Follow Me Around the World

Today was my last day in Switzerland.  I woke up at around 830AM and packed up all of my stuff.  Since I had been here for several days now all of my stuff was sprawled out throughout my room.  I also had to balance the weight between my large backpack and my very small one to make sure I was under the weight allowed by Easyjet of 20 kilograms.

Linda decided that the gang, including Danny would head to Berne, the capital of Switzerland and then I would take the train from there to the Geneve airport.  The ride from Sugiez to Berne was about 45 minutes.  Once we got there we parked and walked into the train station in the center of the city.  Our first stop was at a restaurant in the train station for a bite to eat.  It was expensive.

From the restaurant we continued to walk through this very old city.  I think it was founded in the 1200’s.  Most of the buildings are old, cobblestone streets and plenty of shops mixed in.  Anyway we stopped at Switzerland’s parliament to say hello and then continued along.  We then stopped at several points along the wall that Berne was built behind.  Then we went to see the Berne bears.  There has been a Berne bear pit for hundreds of years.  When Napolean made his rein through Berne he raided the treasury and even took the Berne bears!

Then it was on to this tourist center where we watched a very inspirational movie about Berne.  For 3 francs we were able to watch a fifteen minute or so movie that was pretty good and worth it if you want to learn about Berne, its history and what the city has to offer.  After the movie and the tourist center we walked to get some food and then it was time to head back to the train station.  I got my ticket, the four of us walked around and then it was time to say goodbye.

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Yesterday Linda had arranged with Sarah for us to go to the mountains to see her and what they had to offer. Since the weather was going to be absolutely superb in the south of Switzerland in the canton of Valais where Sarah lives, we decided to take a trip there. After breakfast we got into Linda’s mini cooper but it wouldn’t start. The battery had died again, just like the last time I was in Sugiez. After some discussion with her parents, her Dad decided that she should take her mother’s BMW station wagon for the night. This was much to her mother’s dismay as she needed the car by 12PM the next day. This meant that we would have to leave Sarah’s home in Naters by 930AM at the latest. Time was of the essence and Linda’s mom was not happy about the situation.

Linda and I made great time to the town of Visp where we would be meeting Sarah. Sarah was taking the train 10 minutes from Brig to Visp. We found Sarah, each gave her a hug and then got back into the car to head to Zermatt. To get to Zermatt though we needed to take the train from Tausch. Since Zermatt is a car-free village at the base of the Matterhorn, the only way up is by train. Once up in Zermatt after taking a very nice train we got tickets to take a rack railway built in 1898 up to a place on the mountain where you could see the Matterhorn very well. The weather was looking as good as advertised maybe even better. It was sunny, warm (at least 20 C at the top) and the Matterhorn was looking great. After this second train ride which was scenic to say the least (went up along the mountain with the snow around and everything), 40 minutes later we arrived. Linda, Sarah and I walked around and up to the tippy top where skiers were taking off down the mountain.

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We woke up at 930AM, a little earlier than we normally do. That was probably my fault as is usual for me on a travel day. I get a little excited/nervous and just want to make sure everything ... [Continue reading this entry]