Swissitude

My weekend so far: Thursday I spend the day in Neuchâtel, another lakeside town built into a mountain. I explored the hilly, cobblestone streets until I found the tourism office. Then, with a brochure as my guide, I found my way to the castle. Climbing to the top yielded an AMAZING 360-degree view of the roofs staggering before the lake. I continued walking along a street with a similar view and then wandered back down to the waterfront to eat lunch. After, I went to the Museum of Natural History and almost got locked in for the night! (Night at the Museum..) I must have been the only one left and I was walking out of the bathroom and this woman carrying a tray of cash was like, "Oh! J'ai déjà fermé la porte!" And she unlocked it to let me out, HAHA. Imagine. As I headed back to the train station, which happened to also yield a fantastic view, the sun was setting pink over the mountains.

Friday, planning to go to Basel, I took the train to Bern to connect. But for some ridiculous, unexplainable reason, I got on the wrong train, even though it didn't say "Basel" as any of the destinations. So I ride it for about 20 minutes and then ask this woman if it's going to Basel. She shakes her head no and looks at me like I'm crazy. So I get off at this tiny stop in this podunk town with tumbleweeds and only two other people wating for the train to go BACK to Bern. Of course, the past two trains I was on, no one came by to check my ticket, but on this train, two minutes before getting to Bern, the guy comes by and tells me I have the wrong ticket. I try to explain that I got on the wrong train and that I was just trying to get to Basel, and he "let me off" with a lower price. Anyway, I finally get on the right train and an hour later arrive in Basel. Of course, because I only have a small map in my Frommer's book, I start walking the wrong way, thinking it's the right way (much like in Madrid, Mom). After about a half an hour I realize it's the wrong way and head back the way I've come. By this time it's already mid-afternoon and all the sights I want to see will be closed in about an hour and a half anyway. So, dejected, I head home. The good part was that although I didn't get to see Basel, coming home early allowed me to pick up Liz at the train station, in from Zurich! That night we went out for gelato with Isabel, Lauren and Seth and spent the night talking. It was a good ending to a bad start of the day.

Today, Saturday, Liz and I slept in and then went out to explore Fribourg. It was great because I haven't even had the chance to explore my own city! We walked up and down and all around, discovering that Fribourg is a BEAUTIFUL medieval town. We walked through the open-air marker, down to the river, across a covered bridge, in a gorgeous cathedral, pass a convent and a panoramic view of the city. I fell in love with the city I've lived in for a month without really knowing. After, we had a lunch of waffles (with Nutella for me, apples and cinnamon for Liz) at an adorable cafe, and before we knew it, Liz had to go back to Geneva. Great day.

Word of the week: Swissitude (n) the Swiss attitude about life, including punctuality, logic, and cleanliness.