Tuesday: High Ropes Park

We woke up today for the final full day in Switzerland. After getting breakfast, we figured out which of us got which activity patches. There are six different patches one can earn while over here for doing different requirements. It ended up being that of our contingent of fourteen people, all but one of us got five patches, while the one exception still got four. (You couldn't really get all six, seeing as it's kind of hard to get the "Snow and Ice Adventure" patch in the middle of July.) We also went over the plan for tomorrow, and then we all headed out to the High Ropes Course.

Unlike last time, in which we spent about an hour on a chartered bus to get the place, we only had to walk about 10 minutes this time around, as they opened up a new place right by the scout centre. We waited for about 15 minutes for it to open, and after that we got about 20 minutes or so of instruction before we went out on the actual ropes. It was divided into four separate courses based on difficulty. Bear in mind that this being Switzerland we're talking about, so what they consider to be easy is typically rather advanced for us in the States.

I ended up going on all four of the courses. The segments ranged from walking across a rope ladder, to 30-metre zip lines, to monkey bars, to one bit where you had to slide across while sitting on a disk which would swing up into a net. The latter one was particularly difficult, as you needed to grab onto the net without letting go (as you end up swinging back and getting stuck in the middle) and without falling off the seat (as it becomes extremely hard to unhook your carabiners from the rope and you have the heavy seat pulling you back). Most of us took about three or four tries before we finally made it across.

After about three hours or so of being several metres in the air, we put away our harnesses and our helmets and we headed to the town, all aching and exhausted. Everyone split up and did their own things -- most people went somewhere to lunch (I ordered a nice Hawaiian pizza at a restaurant) and shopped for souvenirs and Swiss chocolate. We headed back to camp to relax a little and to start packing for our way home.

Since we have to leave at 9 AM, this will probably be the last post I make here. I'll post something on Thursday, most likely (seeing as how we don't arrive at National until midnight, which translates to 6 AM Swiss time). So until then, have fun wherever you are, and while it has been a good time here, I can't wait to get back to a regular American keyboard.

Monday: Italy

First things first, we're going to backtrack a bit to Saturday night, as I forgot to mention something in yesterday's post. Some time earlier, we (or Mr. White, at least) made contact with an Italian troop that was staying in Kandersteg at the same time as us. And so, one we figured out who they were, we managed to invite them to our campfire. Admittedly, it was rather hard, as none of us spoke Italian and none of them really knew any English. However, we had a few people who knew a little French, and one of their leaders was fluent in the language. So it ended up as Americans talking to Italians in French, in a German-speaking region. And despite the language barrier, we still managed to enjoy ourselves around the fire. Bet you never see that happening at Philmont.

As for today, several of us (including me) took a train trip to the town of Stresa, which was just inside the Italian border. The first thing everyone noticed was the fact that it was all of a sudden much warmer in Italy. In fact, one could even find palm trees, when not a hundred miles ago we woke up to temperatures of about 5° (you should be used to Celsius by now). It was located right on a lake, and off the shore there were three small islands. We ended up spending most of the day touring the islands, one of which was consisted entirely of a palace with some magnificent gardens.

The other group (as far as I was told) spent the day doing several activities, including geocaching, visiting Oeschinensee, and hiking up to one of the nearby huts. Maybe I can round up someone to do a more detailed blog post at some point.

After we got back, there was the International Barbecue. It consisted of grilled hamburgers and bratwurst, and there were several tables setup with specialty foods from all over Europe. There were also several games, lots of interaction, and lots of neckerchief trading. So basically, it was a packed day.

Tomorrow, we'll be heading up to canyoning, which is yet another thing that you would never see in the USA.

Sunday: Thun, Sun

Today, we were supposed to be rafting and tubing, but due to the high water from all the recent rain, it got cancelled. So instead, most of us took the train to the city of Thun, located on the Aare River and next to the Thunersee (or Lake Thun, I guess).

Part of the reason we decided to go there was because of the international barrel organ festival there, and throughout the city, there were barrel organs playing music everywhere. We heard classical music, and we heard ABBA. In addition, several of us went to the castle at Thun, built around 1200, back before Switzerland was its own country, while a few others went on the giant Ferris Wheel in the middle of town. And while we didn't go tubing or rafting, Jimmy did jump off one of the bridges and managed a quick swim. We ended up spending about four hours there before heading back.

In what was a great relief to everyone, it stopped raining during breakfast, and it stayed nice and sunny all day. Many of us took the time to dry off our stuff, and it quite possibly managed to hit 20 degrees today (that's 68 for you Americans)! The temperature's supposed to be in the high teens or low twenties, with a chance of a little rain each day. But it doesn't seem like it we will have the constant rain that we dealt with yesterday and the day before.

So onto Monday, this time with a hope of sun.