Switzerland Writing

We spent about 3 weeks in Switzerland.....maybe June20-July10, we think.

Our last night in France we slept in a farmers field close to the Switzerland border, forcing us on the road by 7am. We entered Switzerland via Geneva, a beautiful city with a fountain that sprays directly up out of the lake at least 300 feet. Wow! Although it took us quite a bit of time to orient ourselves and find the information center, we did actually manage by means of a street map and using the fountain as a frame of reference. Considering how high the water goes up, you can see the fountain from almost anywhere. A few hours later, yes hours, we found the middle of downtown. At times it is definitely frustrating when you are riding in circles, hungry and confused. I have always heard that Switzerland is expensive, boy those people weren't lying! First off, the franc dollars look fake, bigger in size and the colors are pretty fantastic. Secondly, it requires a lot of it to travel through the beautiful country. After a few weeks of perfectly cleaned streets, houses and lawns, spotless garbage cans, bike paths galore, we saw where the taxes are spent. A simple lunch of basic sandwiches cost 18 francs and campgrounds close to 40. Now that was something to get used to. But worth every penny.
Our first night was spent at a campground on the southern part of Lake Geneva. After a great cold swim and some dinner, we ended up hanging out with two firefighters from Paris. Thank goodness they spoke rough English so we could converse. But of course, slowing down your language can get tiring, especially for them. It was nice to swap stories and talk of places to visit in Europe and Switzerland. They too were on their first riding holiday.

Of course off to a late start the next morning, we rode back through Geneva and took the bike route leading us around the northern side of Lake Geneva. Like I have already said, and will say again and again, this country is absolutely breathtaking. The mountains that surround you and the lakes you get to ride along are fantastic. We are never bored as there is always something to oooh and aaah about. We rode alongside the lake for 2 days until Montreux, where the famous jazz festival takes place. From there, we followed the Rhone river for another 3 days to its source high in the Bernese Alps. Vineyards and mountains on both sides up this beautiful valley. When we first arrived in Switzerland, everyone spoke french. Out of nowhere, the street names and business names changed to german. If you happen to look up some german words you will see how easy that is to distinguish. Words containing 15+ letters. One of my most difficult days of riding happened here, taking a wrong turn and winding our way up through the vineyards in the dead of the afternoon heat, poring sweat as the sun was incredibly intense off the asphalt. Smooth roads but not a breeze in sight. Thank goodness for downhills to help cool us off:-)

After 3 days of climbing, often in the heat of the day, we reached Grimsel pass at just over 2400 meters. The end of the climb always seems to be the biggest worry but thus far tends to be the easiest. I'm not quite sure why that is...maybe the anticipation? Riding and sweating to find yourself in snow is always a trip. With a temperature drop, we threw on our jackets and descended downhill for a good hour, 35k. We reached incredible speed that was a touch scary at times but so exihilerating, especially through the tunnels. From there we worked our way to Interlocken and taking the train up to Grindelwald to get out of the rain, a touristy spot but for obvious reasons.

We stayed in Grindelwald for 4 nights. We cross the Pyrenees, we cross the Alps, no problems. We hike in Grindelwald for 3 hours and can barely move the next day. Different muscles is what we were telling ourselves:-) At this campground, we got to hang out with 2 guys from Wales who are still in university and great friends. They had traveled to Grindelwald the prior year with their senior class and enjoyed it so much that they returned. Lucky them! We also happened to meet a father/son duo from the town over from Boulder, in Golden. What are the chances! Small small world. Grindelwald is a great basecamp, hikes right from the door, some require cog trains (which is quite amazing to see first hand), or even gondolas. Every turn of your head is another beautiful picturesque view.

Heading back through Interlocken, we had another big climb over a pass to get to the lake district. The temperatures were quite hot our entire time in Switzerland, but nothing a dip in a cold lake didn't cure. We swam most mornings and evenings, a great way to start and end our days. Heck, we even would dip our heads in the cold streams and lakes when we could. The heat was a bit overwhelming but just meant we slowed our pace. What do we really have to do besides ride? The only downfall of Switzerland is something we referred to as "shit spray". As they do not use chemicals on any of their crops and everything is organic (which we love), they instead use liquid manuer. Let me tell you, this smell is so overwhelming it kind of knocks you off your feet. One time, I thought I was brilliant and decided to not breath through my nose. Bad idea. I could then taste it. Yuck! The farmers and children are always out cutting and raking these huge fields of grass. So maybe visiting Switzerland during the end of June and beginning of July is not the best time to for the sake of your nose. The ironic part is they are using the shit spraying so much in hopes of a 3rd crop of organic grass that they then sell to the states. Oh the ironies in life.

The lake district is beautiful. Rolling hills, lake after lake, and we even found a small campground directly on the lake where we spent a few days going for runs, grilling, swimming throughout the day, and riding into the quant town of Haas. We had such a blast and got to relax and spend some time off the bikes. Having the flexibility and taking time to simply enjoy our surroundings rather than ride everyday is always a treat. Another huge advantage of no timeline or agenda. For anyone who can manage a trip without a timeline or agenda, I would highly recommend it. It opens your eyes to a completely different world and way of life.
Following the Rhine river led us through Lichtenstein, a small small country that has a castle on the hill and sits between mountains and the Rhine. We eventually caught up to lake Constanz which led us into Germany for a few days with some Australian friends. I will try to update our time in Germany soon!