I’m sitting in the airport in a cafe in Madrid waiting to get on my flight that will stop over in Dubai and then eventually take me to Australia. I realized that I am a bit behind on the blog front. It’s not that I have forgotten about it. It’s just that I’ve been busy jumping around place to place and haven’t had the time to sit down and write. So, now is the perfect moment.

 

My last entry discussed my experiences in Berlin, which then takes me to my second last European country that I would visit…Switzerland. My friends that I had been travelling with for the previous two weeks flew back to Canada from Berlin on August 5th. I then got on a plane to meet my friend Mike and Alan in Basel, Switzerland, where I would be staying for the next 5 days. The airline I flew with was Air Berlin and it was quite a hilarious experience. Since I had broken a bone in my foot, the doctor had given me a cast and crutches and recommended that I put very little weight on it. As a result, I get the VIP treatment in the airports. So, I go to information, show them my cast and explain what happened and then someone helps me to a wheel chair, checks me in, and takes me through customs. Best of all, I’m the first on the plane. I even got driven out to the aircraft on an ambulift, followed by being escorted to my seat. It’s funny how kind people are when you are temporarily disabled, but I really did appreciate it. Especially when I think of how painful it was carrying my bags in Amsterdam/Berlin. Plus, this experience was pretty interesting because I was able to see some of the prep that goes on before the plane takes off. And, I made some friends with the flight attendants.

 

Once I got to Basel I was greeted by Mike who is originally from Switzerland and his friend Alan who is from Spain. The 3 of us travelled for the next week together and we were such a good team. With the combination of Swiss-German, French, Spanish and English being spoken between the 3 of us, there was never a dull moment. While there were some communication barriers and a lot of hand gestures, we had a good energy and never stopped laughing.

 

Basel was such a lovely city. We stayed in a beautiful house with a gorgeous backyard. A lot of what we did together was inexpensive but fun. We went to the park one day and just sat on blankets in the sun and went swimming in the river. My foot caused some set-backs, so we weren’t able to do a lot of walking. But on my first full day, Mike and I biked around so I could see some of the sites and older parts of city, which was followed by dinner along the Rhine and some live music. That was a great day. Thankfully, Alan is a professional chef, so we all just split on groceries and he cooked us up some amazing meals over the course of the week. Thank you Alan! Also, one night, Mike had some people over to his place for dinner and I met some of his best friends that he grew up with. I really liked how it felt so communal, even his neighbors would come over for a drink or desert. There are 3 qualities I noticed about people in Switzerland that stand out to me. One, is how affectionate everyone is and two, how much importance is placed on having good relationships with your loved ones. Well at least that’s what I gathered from observing Mike’s friends, family and neighbors. Lastly, a lot of Swiss people are fluent in 3-4, sometimes 5 different languages because they study them at a young age and are encouraged to do well. Mike for example speaks fluent Swiss-German, French, Spanish and English. Kind of impressive…

 

Once Friday came around, we planned a day to Interlaken to see the Swiss Alps. We came across a good deal and got 4 tickets to the Top of Europe (Jungfraujoch), which was 11333 ft above sea level once you got the top. That’s high… The boys got a little congested and light headed as our oxygen was slowly taken from us as we neared the top, but they got over it. I guess they aren’t as tough as me :P. The mountains are so beautiful and enormous but it’s hard to describe with words what it’s like to see them. It’s even more impossible to capture it in a photo. You truly have to see it with your own eyes to fully appreciate the beauty.

 

After Interlaken, it was time to head to Zurich, (Switzerland’s largest city) for the infamous street parade. The only thing I knew about this a parade is that it was some sort of electronic music festival that people dressed up for, and it was free. I did the good old Google image search when Mike initially told me about it. What came up was some very interesting customs. But quite honestly, I didn’t fully know what to expect and once I got there, I had mixed feelings about it. We all had such a good time during the day. We woke up early, made a big breakfast and then headed to the water front to soak up the sun, drink some beers and swim in the lake. There were tones of people out and about enjoying the weather. After a couple hours chilling we went to the street where the parade takes place. I think the best comparison to this parade would be gay pride in Toronto, only it’s not gay pride. People are dressed up in the most ridiculous costumes. Every float that goes by is themed a different style and plays different types of electronic music. I liked that people felt free to express themselves through dress and go nuts for a day. But at the same time, there were parts the parade that I wasn’t fully willing to accept as a positive thing. For one, this parade isn’t just young adults like a music festival would be (aka Tomorrowland), but all ages. It’s more than obvious that the majority of people there are really drunk and high on chemical drugs like ecstasy or cocaine. I even saw some parents there with their small children, completely off their faces. Also, there were tones of teenagers between ages 12-18 totally messed up, to the point that they looked like zombies. While I would like to believe this is a one day exception for that kind of behaviour, I have a feeling it’s not. So when I say I have mixed feelings about the parade, I mean that I had a good time and I can see how the parade represents liberation and fun. But, I also felt that the messages/ atmosphere was a little twisted. I guess when I saw a 7 year old dancing with her mother that was completed unaware of what was going on, made me feel a little uncomfortable with it all. I imagined if my mother brought me something like that as a child, what would I have thought?
Anyways, moving on from the parade, Zurich itself is a gorgeous city. Mike’s friend’s house that we stayed at had an amazing view of the river that goes around the whole city. But, it was a short stay. Once Sunday rolled around Alan and I said goodbye to Mike (tear) and his friends. We were off to Spain. Stay tuned for my Spanish shenanigans.