Friday, June 4, 2010

Switzerland Day 5, 6 & 7

Day 5-
In the morning we woke up early and moved out of the farm. It was fun staying there, but I was ready to explore more of Europe! We drove over Chateaux Deaux and headed up towards Cole de Mosses. It was a gorgeous drive and I loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, I was very very tired still from jet lag and sitting in a car for that long did not help at all. We took a stop in Aigle for a while to stretch our legs and get a special treat from the bakery :) then got back in the car to drive to Montana, the town in which my dad grew up.


After a long drive up a narrow, windy Swiss road, we ended up in the towns of Crans- Montana. It was far up on the mountain, right near the snow even! I met Anita- my step grandmother of some sorts, and we went out to lunch at a friends restaurant.

I took a long long nap because I was so tired, but when I woke up I was very homesick. It is hard not being able to contact the people you love for days on end, let alone be immersed in a different culture entirely. Hopefully it will get better over the trip because I still have more than two weeks!

Day 6-
Probably the best riding day so far- my dad and I went on an epic ride to Faverges on top of the mountain. We met a guy named Marcelle... actually he was a downhiller and he passed us going uphill :)


He was so cool and took us to the top of the climb so we could figure out where to ride. It was also good for me because he defiantly was pushing the pace. We rode all around Aminona on the bisses (flume). Such an incredible ride! Afterwords we were very muddy so we hosed down the bikes and our bodies in the front lawn. Later we went to Bluche on the Fanicular and walked to Randogne.



It was cool to see all of the places my dad worked and went to school. That night we went out to dinner with Anita at Petit Paradis. I found my favorite dish so far- Rosti :) So good! The owners gave us a bottle of wine so I am going to save it to drink in a couple years :)

Day 7- Our final day staying in Montana, we decided to go over to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. I woke up really early to get a quick ride, then we proceded to drive to Zermatt. You cannot drive into the town so we took the train up. It was a little cloudy and we could not see the Matterhorn at all so it was quite dissapointing. Instead we walked around and took a picnic up in a little field on the side of the mountain.



Finally we just decided to go for going on the train to the Gornergrat to see the view. It was super super cloudy when we arrived at the top but it was starting to clear up. Luckily on the way down the clouds started to part and the Matterhorn was finally out with the clear blue sky.


It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.


So amazingly spectacular I cannot describe it. On the train down, we got off a stop early to hike down the mountain- we found some epic mountain bike trails, making me wish I had my bike. Oh well maybe next time! I wanted to do some tourist shopping so I bought a Swiss Army Knife- very nice! After the long day, my dad let me drive home- that was sure to keep me awake! The people here drive so fast, it was terrifying having to drive home! I'm just glad I know how to drive stick, let alone drive it at 120 kilos an hour :) :)

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