I know I said I’d write about mount juic today but I’m a little tired and grumpy so lets just say its a big fucking mountain with a castle on top. And yes, because I didn’t wanna pay the 18 euro to get up and down I walked. Thought the pictures would be bigger but you can always give them a good old click to do that.
The next day I decided I would go outside and read The Da Vinci Code while I waited for my train. To my surprise there was to be no reading done that afternoon as I heard bells, whistles, shouting and microphones across from the park I was beginning to read in. Apparently there was a protest march going on down one of the main streets of the city. The people in the march, to my knowledge wanted some country to be liberated. I couldn’t read the signs but I did notice quite a few children in the crowd. Its always makes your message louder when you have children chanting in the middle of it. To be honest everyone loves kids and if you see a bunch of kids in a march their obviously gonna bring some attention. So I spent the better part of two hours following them and seeing what was up. It was a nice unexpected surprise to round out my barcelona experience.
That night at 8 I rode the train to geneve. Unfortunately when booking the ticket I didn’t know the train went to Zurich so instead I booked it only to Geneva but to be honest it wasn’t that big of a deal. I stayed up and finished reading the Da Vinci Code, and to be honest alot better than Angels and Demons. I still feel as if Dan Brown is somewhat of a flat writer. His character don’t really develop, I don’t really feel they have a lot of depth and his descriptions are lacking. I’d already seen the movie and it really didn’t ruin the book for me, in fact I had forgotten how many of the puzzles were solved so it was fun in an adventure sense and thats really what the guy writes. I’ll give him a hand for being able to write a compelling adventure. Like I said I enjoyed it above his other books and am happy that I read it. But I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t criticize it just a little. Back on subject. This time on the train I didn’t really feel comfortable sleeping, the girl next to me was throwing on cakes of makeup for the first 2 hours she was on the train and spraying perfume all over the place. To be honest neither was really helping cus to me she still looked like a man.
Also last time I was on the train there were a lot of families this time it was just a lot of younger loud people that kept walking back and forth in and out of the coach. I don’t know I just didn’t have the same sense of security this time so I had a bit of a hard time sleeping, and I really only got a couple hours of sleep. At 6 it was time for me to get off the train, oh and let me say this was quite possibly the slowest train I have taken so far. I’d say it was sitting on the tracks more than it was moving. Literally. There were many a time I would look out the window and we would be sitting still just outside some station. Anyways so I got off the train at Geneva and was still surprised that I had not been asked for my passport on the train, the same as when I went into Spain. When I went to board another train I found out why. You have to exit the station to get to the other ramps when I went to do it I had to go through border control. It was quite simple though. Handed the guard my passport, she said thanks. Then entered another room with soldiers who were going through all the steps with the man-woman who couldn’t stop spraying cologne and another guy. They were being patted down stuff going through scanners. This made me scared I thought I’d have to do all this, but when the soldier, who must have seen I had no idea what to do, looked at me he just asked for my passport and said thanks and continued to search the other two. So border control for me was a breeze.
Next I hopped on a train to basel and must admit I passed out for at least 45 min. It was nice though. I’m finally started to feel as though my rail pass was worth it. On the train to Geneva I saved 250 euro and all the trains I’m taking inside of Switzerland are free. Usually they’re about 30 bucks each way. Anyways I relaxed a bit and made my way to basel.
When I arrived in Basel the first thing I did was to book my ticket from Interlaken to Bologna and I decided I would get to Bologna a day early. I didn’t think it neccessary to spend 7 days in Interlaken I’m sure 6 will be quite enough. Next I went to my hostel and I must say it is actually really nice. Aside from the beds being pushed up right next to eachother I’m quite happy with it. After stopping at the hostel it was time to explore. I saw the bridge, the cathedral, the river, the old city walls and towers, the shopping area and the market. I think I accomplished quite a bit for a day of wandering. After a days wandering I’d have to say basel sure does like their odd statues with dragon like beasts and everything has to have a floral stylized gate. Its actually a really cool and I really liked it. The street musicians inside the market building were the best though. I sat and listened to them for a little bit and it just made the experience complete.
One thing that did shock me though were the price tags I saw on everything. I don’t know how it happened but switzerland has to be the most expensive place I’ve been. Sure the pound beats the dollar 2 to 1 but here the swiss franc is about equal to the dollar, yet a mcdonalds meal costs around 13 chf. Yes prices are ridiculous. I really don’t know how people survive here they must just be making boats of money. Its for real scary. A bag of off brand chips 4 dollars. It’s crazy, its just absolutely crazy. I’m still shocked at it.
In conclusion Switzerland is cool and pretty but it comes with a price. I would write more but I feel my energy waning. I’ve only got probably 4 hours sleep and I could have honestly passed out and not written anything at all, but I know I have loyal fans that I must think about as well. So to all of you, I hope you have enjoyed the telling of this tale and the pictures that go with it. Goodnight
-D
Filed under: Uncategorized , backpacking, barcelona, basel, march, mcdonalds, money, photos, prices, protest, spain, swiss, switzerland, train, travel
