I,ll try to cover everything....

So I cant find the apostrophe on this keyboard and the "y" is in the "Z" location. Frustrating doesnt quite describe it.

Anyway, first 10 things we love about Switzerland:

1. Free city transportation if you stay in Interlaken.
2. 35% discount on mountain trains with the Eurail pass
3. Chocolate
4. Everything is in 4 languages
5. Their money is as colorful as it is practical and beautiful
6. Mountains and trail network
7. Their grocery stores
8. Its people
9. Their chocolate milk
10. Australian travelers who also love Switzerland

Ive been hesitant to post a blog entry describing Turners and mz time in Switzerland so far, mainly because I know words will fail me. It would help to have pictures to augment the story when said failures inevitably occur, but getting online is incredibly expensive here, and most importantly quite inconvenient. Therefore I havent found a good waz to post pictures yet. Maybe soon. Ill try mz best now to describe a little of whats been going on...

We got here two nights ago, after a picturesque train ride from Bérn. I felt like crap the whole first day, so it was fortunate that most of it was spent traveling to get to Interlaken. We took it pretty easy the first night...did a little exploring around the town but mainly got settled.

The next day, however, we took some good advice from our hostels staff and went on a short train ride to a village higher up in the mountains. From there we took another train even higher up into the mountains to another, even taller, village. From there we took a cable car even higher up into the mountains. Then we walked a really long way along a ridge of a very tall mountain. Im not even going to try to describe these views we were taking in. Ill just say it was a beautiful day and that ive never seen anything like it in my life. My only comparison would be my time spent with Reid Stribling in Jackson Hole when I went there with his bro Kzle. However, to get the same type of views in Wyo, you would have to hike for possibly days until you finally reaped the fruits of your labor. Here, I guess since space is at a premium, they develop and build these villages halfway up the mountains and then have trains connecting everything.

Today, for instance, we took a train about halfway up Mount Eiger (3.97 kilometers) and then hiked a trail that lead near the top and around the Eiger glacier (which is disappearing rapidly they say here). It took about 4 hours, 1 of which was spent hiking in about 6 inches ( or 16 centimeters if zou will) of snow. We could see everything. We could even see where we had hiked the previous day and laughed about how we thought the views were great at that time.

Im leaving so much out here.

Have I mentioned how cold it is? Turner and I had to gear up upon arrival just because we are hopelessly used to the Southern climate. Its like 50 degrees (10 or 11 celsius if zou will) at nights, and literally freezing at times on the mountains.

Have I mentioned our hostel? Its a pretty cool spot...lots of international young people with loads of personality. I see a lot of good cooks in the kitchen too...

Have I mentioned the food? Its one of mine and Turners favorite pastimes here-going to the market and figuring out what to cook.

Have I mentioned the markets? The first day we were here we tried to buy produce, but we didnt know you had to weigh the produce and print out a barcode to stick on it. We got in the checkout line and when it was our turn, the lady notified us of this detail. She then proceeded to abandon her checkout line so that she could personally instruct us on the proper method. She was so incredibly nice I could have kissed her. I dont think anything like that would happen even in the State of Hospitality (well okaz it probably would but it wouldnt happen in most places).

Ive gotta stop writing now or Ill burn through 10 francs. Tomorrow T and I are going canyoning the whole day. It looks pretty intense. It was kind of pricey...180 francs (about $160?), but from the videos and stories weve been hearing around here it should be well worth it. We,re pumped. We,ll let zou know how it goes...

P.S. Hearing tons of gloom and doom about "the crash" and our markets. Im reallz trying to put it out of my mind, but its all around us. Saw that the Fed kept rates at 2 % and thats really the last that Ive heard. Iäm not really knowledgable enough to comment on it, but I hope we can pull out of this mess before slipping any deeper.

Goodbye,
Au revoir,
Auf wiedersehen,
Ciao,

Kirby,
(Turner)