Hello Friends!
This past week has been tough as Melody and I have been on Vacation from our Vacation!
After leaving Budapest we headed to the wholesome, clean, and beautiful country of Switzerland. We walked around Zurich when we first arrived and picked up a fondue pot at the Broken Haus (Wicked second hand store in Switzerland, good quality stuff for cheap). Switzerland is a very rich country, minimum wage is 18 swiss franc an hour, and the Swiss Franc is basically on par with the Canadian Dollar, but cost of living, except at places like Broken Haus, can be insane. But you can definitely live cheaply here if you try, so maybe an option for yall that want to make some quick cash fast?
After collecting the fondue pot and picking up my Switzerland pin at Broken Haus it was off to Zug, where we would stay a few days at Melody's boyfriends apartment. A chance for us to recharge our batteries for our last two weeks of this amzing 11 week adventure!
(View of Zug from Stoffel's balcony)
Stoffel showed us a lovely time while we were there. Our first night we went to a neighbouring town (all small towns are connected easily by train) and went to the Jodlerfest. We saw pipers (a la Ricola commercial) and Jodlers and lots of traditional outfits, and ate traditional Swiss food....not the healthiest, but definitely very yummy...I'll take potatoes and cheese..and of course beer, anyday. Then The three of us watched as Switzerland got kicked out of the World cup, but alas I was going for Portugal anyways...rats.
The next day Stoffel took us on a hike to a limestone grotto near his home. The limestone is a mineral which has created underground stalagtites and stalagmites in the rock crevices...it looks gross and liquidy, but really its rock...pretty friggin cool.
That night Stoffel took us on a bus, a train then a tram to the outskirts of Zurich. We then walked 15 minutes out of civilization and came to an underpass...but I heard music, and saw lights, and a bar and graffitti, and a DJ! Sick, secret, Swiss underpass rave! The music was electro and went all night, we left at about 6am, but didn't get home until 8am the next morning. The next day was spent sleeping and lazing around in our own stench...it was quite fantastic.
A vacation is not complete without a few chances to head to the lake, which being great Ontario girls, Mel and I did without protest. We also made sure to fit in some excercise with a 3 hour bike ride to Luzern...we took the train back though. What was amazing was that we were literally able to go to a bike depo, give a passport, receive two bikes, bike all the way to Luzern from Cham, lock the bikes up, see Luzern, grab the bikes, get on the train with said bikes, head back all the way to Cham and return the bikes that night, and it cost us nothing!! It helped that we had eurorail for the train, but the bike rental was free and there was no fee for taking the bike on the train. Did I mention there was a bike path from Cham to Luzern which is 30km away? Man I love bike friendly Europe!
(Me and my Swiss army knife at the Swiss army knife store in Luzern)
Our last days in Zug were spent doing intense laundry. Somewhere in between Greece and Italy Melody and I had a bout with bed bugs. Apparently, someone didn't tell us to not let the bed bugs bite. In Venice Mel woke up with bites, and then a few days later in Hvar I found some on myself, not as bad as hers and very differently shaped. We summed it up to getting them on the ferry ride back over the Adriatic, and Melody did a lot of research so we could insure we would not be carrying them with us. We inspected our bodies (bites can take up to 9 days to show up depending on the person, which exlains why mine showed up after hers, as well they can take many different forms, which is why ours looked so different). At Stoffel's we made sure to leave our bags qurantined until we could wash everything in very hot water, bags and all. We are now content and certain we are deloused and the endearment "goodnight don't let the bed bugs bite" holds a much more literal meaning to me now.
Having scrumptious home made dinners, a comfy bed, beautiful scenery, television and (my favourite) constant reliable internet access, was a delight and perfect Vacation at Stoffels. But Mel and I are now back on the road heading on a train from Zurich to Dusseldorf, more precisely Wuppertal to see and stay with Ze German,...My dear friend Steffi, who has also brought our friend Mel from Canada. It is Canada Day after all so will be great to spend it with other Canadians and of course "almost Canadians" like Steffi!
I have really liked Switzerland and it reminds me a lot of Canada by it's countryside and friendliness. It's a little wholesome though, even the creeps that hang out at the train station, weren't really that creepy. And fun fact, they don't speak Swiss here! They speak Swiss german, swiss french, or swiss italian, depending what region you live in...who would've thunkdt?
I have two weeks left and will be spending the weekend at a reggae fest in Koln, then I am very excited to be heading to Berlin!
Have a very Happy Canada Day Friends, and I will see you in two weeks!
Love and Kisses,
Tanya!
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