6/21/08 Saturday ~ Travel Journal

Zurich, Switzerland

6:20am

Man, is today really Saturday??!! I'm sitting in the train station in Zurich. I am very excited to be here! It wasn't in our original plans to be here at all but we get to experience another culture. The conductor woke us up around 6am and gave us croissants with juice and coffee! I was shocked. it was very good service. Last night he also gave us bottled water. I slept well but Jere and Shawn woke up through out the night. it was still way better than sitting in the "reclining seats". It would be awesome to see him again someday. His girlfriend is from Zurich - a banker and they're getting married sometime this year. They both want to home school their kids, buy a boat and chopper and travel the world. he has already traveled so much, I could totally see him following through with it. He is 43 years old and has been around the world six times! he told us about this plane trip that you can pay around $3000 for and it'll take you to as many cities as you want - around the globe. That would be awesome to do! After talking to him last night and him saying he wished he could have had kids earlier, I feel like I should just jump into it. (He's never been married - he was close once but he told us that his fiance's sister died giving birth and she went crazy after that.) Hearing it form an older man gives me another perspective. There will always be excuses to not have kids. I know it and everyone has said it. I don't know why hearing it from him was just different.



7am

We just jumped onto a train to Bern, Switzerland. We're heading to Interlaken.



10:40am

I am sitting in our tent at a camping in Interlaken. It is majestic here. Being in the mountains with our tent pitched next to a walking trail and canal with green water is indescribable. The camping costs 30 FR total and right now the US dollar is worth more than the Frank. We might stay in Switzerland an extra day. At least that's out thought as we walked through town to the camping. Taking the trains this morning was probably the easiest time we've had this whole trip. We literally just went from train to train seamlessly and now we're here! We stopped by the tourist office on the way so we have several maps and guides. Very exciting. Jere just got back from checking in and we have FREE bus passes! Sweet.



12:34pm

We're sitting down to lunch at a little pub in town called "Buddy's". They have homemade Chili Con Carne...The bar keep is so friendly and so far everyone we've met has been SO awesome! I can't describe the feeling I have of being here. I just feel happy.



2:26pm

After lunch, we looked at shops on the way back to our camping. We are sitting in lawn chairs watching the canal and staring at the mountains and the blue sky with wispy clouds. We bought gifts for our brothers. We have Jodie left and then we're done Christmas shopping. I really want to buy a call cap with the Swiss cross on it and I think Jere wants one too. We'll be cool looking together. This is starting to get super random so I'll stop writing.



8:15pm

We just had dinner at a place called Bebbies. WE had cheese fondue with bread and also wienerschnitzel. The meals came with salads. We also ended up ordering chocolate fondue. On our way to dinner, we stopped at a booth for information about para sailing and rafting. There is a package we can buy for both that costs 255 FR which is basically like $250 per person. I think we're going to do it! We're only here right now and who knows, we may never come back here. So total it would be around $500 for the experience of a lifetime - because we're in Switzerland. The only problem Jere just realized was that we mailed his tennis shoes home. I'm sure we can figure something out though. Right now we are in a huge square where people have gathered to watch Holland play soccer. The game is Russia V. Holland, so naturally people here would vote for Holland. There is a huge screen and the game will start any minute.



11:13pm

We left the game early and came back to shower. We wanted to get laundry done but it's getting late and we are tired! We bought some chocolate on the way back and the one I picked is really good. White chocolate with strawberry pieces :)



Good Night.