Where have I been?

Sorry, sorry, sorry for taking such a long time to get back to you. First I felt fatigued from my trip which turned out to really be symptomatic of some kind of "itis" I managed to pick up on the airplane. I don't seem to be able to fly anywhere without somebody flicking their contagious germs on me. It doesn't help that all flights from here leave at 1 or 2 in the morning ensuring you will arrive weak and exhausted wherever you go. I know, travel is wonderful, blah blah, I love it, blah blah, but could it possibly be any more of a hassle? I'm only 5'2" and I feel like I've been belted into a baby's car seat; I can't imagine what it must be like for a normal sized person. I won't even get into the "food". If you travel at all, you already know all this. Let's just say I try to make dam sure I'm gonna like it wherever I'm going. (Secondly, my internet hasn't been behaving as well as I'd like.)

Europe to me is always worth the effort. We arrived early morning in Milan, picked up our rental car, and took off towards Switzerland. In the old days we used maps, remember them? Then it was mapquest. Well now it's gps and thank goodness for that. Instead of "follow the yellowbrick road" it's "Please drive the highlighted route". I don't think we would have made it out of the tiny village the Milan airport is in without it.

I felt a bit sorry for Connie who was driving a strange stickshift in a foreign country through mountains in the rain with little or no sleep or coffee but I quite enjoyed the drive. It was indescribably beautiful and a drop of rain is always welcome when you've been living in the desert.

We made good time and only had to backtrack once or twice ("recalculating...." the lady says in a slightly exasperated tone) but we did have an appointment to meet Robert's scout troop at the camp and I wasn't sure we'd make it. We were getting higher into the mountains and driving through all these really long tunnels and winding through these tiny little towns. All of a sudden the gps lady says "in 500 yrds. board ferry". Board the ferry? What is this? Sure enough we immediately pass through a toll gate. 35 francs and we drive staight ahead onto what seems like a narrow bridge. There are cars in front and soon enough, cars behind. What in the world?... Five minutes later, the "bridge" slowly begins to move. We are on a train ferry and as it picks up speed it carries us into a tunnel and straight into the mountains. Twenty minutes later, we drive off the ferry and lo and behold, we are in Kandersteg, our precise destination! It was like magic.

The magical mystery train ferry.




We found some coffee and some lunch and then united Robert with the rest of his gang. There is a large international scout center there with scouts from all over the world. My main worry was that the temperatures were going to be uncomfortably low and it was raining as we spoke with more in the forecast. MInd you, this is the kind of camp where everyone pitches a tent on the ground and sleeps in it. I made sure Robert had long underwear and warm socks and a hat, but I was still paranoid that he would spend the week cold and wet and would never agree to go camping again. When he seemed well settled in we left him in the capable hands of his leaders and pointed the car towards Lausanne.


The Cathedral of Lausanne. It's really old.


Our little friend gets a closer look at the carvings on the cathedral door.

We spent the next two days in Lausanne which is a beautiful old city on Lake Geneva. We spent our time like we usually do, walking around and looking at things and hanging out at cafes. There is a museum there built on the ruins of an old roman house. After we bought our tickets, the woman at the reception desk handed us each a flashlight and motioned us through a doorway. To our great surprise, we entered a totally dark hall with what seemed to be layers of broken glass on the floor. As we switched on our lights and crunched our way along the walls, we realized that the lower level of the house had been made into an exhibit of examples of ancient roman graffitti! Kids practicing their letters, writing their names, drawing stick figures of animals and their favorite gladiators, men writing love poems, calling each other rude names, scratching familiar naughty drawings; these marks had lasted thousands of years. You needed the flashlight to see them properly but we never figured out the purpose of the broken glass. I was happy I didn't wear flip flops that day.


Down at the lake.

From Lausanne it is only a beautiful hour's drive along the lake to Montreux which was to be our final destination. Along the way I made Connie stop to let me look in at the house that Le Corbusier built for his parents just outside of Vevey. Even though it wasn't the one day a week that the house is open to visitors, seeing the gate was open (well, unlocked) I popped in anyway and had a look around the garden and a peep through the doors and windows. As it happens, Corbusier's grandson was there to meet with some architects about restoring the place and he kindly allowed me a moment or two to satisfy my curiosity. It was very plain and simple with an amazing view of the lake and lots of Eames furniture. It was really cool.






The Chateau of Chillon, an erstwhile prison made famous in a poem by Lord Byron. Pretty nice.


And so, to Montreux. I must say we didn't see much of the actual town. We stayed in an old Victorian hotel by the lake which is where most of the action takes place anyway. There is a boat that takes people to towns all up and down the lake but most of the time we just walked it. The Montreux Jazz Festival has a carnival like atmosphere with souvenir and craft stalls, food and drink booths, bungee jumping and of course outdoor stages. For four days we strolled around the lake, looked at things, sat in cafes and listened to music. During the day there were live performances at outdoor stages and at night after the main big ticket shows at the auditorium there were free shows in all the clubs. The last night we had tickets for Return to Forever with Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White. Afterwards I rushed Connie next door to this club to see a band called the Ting Tings who I'd heard of and who are very popular. Alas, we arrived too late; while we certainly heard them and they sounded great, the club was too crowded to get more than a glimpse of the band. Too hip for my own good, eh?


The International Scout Center in Kandersteg. There's a really nice kitty who sleeps on a bench outside.



The next day we awoke early to fetch Robert from his mountaintop. They had been a little cold and quite a bit wet but everything had turned out fine and Robert had an excellent time. He was especially pleased with the huge new swiss army knife he had purchased. When we got back to the hotel in Milan a few hours later we spread out all his stuff on the fire escape to let it dry out. I had wanted to go into town to see the Last Supper but you need reservations now and I hadn't been able to secure one for that day so I contented myself with room service, a nap, and the assurance that we would come back for a proper visit to Italy in the near future. The vacation has to end somewhere.





Yes, those are Smurfs. Playing soccer. On a billboard made of plants.