These Titles are Quite the Bern to my Originality

Jus some homies chillin' on a mountain

Castles and stuff

Can't really remember if I've actually been through any of Bern (in Switzerland for those that don't know) in the last couple of days or not, but I was struggling with a title so there we are. I was going to do something along the lines of, ¨This Place Sure Gets my Vaud¨ (Vaud being another Swiss canton) but yeah I think I'm starting to struggle a little bit.. So I am currently residing in Switzerland again, in Yens, which is in Vaud, with my homeboy Patrick and his family, two students who are also temporarily staying at this house and of course I can't forget Rusty the trusty dog. It has been a fun past couple of days! To be honest, it is quite nice being away from all the hustle and bustle of all the big cities once more. I arrived here on the 29th at aboot 11:00AM and for those of you that read my previous [and short] entry Pretty Fly for a Stupid Guy, you'll know that I booked my flight on the wrong month. But enough about that. On the second day that I was here Patrick drove me out to Thun where he showed me around a little bit, and pointed out all his army service related areas and which building was for what and what the different army outfits meant. It was quite different to see being from Canada where army service is not mandatory. Its interesting that such a neutral country as Switzerland still has obligatory time of service - however now I am getting into politics and I'm sure there's a million other blogs out there about all of that. We had originally planned on spending the night in Thun, however decided to keep going and find a spot nearer the alps. We (Patrick) looked at the map and decided to head to the small city, municipality, district, canton ((?) I don't even know anymore) of Brig which is located in Southern Switzerland near Italy on the other side of the alps. To get there however you need to get through the alps, but the super sophisticated GPS system we were using took us to this train station where you pay for the ticket, drive your car onto this train, then sit in your car whilst it takes you underneath the mountains through a very dark tunnel for about 8-10 minutes.

Artsy photo of the train ride

This was actually really cool, I don't think I have even been in a tunnel that long, or that dark, and especially not whilst still sitting in your car and moving at the speed that the train was. Before going on we both had no idea whether we were going in the right direction or not, or whether we were waiting in the correct area. But it all turned out alright, and luckily we were not the first in line, but just behind the first vehicle, so we just followed their lead.

Nature calling?

Making our way up the mountain

On the other side of the train we were already in such a beautiful area of Switzerland with mountains all around us. Once we reached Brig we were contemplating whether to pitch a tent somewhere outside, sleep in the car, or find a campsite somewhere. Being the spoiled individuals that we are, we decided to just find a campsite. The first one we checked out seemed nice, but the only space they had available was this one hut with 8 beds lying RIGHT next to one another, it smelled bad, there were all sorts of dead insects in the covers of the bed, the lighting was awful, and it just felt like an all round bad place to spend the night, even for the 15 franc it would have cost us. So we kept looking. The second spot we found is where we decided to crash for the night. But that is not what we did when we got there, because honestly, what would be the point in that. No, we took our dinners and several beers up the mountain and found a really nice view where we ate, and progressively got more intoxicated. Looking back at it now, it seems like a terrible idea really, however the experience and memory is totally worth all that potential risk of falling off a 50 meter cliff right next to us. Let me tell you though, the view was incredible! I wish I was able to upload some photos to this blog from the ones I took from my phone, however my phone and laptop don't seem to get along very well. Also the pictures never do it justice, especially after hyping up the spot so much. So just imagine nice mountains, a mediocre sandwich, good beers, great company, a warm breeze, lots of rocks, and a small city where from where we were everybody looked like ants. Yup, life really isn't so bad. Also something that I thought was very amusing, was the fact that in this small town, they had an outdoor ice rink, and it was being used by like 9 people at one point. Darn it, I thought I left ice hockey and its Canadian-ness back in Canada. I can't seem to get away from our stereotypes regardless where I go. But I figured since the Canucks are now out of the playoffs, this was a good alternative to watch.

Patrick in the nail polish section
(He'd kill me if he realizes I put
this up here haha)

Several beers in. Still plenty to go

The morning after we ate breakfast and drove back to Yens. There isn't really much I can say about all that, because I was asleep for the majority of the ride (sorry Patrick). It rained a lot, and we passed a few cows and sheep. That same day we got back it was still pissing cats and dogs outside, but I suggested we go for a run - more as a joke initially. Patrick however was very keen on the idea, and that is just what we did. We went for a run in the pouring rain, through some farm land and past some cows into the forest and back to the house again. Seriously people, go do stuff like this! You feel so incredibly alive when you get absolutely drenched past the point of caring and you're out of breath and all you really want to do is lie down. But if you keep pushing, THAT is where its at. Stop making excuses and go do things! I sometimes need to jog my memory (see what I did there?) about this fact, but traveling has really helped me solidify things.
Today I woke up a little bit late, but Patrick and myself did manage to get in a few games of airsoft and now I'm back in the house just chilling writing things to myself and anybody who is still taking the time of day to read these entries.
What's next? That's a good question. I am in Europe until the 14th, and am flying out of the Brussels airport. So I'm thinking I will stay in Switzerland until the 7th or 8th then either take a bus or a train or a flight or a ride (whatever's cheapest really) to the Netherlands and hang around there until the 14th. Luckily my flight is at night because to be honest I'm not so keen on spending that much time again in Brussels. We just didn't really vibe that well. As much as I hate/love to say it, there are still SO many places I would have liked to go on this trip and would still like to go to, but I just wasn't able to do it this time around. But I suppose that gives me a good excuse to potentially come back in the future?
Ciao pour maintenant.

This silly things wouldn't leave me alone and kept following me