle on the way. Chrissy happened to have the camera in her hand and of course took a photo.

After a few more pics we hurried inside. My fingers felt like they would seriously fall off. I thought I had come prepared wearing a singlet, long sleeve top, jumper, pj pants, jeans, jacket, 2 socks, beanie, scarf and gloves.

It was now souvenir time. I wrote on some postcards and sent them off and then went to have some lunch. The Spag Bog smelled good but I had to fork out SF15.50  for a bowl of it, but it was tasty, not worth SF15.50 but at least a decent size. I could not finish it so Jon did.

After a while of wandering about we decided to head back down. We stopped off at Wengen and had a look around. I bought a SF10 phone card and rang a few people. I actually got quite a bit of airtime out of it which was good.

Phillipa, Kerry and Jon then decided to walk the rest of the way down. We all started but not knowing where to go, Narelle, Adam, Chrissy and I figured we’d be better off just catching the train back. When we got on some of the others were already on board. At the bottom we went and did some shopping at a bigger supermarket. I bought some cheese, crackers and Swiss chocolate. What else is there to buy in Switzerland?

When we got back to camp Phillipa, Kerry and Jon were already there!! I don’t know how they did it and I presumed they had somehow cheated but apparently they walked and got in before us. Though we still maintain that we spent quite a bit of time in town.

We had Fondue for dinner that night. Let me say that Fondue is evil!!!! It tasted like shit or they had at least put too much kirsch in it!! Oh my god it tasted awful. Betsy liked it so she was happy.  The crap meal continued with something they called chicken Stroganoff but it tasted like cardboard and then some potato dish which they said was authentic Swiss food. I say it was authentic crap.

That night was an early one but once again I had another midnight cool off. I've tried turning the heater down it doesn't make a difference.