blowin' up the blog, part II: swiss adventures

well thanks to an early morning jet lag wake up, and a day free from work or responsibility (except of course my responsibility to you the blog-reading public), i am now ready to share with you a truly awesome blog. but first my friends, let me say that it's good to be back home. there's something so sweet about coming back to new york - right from the shitty attitude the passport control guys have, to the the dirty and noisy subway, to the thick, sweaty air that hits you as you walk out of the train. i love this town!

anyway the last few days of the trip were spent in switzerland in the company of josh and julie. as far as i could tell, julie is rocking the international business world like a true playa, while josh mostly spends his days searching for a weed connection in basel. their hard work is paying off - julie has become her company's go-to global person and josh finally got the hook up!! (it took a little convincing though)

swizterland is an extremely impressive country. and also shockingly expensive. everything seems to be in order and everyone wants to keep it that way. the trains are amazingly punctual, the streets are clean, bicycles are treated with utmost respect, and even the bathrooms are impressive. this public toilet below really blew my mind - it was incredibly clean, had buttons for flushing, hand washing, and blow drying your hands, a slot for disposing of needles and razorblades, and it was free!

and of course, the scenery was beautiful. like jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, maybe-there-is-a-god-after-all beautiful. josh and i spent 3 days in a part of the country known as the bernese overland, a region of jagged peaks, crystal lakes, and plenty of tourists. especially japanese tourists. the town of grindelwald is the first place in the world that i have been where there is a special tourist office catering only to japanese. we saw some really awesome stuff: soaring mountains, marmots, lots of cows. along the way we came across - in total seriousness - a goat that was herding cows, which took my respect for goats to a whole new level. and it is so easy to hike in the alps - all the trails are well-marked, there are cable cars for the tired/lazy/handicapped/jaded, and there is drinking water (straight from the glacier to you) all along the trails.

our swiss adventures included swimming in an ice-cold alpine lake, getting stuck in a herd of cows, meeting a dude who was half-man, half ogre, and passing by a butcher/restaurant that sold only horse meat. we also happened upon a vitriola festival in a town called thun. 250 organ grinders sweating it out in the hot summer sun, dressed up in random 1910 traditional outfits -- the only thing that was missing were the dancing monkeys.

it was really a great end to a month and a half of fantastic travels. so to close the show, here's a little collection of the highlights.

swiss times

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