My day in the hills, has come to an end, I know.

Tonight I'm packing.  Today I said good-bye to the Alps I have come to love.  It has been an unbelievable experience to look out on my balcony and see The Eiger.  Right in my front door.  The green hillsides dotted with houses.  To walk to the bus stop and see a glacier, as clear as a tree in a yard, has been a most amazing experience.

Aug. 31 is still one more day in the Alps, but not in my holiday apartment.  I go to a hotel for one night and then on Sep. 1 I move to a shared apartment outside Zurich in a city called Kloten.

So I went to town and wandered around to say good-bye. 

I sat at this little sidewalk cafe and ate lunch.  And while I was eating, the clouds came in and sat on The Eiger, completely hiding the giant mountain.  And it began to rain.
 
But my lunch was untouched.  I had my first Swiss specialty, Rosti (hash browned potatoes).

After lunch, I walked up the street. I didn't get wet because I had just purchased my third umbrella.  I love it because it's red and has the Swiss flag emblem all over it.  I also bought a glass case with the same look.  I know.  I'm a total nerd.  Have been for years.  lol 

When I got back to my apartment, I found the package that Betty Ruth sent me (at my request) had arrived.  Just in the nick of time! TY Betty Ruth. (Btw, she's the one who gave Mate to me when I was in the hospital.  Holly is the one who named him.)  

The rest of the evening is all about packing.

My adventures for the last couple of days

With only a couple of days left in the Alps, I wanted to try and get another item checked off my list.  I decided a day trip to Gruyere to see the castle and have some cheese was the ideal thing.

On the train, I spotted this crazy couple of cars at one stop.  The first car is for size clarification and it is a COMPACT car.  The other two were micro-mini cars.  I couldn't believe them.  Wow. Talk about conserving energy.

I also had to have the dining car experience on the train.  Really.  Couldn't pass it up.

With only a 35-minute span from one station to the next train stop, I had to order something that was quick.  What else?  Chocolate mousse!

The entire trip to Gruyere was a 3-hour+ trip.  That gave me time to travel, see the site for a little over an hour, and then get back on the train to make it home before the last bus.  But the castle was quite interesting.  This black cape was war booty from a battle in 1476. The armour is authentic and made me think of, "We're knights of the round table, we dance when e'r we're able..." from Spamalot.

This was one of the attractive rooms.  Then I saw the table where we'd be playing dominoes or cards, right Mom, Betty Ruth, Sarah & Holly?

That pretty much wrapped up that tour.  Here's the outside view.

And that was Gruyere.  Oh yes.  I did grab a warm cheese tart before boarding the train to head home.  It was yummy!!! 

You know who was trying to pig it all up, but I wasn't having that.  Btw, I have an observation to make about the sodas I have had in CH.  You'll notice the Fanta Orange soda.  The first soda I had was a Sprite.  I was so thirsty and it looked cold and refreshing.  I hurriedly downed about 1/4 of it only to discover it was very tart.  I thought, "Hmmm....maybe they changed the flavor of Sprite since I had one last."  Then I got this Orange Fanta.  It was tart too.  My decision is that the Swiss might not like their sodas as sweet as the US.  Both were really tart.  I know.  Sounds like a drink made for me.  Ha ha.

One last observation.  I have spent all my time in the Swiss German portion of the Alps.  My trip today was to the French Swiss portion of the country.  The travel books will tell you that the French and Italian portions of Switzerland are much more relaxed and travelers might  find themselves enjoying those areas more.

I did not prefer them.

I found that I was annoyed when a train in that area was five minutes late.  I also found the hillsides which were unkempt to not be as attractive.  Also, the areas that had cows did not have neatly bundled hay waiting for the winter to feed to their livestock.  They just had piles of hay.  Unattractive piles of hay.

I am a snob.  I guess I fit in with all the disapproving Swiss Germans.  lol   My day ended with me noticing, at the penultimate stop before I had to get off the train and walk the 10 minutes to my apartment, the weather was getting drippy.

I am not pleased to report that it did not lighten up.  It worsened.  Oh great.

