Since we had so much time we went out, had a long dinner, then came back to the train station to fall asleep for a while. Little did we know the train station closes! So we were kicked out with a large group of other people doing the same thing. It was about 2am, and the officer who kicked us out said there was a bar and grill open across the street. Turns out it was just closing! Instead we found a nice spot next to the train station and sat down.
There were a lot of homeless people and little punk teenager "gangs" (that reminded me a bit of West Side Story) who would just circle the train station. There was one homeless man that kept circling the building who you could tell was highly schizophrenic. He really didn't like people- he actually spat at us! The weird thing was that he collected umbrellas! Each time he walked by he had a new umbrella.
When we were finally let back into the train station around 4 or 4:30am we sat down across from one another and settled in a bit. Evan fell asleep on his bag, and so I stayed awake because I wasn't comfortable with us both being alsleep. I clipped my purse to my giant backpack that I was sitting on just to be safe, then kept my purse in my arms, half covered by my rain-jacket, then closed my eyes for a bit. A couple minutes later, a young creepy Italian guy walks by and tried to steal my purse thinking I am asleep! I open my eyes to see his face a foot away from mine! Thank god I'm not stupid enough to just leave my bag in the open. The guy just laughs and walks away- what an ass.
When we finally made it to Montpellier the girl we were staying with picked us up from the train station. She spoke almost no english, and my french is terrible, so it was very difficult communicating!! She drove us to her apartment that we were staying at and made the beds for us while we just awkwardly stood there. For some reason I couldn't remember how to explain to her that I could make the bed (I guess she stays at her boyfriends house and studies a lot which is why she doesn't change the sheets before, I was just happy to have clean sheets!). After she left I remembered how to say that in French, what bad timing!
Overall we didn't do a lot in Montpellier! We ate some Indian food and some delicious crepes, shopped around, and went to the beach. The beach was a lot of fun! The Mediterranean is beautiful, and Evan had never seen the ocean before. We had a nice picnic and laid out in the sun. Montpellier is a beautiful city.
 |
| YAY I'M AT THE OCEAN!!! |
Our next stop was Interlaken Switzerland! The train ride getting there was long but so beautiful. I loved seeing the French and Swiss countryside. Evan slept, as usual!
When we arrived in Interlaken it was around 7pm and we were hungry
for some dinner. There was an Indian food restaurant across the
street, and we had some enough time before our bus was scheduled to
arrive, so we decided to eat there. The food was pretty good! Nothing
like India Palace from home though.
When the bus arrived we took it to a town near Interlaken called
Iseltwald where our hostel was located. We stayed at Lake Lodge
Hostel, and it was absolutely incredible. The hostel is a wood lodge
right on the lake with stunning views of the lake and the alps. The
hostel also offers packages where you can go canyoning or skydiving-
we wished we had the money for it!
 |
| The view from our window |
We stayed in a 4 bed dorm with a Swiss guy and his daughter. They
kind of creeped us out at first because the dad made a cave out of
the bottom bunk by hanging up towels and blankets, then he would
creep his head out every once in a while. We also thought that they
were beggers because of the language barrior. He told us he was
“going out to find some money” when he really meant he was
looking for an ATM! They turned out to be very nice and friendly
though!
The next day we went hiking in the Swiss Alps. We ate our free
breakfast at our hostel then took the bus into town to buy food at
the grocery store and get train tickets into the mountains. You can
take a train up the mountain and then start the different hiking
trails from the train stops. The system of trains, cable cars, and
trails is pretty extensive. We were upset we didnt have time to do
more of the trails! Hiking up was pretty hard at some parts, there
were constant switchbacks. I enjoyed the exercise, and the views were
breathtaking. I tried photographing it, but you can't capture
something that beautiful in a photo.
For dinner we ate the Swiss version of ramen noodles to save money,
Switzerland is expensive! After our day we decided that one full day
wouldn't be enough, so we booked another night. We ended up staying 3
nights in Switzerland, but we both wanted to spend more time! On our
second day we got a later start because we met some people at the
hostel who were recommending things to do. We took their advice and
went to the only waterfall that is inside of the mountains. It was so
cool! You walk through these caves to get to the waterfall, and it is
huge! We also walked up behind a waterfall.
After getting back to the hostel we took the hostel's kayaks out on
the lake for about an hour. There is a tiny island on the lake that
has a little lodge, benches, and mowed grass! We were really curious
as to what that was. For dinner we ate ramen noodles again! After
dinner we met a couple of guys who taught us a drinking game
(apparently you are supposed to play with shots, but we just took
sips of beer. Still fun!) call The Pirate's Game. It is based off of
the game that the crew plays on The Black Pearl in the last Pirates
of the Carribbean movie. It would take forever to explain the game,
but it was a lot of fun because you have to talk like a pirate the
entire time! You are also supposed to play in your underwear because
its harder to lie to each other that way, we decided to leave out
that rule though!
Overall we both had an incredible experience in Switzerland. Can't
wait to go back!
Some beautiful photos!
ReplyDelete