Switzerland

Wow this place is amazing, and I really really mean it. I have been to yellowstone, banff, jasper, glacier, yosemite, zion, and the grand canyon but it was re-freaking-diculous. Lake geneva is gorgeous, the standard of living is high, the mountains are devloped yet remote and green, and the money is extremely colorful. Yes, it is the coolest looking money I have seen thus far, though this place ain't cheap but what in europe has been? Granada maybe-

Jon picks me up and I meet his x girlfriend from wisconsin, [frat bro] and his other friend and HIS girlfriend. They had traveled together for the last 2 weeks and were starting to wear a bit, so I came along at just the right time. We started for a Chateau castle and cheese town way into the alps. It was a quaint place, and I went there directly after being picked up from the train station. It was really really nice to be in a cool environment, not so darn hot as it had been nearly everywhere else I had been. Like so many other castles I had seen, I thought it was remote and very nice. How did they build this thing so far from farmable society? I have some nice photos from these mountains that were amongst the most photogenic spots I saw. After that we headed to the grocery store and made pasta.

What a relief after so much travel to be able to:
-make calls for free from his house. Its cheap from swiss to usa and his dad pays for it
-use the internet with all connectability as you saw, and for as much time as possible
-wash my clothes in a machine
-not wear a moneybelt
-wash my clothes in a machine

Now part of the problem is that these people kept arguing and I wasn't aware of the history so that wasn't ideal but I would basically describe the place as a nice house newly refurnished 5 minute walk from the ski lift. Its like whistler on steriods. What a paradise location, and what an expense to own... his dad owns a biotech company in WI which he started, and uses the house maybe 1-2 months a year. This gave me new perspective on goals for the future, with a bmw and <2k kilometers. Yeah thats right!

They went paragliding or something the next day while I hiked around the mountain. I took a local small train and saw peaks, valleys, glaciers, lakes, and cows with real cowbells all over the place. It was great to get outdoors and unless you've spent time in the mountains, its hard to compare to much else. I borrowed a camelback water backpack and took off at my own pace, and saw a lot. I will be coming back to switzerland with a bunch of money, to get a numbered bank acount, and see the outdoors. Swiss are big into freedom of private banking. No Social security number needed, very fascinating. The paragliding was awsome I guess [wasn't invited but hey I will take the free stay] and we had dinner with a family friend. I learned that if I want the benefits of european citizenship, I marry a belgian or swiss or swede or german, then get a passport, get them a US deal, and then divorce in 6 months. What a plan! They gave me some great perspective on education and living in swiss. Europe does have its advantages.

I washed some clothes.

Then I left for milan.

Notes:

-I downloaded and listed to music I like for the first time in over a month
-a sinus infection was creeping up
-I had some beer
-I still missed my close friends
-jon is very educated on wine and cheese, go figure
-I hate washing clothes in the sink it really sucks for long periods of time.
-I liked the swiss money so much I kept a 20 franc bill. Stupid perhaps, but I thought it was worth it for some reason.