I had to walk in rainy and windy conditions.  Then, to top everything off, there were no less than six terrifying flashes of lightning followed by loud cracks of too-close thunder.

I am walking with a metal lightning rod in my hand--commonly called an umbrella.  The wind whipped it upside open, like you see in all the comedic movies.  It wasn't funny to me.  

That's why this morning I had to buy my new red Swiss emblem umbrella.  At least that was a plus. (pardon the pun)

It was a clear day and I could see forever

BEFORE

AFTER

I think today I will start out with a before picture and an after picture. 

It was that kind of day.  

Today I went up to the Top of Europe.

Let me sat that again. I went to the Top of Europe today.  And I had a blast wearing myself out. 



Or, in other words, I rode the train to Jungfraujoch.  Or was it I rode the Jungfraujoch train?  It seemed everything was called Jungfraujoch, so it could be either.  :)

Tracey and Emily

Once I got there, I did a bunch of exciting things which I'll tell you about. Mate and Howler look out the window of the train and stare at a rock wall.  The train's compartment lights are on because we are in a tunnel.  Inside the Alps.

I'd like to tell you about the ride there for it is fascinating, but there wasn't much to see.  Don't get me wrong, there was a cute couple of gals, Tracey from New Zealand, and Emily from Australia.  They had been skydiving earlier that morning and then joined the train for the Alps experience.  We got a little goofy in the train.

The ingenious Swiss, used to dealing with the unique landscape which some would call a barrier of gigantic mountains, embraced their altitude issues and turned them into an asset.  Instead of being a country that was divided by the huge and forbidding Alps which blocked access to all parts, the Swiss bored a hole inside the mountain range and made a tunnel through which trains could pass and move goods and/or people.  This particular tunnel took approx. 50 minutes to travel through.

And when it opened at the other end, you were at the top of the Alps.  The Top of Europe. I actually stood about 50 yards from the top of the mountain.  (Maybe it was farther, but it looked so close!)

Practically everything I saw today took place within the Alps.  I climbed all over the Alps until my feet hurt, and it was mostly all inside, in underground tunnels.

I did emerge and stand on several observation decks. That's where I filmed this portion.  It was incredible to stand right there.  Right at the top of the Alps.  What a feeling.  What an incredible high.  (Pardon the pun.)

The day was crystal clear, not a cloud in the sky.  Blue sky and white snow.  And I thank Costco, for having a fleece jacket on sale in Arizona in August.  I must have been a looney tunes trying on this jacket inside Costco with 114 degree temps outside.  But it kept me so warm on the Alps!  I could see clear to Bern or even France.  Sheer magnificence.

There were a myriad of items to do and I did them all (mostly)

This year is the centennial celebration of the opening of the Jungfraujoch tunnel.  They even gave out really cool Swiss passport booklets commemorating the event.

There was also this elaborate presentation about the Alps, the Swiss, and the construction of the tunnel.  I saw it all.

Then, there was also this really cool ice cave.  Carved right out of the glacier, there was a tunnel, slippery since it was an ice floor, which tourists could walk through.  

Some eagles ice sculptured

Along the way, there were numerous ice carvings depicting various animals of the area and some of the famous persons--like Heidi, Grandfather, and the man who envisioned the tunnel, Adolf Guyer-Zeller.  

It was really cold and really cool.  :)

Then I headed out to the Snow Fun area.  Yes, that is what it is called.

This is a place in the snow (yes even in summer, lots of snow) where one can snowboard, ski, sledge down a hill--with escalator return to top to do again, ride an inner tube down, or take a zip line down.  Guess which event I couldn't wait to do?

OK.  So I don't have a video of ME on the zip line--no one was there to take one of me.  But...when I got to the bottom, I filmed someone coming after me so you could see the event.  And my bottom was a little chilly since snow went down my pants.  

I zip lined at the Top of Europe.  Way cool!!!

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig

 And all good things do come to an end.  We boarded the train to head home for the day.

But, I stopped halfway down and decided to leave the train and have lunch at this restaurant perched on the edge of a cliff.

