So...we slept on a police rescue boat...in Lausanne. At about 5:50 am I was awoken by a gleaming sunlight and the sound of a noisy bay area...which seemed confusing at so early in the morning...I sat up a little bit to see that Bethany had moved and was sleeping...sitting...weird.
I stood up and yawned, looking out to the sea area...but heard several voices behind me....
I turned to see the awkward stares of native Lausannians passing by on their way to, perhaps, work...with a confused but polite little grin, I looked at them, hit Bethany from her snore, and grabbed my bag. We both meandered off the boat, throwing first our bags to the shore, followed by our bodies. Although they stared, we were too exhausted to pay much attention, and we nonchalantly began taking PHOTOS of our scene before heading up to the train station.
Long story short, it was quite a trip up and around this big 45 minute corner to a cute little local hot spot, breakfast food of course, my favorite. After eating, it was time to board the train...and the 45 minute corner became a running 15 minute corner as we rushed to our departing train...we made it....
Hopped on the train, first class style, to Bern where we would catch another train to Interlaken. Again, I won't say how this was a free excursion for us other than to say that 2 hours in a first class bathroom is much more comfortable. (Long story short).
We get to Interlaken and begin wondering why EVERYTHING has worked out so well, and so freely. We easily find our canyoning reservation destination with a quick 10 minute walk. Canyoning works out PERFECTLY as we came just in time, 1 hour before, the next excursion would depart. Bizarre. It all sounded too good. We were expecting death.
We meet a guy from Dubai and two friends from Texas who will be following us in this wild adventure. A quick 15 minute hike up the mountain resulted in a 2 hour repelling, jumping, and sliding down waterfalls. (For a better and more vivid picture of this ridiculousness, please see photos via facebook.) Our guides were Australian and beautiful. The people who came were daring and wonderful. The trip was beyond a doubt the most exciting experience of my life...incredible. Back to the town of Interlaken, we were greeted with free drinks and local advice on where to dine.
Andrew and Stephen, our lovely American friends, joined us for an incredible dinner at this local hotspot, name forgotten, where we ate a Swiss favorite, Raclette. It was about time for us to leave...and time for the bad luck that Andrew and Stephen had faced on their trip to Interlaken to begin to effect our "free" adventure. They walked us to the train where we would depart for Bern, a long way home at about 8pm.
We took the wrong train.
We went to this connecting town called Spiez that was a little out of the way...or a lot out of the way. From there, we then hopped on a train, about 45 minutes later, to what we hoped was Bern. French and German are hard to read and Spiez is a very small town where English is not as wide spread.
A double decker pulled up---I won't go into detail other than to say that the ticket man saw that we were American from the time we boarded the train. What should have been a 10 dollar ticket cost about 30. We get to Bern. Some of my money is missing. We can't find our way around Bern. We start to get angry. We try to go home. From Bern is a train to Lausanne. Well, another double decker comes and we steer clear of the ticket men, and just decide to, oh you know, sit in FIRST CLASS!
No ticket guy came. Free trip.
We got a little cocky.
We get to Lausanne and are going to board our train at about 11:30 at night, one of the last trains to pass through until Aigle. So, we go up to this internet cafe...spend a little too much time on the internet via a ridiculously addictive social network...and realize we have 2 minutes to get to our next train....We run.
We get up to the train as it is LITERALLY pulling away, right as the doors had just closed.
I was not about to sleep on the lake again. Praise goodness that there was one more train leaving in an hour, at 12:30 heading to Aigle. Last train of the night. Long story short, we made it. That's all that's necessary. We were so tired that first class seating sounded like a good option again. Well, two dirty English speaking women sitting and occupying first class seating was rather obvious. We had to pay...again. We were so tired though...
We get to Aigle. It's about 1:30. There's no chance, not even a hair, of getting back to L'abri that evening. Bethany sees a van sitting alongside the road and says, "Let's just sleep in that..." I, going up to the door of the vehicle responded, "There's no way it's open....it's open..." The car was unlocked. But...(mom and dad), using our "better judgement" we waited, thumb up, by the road. A sweet old man pulled up in a van and asked if we needed a ride. He was a retired taxi cab driver. I think he felt bad for us, so he drove us all 30 minutes back to Huemoz, back to L'abri, and back home. We got in at about 2:30 am. To say the least, we had some friends a little nervous...and maybe rightfully so.
I do just want to vouch for myself here though...Switzerland is VERY different than America. It's safe. It's kind to hitch hikers. And...I mean...we are ADULTS. Mom, I know you are reading this worried...Doug, you are probably shaking your head....and Josh is saying, "whatan idiot Em..." I just want to tell you...well...it was worth it dog gon it! I've never had a better 30 hours in my life. I won't take it back, and neither will she.
In fact, tomorrow, we are headed to Milan, Italy....
1 comment:
missing trains is your specialty... chicago
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