Thursday, June 14, 2012

Wow it has been a long journey over the last couple of days, but everything worked out perfectly.  After landing in Lugano I had to stay in a hostel overnight as my trains were canceled due to a landslide north of Lugano about 20 minutes.  Although staying in a hostel that night was not what I wanted to do especially since I am traveling alone I ended up not minding it except for the man snoring super loud and talking in his sleep.  I then got up at 5:00 am to head out to Vevey where I would meet up with my friend from high school Lindsay.  I rode through Italy and went through Milano, Dolmodolsola, Sion, Montreaux, and then ended up in Vevey where lindsay works.  Throughout the trip I was surprised by how nice people were whether it was people volunteering to help me lift my 70 lb bag or offering me food.  I had a spanish couple that were seated next to me that treated me like family they offered me hot cocoa and and crackers.  we both spoke different languages but connected over the beautiful scenery and tried to point out things like waterfalls and castles to each other.  When the ticket men went by he assumed we were family and I did not have my passport or my billet (ticket) checked.  We laughed when these things happened and said "familia" because they were treating us like a family.  I also had the ticketman on the train ask if it was ok if he told me a joke and when i said ok he said:  "does your bag hold you or do you hold your bag" (it is a huge beast).  I also enjoyed walking down the street to people saying bonjour as they are very friendly here. After meeting lindsay we went down to the lake where the rocks have built in chairs that you can sit in and we watched a boat go by in which after it passed we had to quickly leave as the wake was crashing on us.  We ate a good sandwich and toured the lakefront.  After that lindsay went back to work and I rode the funicular to the top of Momt Pelerim in vevey and not only did I have a wonderful view of the city and the lake but I was able to follow the sound of cow bells to view the swiss cows (they are much prettier than american cows).  I was mistaken a couple of times for as a swiss local and had a man ask me if I spoke English and after I said yes he said "oh I thought you lived here."  I am so happy to look like I fit in because I hate standing out as an "american".  After that Lindsay and I went shopping for dinner we went to meat market which was amazing and she made me and her husband an amazing ham with swiss cheese potatoes gratin, and salad.  In some of my pictures you can see vineyards sweeping the hillsides and this is seen everywhere in this area.  I asked lindsay why there are so many vineyards on almost every square inch of land and she said it is because they are protected land just like a national reserve/park so that no one can build on them.  She said they are a part of UNESCO.   Tomorrow I will be traveling to zermatt.

Also here are some fun photos from the trip:







         I thought this was funny, they have condoms for sale right next to the pregnancy test
  

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