Here is a skillet dinner, CH style.  The lovely yellow around the edge is melted, toasted yummy cheese.  I was in heaven. Yum!  I could only finish about a third of it, but I ate all the cheese around the edge.  :)

Now why didn't I think to get a picture of these two really cute guys I talked to while waiting for the train to come and pick us up?  

They were from the UK and were going to base jump from one of the peaks after they climb it tomorrow.  They were checking things out today.

The train didn't pull into the station so we had to walk about 50 yards down the tracks to pick it up.  That left a huge gap to climb up into the train with no platform steps to help.  

I'm sorry to say that after walking all over the Alps and all through the snow, my tired old lady legs didn't have the oomph to get up into the train.  So the very handsome and strong men behind me, put their hands on my bum and gave me a little extra altitude.  Nice!

And, now that I've embarrassed myself, I think I'll say goodnight.  Goodnight!

 

Men + kilts = hotties OR How I spent a great day in CH

Many of you have marveled how I am on this trip all alone and going all alone into a strange country...

Well, I have a secret weapon in my back pocket.  When I found this amazing resource, I knew I could do this great adventure. 

I'm talking about the English Forum Switzerland.  It is a forum online where hundreds of people who live in and work in CH formed a group and act as a reference for any question someone might have about living in CH.  There are Swiss natives on the forum, there are ex-pats (ex-patriots--people who move from their own country to live in another country), there are spouses and singles and families and all sorts of individuals here.  

There are dozens of activities to do with them, and hundreds of them to meet.  I joined the forum back in March and I have many activities already lined up.

One of the first was this weekend.  The Highland Games, Scottish Style was the first event I was able to attend since I've been here.  Part of the reason is a transportation issue.  I'm in the Alps for the rest of this week, in a small holiday town.  The last bus to get me home leaves the train station at 7: 19 p.m. (never late).  That eliminates any activity that would take place in the evening.

Since this was an all-day event, I knew I would have time to make the three-hour trip (one way) and get back home in time to catch that last bus.  Plus, I would get to meet some members of the forum.

So off I went.  :)

 Things of interest along my journey

Three hours sounds like a long time to travel to get somewhere, but it was broken down into many parts.  The 15 min. walk to the bus stop, the bus ride to the train station, the three different city trains and the transfer to the country wide train.  Then, back to a city bus. 

One thing that was unique was the CH version of park and ride. In a country of bike-riders, what would you expect?  :)

Another thing is how close to the lake the train is when traveling by Interlocken.  It feels and looks like you are actually on the lake.

 
One more thing of interest is the stream/river that runs through the area.  I haven't found out what the name of it is, but it is a curious color of gray.  It is fresh and sparkling clear, but it is gray.  I believe I read somewhere (and I can't remember where so I can't give you a link) that the color is from the slate gray of the Alps themselves.  It's the sand bits that have washed down with the water.

And then we arrived at the outskirts of Fribourg in a small hamlet called St. Ursen.  That was the location of the games.

Walking to the games, you could hear the bagpipes over the hills in the distance.  It was so cool.  Then, the quietness of the moment was shattered with a giant gun blast. 

No...no....not another tragic shooting.  There was this target practice set up for the military to come and practice shooting their guns.  CH has an armed neutrality, if you will.  Every male citizen is required to serve for almost a year within the military and then they go home and they have their weapon at the ready, if ever required.  

Part of the state of readiness is that the male attend a certain amount of continued weapon practice.  And that was what was going on here.  Many civilian men showed up with their bag (like the man in the clip walking with the dog), shoot their required rounds, and then go home.   

They are not just shooting pistols.  Listen.

It was surprising to me that his target area was right on the road, right in the middle of the events going on.  Traffic whizzes by, and people are walking up a hill on the sidewalk above during the target practice.  Odd. And interesting.  

But let me get back to the hot men in skirts...

The Highland Games take place all over the world.  I remember the event was held at Mesa Community College for a few years.  

It is a gathering of clans, all wearing their tartans proudly, and some of the maniliest men in kilts I have ever seen.  The competition had events harking back centuries.  The first I saw was hurling a huge heavy weight over your head, trying to get it over an elevated line without knocking down the bar. Several competed.

The second man was a crowd favorite, and he won the event.  The younger man in the first was a young up and comer.  He also had an avid following.

Another event is a pole throw.  I'm sure it had some official name, but I don't know what it was and the announcing was all in two-three languages that I did not know.  Surprise!  lol

Anyways....for this event, a big pole (practically a tree trunk, if you will) is picked up by the contestant who then has to balance its unwieldy weight, walk a few steps, and toss the huge pole, hoping to turn it end over end in the toss with his sheer might. 

The pole took FOUR young men to bring it back to the starting point and raise it for each contestant.

Maybe you will recognize the second man from the previous competition.  He won this event as well and was the overall winner of the games.

So, when I tell you that this was a super interesting day and I enjoyed myself thoroughly, you can believe me.

I enjoyed a homemade chicken pot pie, bought some English cheddar cheese (in CH, home of cheese lol), and took home a grilled sausage to have for dinner later.  For sure, the scenery was very easy on the eye.  

The gentleman in the brown outfit was quite striking.  When I asked him what clan he belonged to, he said he was Swiss and that he just enjoyed dressing up in the Braveheart outfit.  Hey...it worked.  :)


And we cannot leave without presenting a small portion of the other main competition....the pipe and drums.  There were many groups from all over CH that came to march and perform in a very stiff competition.

Here is one of the groups. I found them all to be very excellent, but I am not an expert in this area.  There were definitely winners and those that didn't win.

 

One more surprise at the end of the day

So I left the games with plenty of time to catch all the transportation required.  

I had a lovely sausage to eat for dinner, but I needed some mustard or something to dip it in.  I stopped in to the local market called Coop and bought some Dijon mustard.  The CH version of Grey Poupon.

In a tube.

Yes, folks, it looked like a tube of toothpaste, but it was mustard.  And it tasted just great. 

A rain delay takes us to the hot dog

I set my alarm this morning so I could get up early (for me) and make my way up to the Top of Europe, the Jungfraujoch.  Supposed to be super-fabulous.

All was rainy and cloudy upon awaking and there was a deep mist on the hillside outside my window.  My visibility at the site was going to be zero.  Normal visibility there allows one to see Germany, Italy, and France.

I opted to wait for a better day.  I will wake up early for the next few days until I find a clear one.

Was my day ruined? No.  I started thinking about all the things I was NOT currently doing...

I was not making lesson plans and turning worksheets in to AV for copying.

I was not checking newspaper articles from the staff.

I was not helping yearbook students figure out how to troubleshoot their issues and problems so they could get the results they need.

I was not behind in any grading.  Yahoo!!!

It was a great day!  AND I'm in Switzerland!!!  It's gotta be good!

So I walked down to the bus stop with my umbrella held over my head and caught the bus to the center of town.  And I bought a hot dog.  6 SFr.--that stands for Swiss Francs  ($6.18)

It was so yummy!  And made in an unusual manner.  Even a hot dog is interesting...

Btw, it's not fast food here nor is it takeout.  It is called Take Away food.  

I don't know her name, but she is the clerk at this little lunch bar, snack bar place.  The locals come and sit, eat, have a beer, hang out.  The tourists come and buy $6 hot dogs and $8.50 hamburgers which she makes right there on her little grill.

The process is interesting.  She cuts the top off of a bun.  She warms up the outside of the bun on the grill by rolling it around.  Then she takes the warmed bun and sticks it on the hot spikes shown here.  The spikes warm the inside and make room for the hot dog.  The hot dog is in a warming thingy there too.  She just took it out of a pitcher of hot water which was keeping the dog warm on the grill--after she had grilled it earlier. The hot dog is browned and nice. 

Then, she takes the bun off the spindle and puts in the condiments--which are hanging to the side of her head.

She squeezes the nose of the tube down inside the bun.  No scrambling for the ketchup bottle or mustard bottle.  No spills.

She puts a little long baggie around the dog and it is yours.  

Boy!  Is it ever yummy!  The quality of the hot dog meat is unbelievable.  No gristle.  And there is a wonderful "snap" that is heard when you bite into the hot dog skin.  For every bite.

Really.  It's just a hot dog.  But this was sooo good.....I just had to mention it.

Finished product ready for me to enjoy.  I'm back at my apartment. 

En Guete!  (That's what the Swiss say when they are ready to start a meal.  You do not dare to begin until you have wished everyone at the table to have a good meal.)  Bon Appetit also works, but you better say something or you are the rudest person in the room.

And I don't wanna be that!  :) 

A reconnaissance mission

On the train.

Waiting in a train station.

Today I took multiple buses, several trains, and more than one cable car.  Successfully.  Even though the bus driver on my last ride home forgot to drop me at my stop.  I spoke up and he stopped halfway down the block and apologized.

I'm getting to be quite a pro.  

Mate and Howler snack before getting on the bus.

OK.  I am not going to tempt the fates by crowing too loudly.  But, I did have a good day managing my transportation.

I have to move out of my holiday apartment in Grindelwald on Aug. 31, but I can't move into my apartment in Zurich until Sep. 1.  That leaves one day in between where lodging must be procured.  I have a reservation back at the Hotel Jungfrau where I spent the first night of the vacation, but I was hoping to find something different since I had already seen that area.  Today was an errand to go to Gimmelwald and see if I could locate lodging for that one day.  I was successful!

A view from a terrace in Gimmelwald.

 Gimmelwald is a tiny little town and it is very traditional Swiss, harking back to less technological times.  The people who live there are very proud of their heritage and keep to the old traditions, even though life could be easier utilizing some modern conveniences.  

The gondola to get to Gimmelwald.

Rick Steves, travel guru, loves Gimmelwald. After reading about it myself, I couldn't wait to see it first hand.  It's all true.  

There was even a little shop called the Honesty Shop.  It is filled with souvenirs priced very reasonably.  But there is no proprietor.  There is a little box, a pen, and an envelope.  You are to write what you bought on the envelope, put in your money, and drop it in the box.  And no one is checking or is even around.  I found some really nice knickknacks for some lucky people back in America. And I was honest.  :)

I found a lovely pension and reserved a room for Aug. 31. 

The terrace at the pension.

Then I decided to have their hiker's daily special.  Today it was mushroom stroganoff over a bed of saffron rice.  The flavors were good.  The rice was a little al dente.  OK, it was somewhat crunchy.  But still edible and delicious.

I followed up the warming daily special with a fabulous apple strudel.  Yum!  It had whip cream AND ice cream.  Gotta love that.  :)

Then I headed back down the hill on the cable car gondola.  My apologies to those with fear of heights, but I thought you might enjoy the view from within the cable car.  :)


I came across this sign the other day.  It was at the end of a road that everyone could drive on, up the mountain.  Then, there was a place that only bicyclists, buses, hikers and Swiss cows are allowed to pass.  I rode a bus right into the area.  The allowed speed limit is 30 km.  I wonder if a cow has that speed in its legs?  ;)

I also think it is funny that a racy, spectacular BMW, with all its class and style and speed, cannot go where the cows can.  I just think that is something to comment on.  :)

Good night!

Somewhere, somehow, I lost a couple of days...

Some new neighbors moved in next door and they kept me up all night.  

No, it wasn't a party with loud rock and roll and raucous laughter that I was left out of.  Wish it was that.  These neighbors moved in around dusk, right when the downpour arrived.  The rain didn't bother them at all.  Well, maybe it made them a little more stinky.  

Nothing has a scent like wet wool.  Maybe even more so when the wool is still on the hide of the sheep. My new neighbors were 8 sheep.  I didn't get close enough to check and see if that home grown still attached wool was stinky or not.  I assumed.  :)

And the cute little tinkling that came with the storm was not a sweet little wind chime as I originally thought.  It was the bells around their necks!  I did not call the cops to ask them to shut down their party because I did not know living beings were involved. I just thought it was the wind.  In the morning after I had not slept all night, I went to see who the wind chime belonged to so I could mention it to my landlord.

Sheep.  Right outside my bedroom window.  Loud clanging all night.  It never stopped.

Well, I take that back.  It did stop in the morning.  The sheep wandered off to a different place to munch the grass. 

Much of the day was taken up with catching up on sleep.  I didn't have to count sheep.  I was quite tired and slept soundly.


A night of adventure right in my own kitchen

One of the reasons I sought an apartment to stay in was so I could conserve on finances.  Eating out every night can be quite expensive.  And in CH, it can be a vacation-ender.  CH is one of the most expensive counties to visit.  Four of its cities are in the top ten of the whole world for high cost of living.

I had purchased a bevy of fruit and made a lovely fruit salad.  It went well with my sauteed mushrooms, home fried potatoes, and fluffy cheese (3 varieties mixed together) omelet.  With no microwave, no oven and only two burners on the stove, I made a pretty decent meal in my miniature kitchen.

And I had a lovely chocolate mousse confection which I purchased to end the meal.  Yum!  I was pretty impressed with myself.  :)

The next day must have been a combination of jet lag and sheep bells clanging

I slept way too late in the day.  It was noon before my eyes opened.  Since my day was half over, I decided to spend it catching up on my chores.  Like laundry.  The landlord came and gave me a key to the place where the laundry is done.  She showed me the washer and how to use it. (I messed up and there is some residual soap grains left in there, but I couldn't figure out how to get them out.  Shhh, don't tell.)  There was also a jar for me to place my 2 SwF coin.  

When I asked where the dryer was, the landlord looked at me funny.  "Didn't you see the rack on your balcony?"   I had, and I had also seen many Swiss houses from my sky ride gondola where clothes were hanging out on the line.  I thought at that time, "Hmm...the Swiss must really like the freshness of air-dried clothing."  I thought that the clothesline was a preference.  The "preference" is whether you want your clothes dried or not.  lol



One last lesson I'll leave you with for tonight

I learned that if you leave your screen door open, the Swiss flies will take it as an invitation to come right in.  They are all large flies.  There are no small ones.  And, one bit me on my back.  So I got the fly swatter which was hanging on the wall (now I know why) and took back control of my Swiss chalet.

As ever, my evening ended with a lovely bite or two of my chocolate bar....  Adieu!

I wish that gaining knowledge didn't always feel like such a bite in the pants

I started my day today reading a bus schedule.  I was determined to learn from the previous day and to go forth and conquer today.  I planned the time to leave my apartment and have 20 minutes to reach a destination that ended up only taking me 10 minutes to walk to.

I was singing, "I have confidence in sunshine, I have confidence in rain, I have confidence that spring will come again, and besides what you see, I have confidence in me!" Yep, Maria's song from Sound of Music.  I tried to upload it here, but the blog site doesn't allow posting from YouTube.  Bummer.  Anyway, I was confidently approaching the bus stop, ready for complete success.

I didn't experience it.

To explain, there is a sidewalk on one side of the street to stand for the bus stop.  To catch the bus going the other way, there is no sidewalk to stand on.  You have to stand in the road with cars whizzing by.  The day before, the bus driver acknowledged my wave and stopped the bus after which I crossed the street and got on it.

Not today.  As the bus approached, I waved to the driver and he waved back....and then drove on down the street.  Since I was hip to where he was going this time, I hurried after the bus to catch up to him and give him a piece of my mind.  

Of course, the bus was gone by the time I reached the skyride station on foot.  And, since the next bus wasn't coming for another 45 minutes, the station agent told me to hurry back to the road because there was a train station right across the street which would take me into the Grindelwald station in the center of town--and it was leaving in 10 minutes.  I got there with 6 minutes to spare, but didn't want to act foolishly without knowledge.  I'd had enough of that.

I went inside the train station and asked the young woman agent standing there if that train getting ready to leave was going to the Grindelwald Station.  She said, "Yes" and shooed me away.  I went and got on the train.

I was a little concerned when the train started up and headed up the mountain and not down into the city center.  It became clear as the train continued its route up the mountain past several little stops that the agent inside the station had told me anything--just to get rid of me.

Knowing I had a long ride before me at a snail's pace, I sat back in my seat to wait it out. I did not have anywhere to be at any particular time, but I did have things I wanted to accomplish and now they would have to wait.

I have come to understand that a ticket agent may ride the train too, and walk up and down the cars checking tickets and making some purchase a ticket who had not already done so.

Surprise!  The ticket agent on this train was none other than the girl who had shooed me away and given me the wrong information.  Oh joy.

Imagine my surprise when she told me that my Swiss Pass was not good for the private train line that I was riding which was going up to this very special summit and that I would have to purchase a ticket immediately from her.

I didn't yell.  I didn't even snarl, Debbi.  I just very unhappily said that SHE was the one who had directed me onto this train that was going where I did not want to go.  It was to no avail.  I must purchase a ticket NOW and my Swiss Pass gave me a 25% discount.  Even so, the ticket was $42.  To go where I didn't want to.

I was so upset I did cry then. That was so disappointing.  And so unfair.

And it made me think about knowledge again.  You have to be careful who you get your knowledge from.  They might not have the knowledge you need. They might be making things up, just to shut you up, or they don't really care about your well-being.

One thing is for sure.  If you don't have knowledge, then you have to believe what other people tell you.  Without knowledge, people can take advantage of you and you have to put up with it.  Most of the time you won't even know better.  But, with knowledge, you can decide for yourself.  You can make choices that YOU want.

We're all going to be voting in a few weeks.  To know for yourself, from your own discovery and your own choice is going to be pivotal.  Don't give up your chance for freedom and vote how somebody else tells you to.  Find out what YOU want.  Find out from your OWN work to know.

The good that came from this learning experience

I met this very sweet Swiss German couple on the ride down from the $42 summit.  :)

I greeted them with my meager Swiss German that I had learned and they were happy to chat with me.  They had been to Arizona and Utah and this other place they couldn't remember the name, but "You had to pay there." After wracking my brain for ideas, I asked them, "Do you mean Las Vegas?"  and they said, "Yes! Yes!"  lol

And, in the Small World category, this couple is staying across the street from me in that camping ground area with a couple of friends!  It was too funny.  We had a lovely conversation and when we met later by chance on the sidewalks in town, it was such a nice feeling to be greeted like a friend.  :)  They are from Basel, the city where I was hoping to find a place to stay, but was unsuccessful.

One of the things I asked them about was the beautiful green grass on all the hills.  For two days straight, a woman has been cutting and working with a whole hillside of grass behind my apartment. 

She cut it, then she raked it into strips/rows like in the picture, and then it was collected in a big pile.  I saw trucks filled with the grass drive past me over and over while waiting at the bus stop.  From the skyride gondola, I could see many areas that had the cut grass, but it was just drying, apparently to be picked up later.

I asked the couple if there was some sort of regulation where everyone had to take care of the hillsides.  She said that there was no regulation, but that everyone knows the winter will be tough and the cows will need something to eat so they share the burden to gather the grasses that can be fed to the cows in the winter.

Those civic minded Swiss.  It is a really neat quality.  I'll keep checking on the grass thing to see if I can find out any more details.  :)

 One really great discovery
I made it to a grocery store called Migros where I bought a new umbrella since the one I had broke one of its spines.  Good thing, too. Clouds moved in.  Sitting and waiting for the bus to take me on the homeward trip, a drop or two fell.  I was glad I had my umbrella in my backpack.

I'm about half a mile from home when it gets really dark and sprinkles.  Then lightning flashes.  I am not a fan of lightning.  I'm too much of a sinner.  I fear getting struck by lightning.  Thankfully, I got home without be hit by lightning or getting drenched.  But right after I entered my apartment....

And the last discovery for the day was REALLY thrilling!  I found out that my favorite chocolate bar comes in a miniature version! Ya gotta love that!!!

As long as my day ends with a bite of this sweet heaven, I'm a happy girl.