The Rest of Switzerland

That Saturday (March 19) was really a recouping day, as it was raining for most of the day, although half the group took the tram back up to Glion and did a lot more hiking higher up the mountain.  It eventually cleared up, but I just wasn't willing to be cold and wet for half the day.  So, Nolan showed me where the grocery store was, and I bought meat, cheese, fresh bread, and chocolate, and had myself a nice lunch while Nolan taught the Moosbruggers how to play poker and blackjack.  Also, we watched the Simpsons--in German.  I couldn't understand what was being said, and it was an awful episode, but it was cool nonetheless that I was able to watch it in another country and another language (although the part we were in was the French sector of Switzerland).

Sunday the 20th (another sunny and warm day) was basically our last day in Switzerland, and we woke up at 7 am, at breakfast a half hour later (when we finally figured out that we could eat the bread, with the meat, cheese, etc.  We walked to the train station and caught the 3:10 to Yuma--just kidding. We got on the 9am train Lausanne, got their a half hour later, and spent half the day wandering around.  After getting out of the train station, we walked up the STEEP slope of the city to get to St. Francois Church--which was locked.  So, we look at the map and see the cathedral.  Then we get the bright idea to hike another mile to the cathedral, down the hill and back up again, but luckily this time we had steps, only to find--it was Protestant.  It had clearly been Catholic at one point, based on certain statues (such as Mary, I believe) and elements from the facade that were taken down and for some reason put in the narthex.

Us at the hermitage, in a tree.

So, we decided to split up, and John, Audrey, Paul, Naomi, and I went off in our own group and headed to a chateau, which simply seemed to be a government building, and wasn't too interesting.  So, after briefly checking to see if it was open, we went to a (former) hermitage, which looked simply to be a large piece of property outside of and above town, with a couple hiking trails, a playground, and a large lawn.  OK, I just looked it up, and it was at one time a religious retreat center, which makes sense, based on how relaxed we were just being up there for half an hour or 45 minutes.  There were some crazy trees, which had roots and branches that twisted every which way, and we were able to climb them precisely because of this--yep, I pretty much felt like a little kid all over again.

My caramel eclair.

After lying down on the lawn for a few minutes and letting the sun warm us up, we went down to a district of the town called Ouchy [sic].  That is no typo, and we all had fun with it, getting pictures in front of a bus stop sign.  We passed through there on our way to the Olympic Museum, which was pretty cool, with a lot of memorabilia, well-kept grounds, statues, and eight columns with the names of Olympic hosts, and committee presidents; but, after seeing that the entry price was 15 CHF, we said "heck no!" and left.  We didn't really have time anyway, and we took the 1 1/2 mile or so long trek back to the train station.  On the way, though, we got lunch, and I stopped by a cafe where I got a baguette of ham, cheese, lettuce, and mayo, with a Coke and caramel eclair, which was easily the best dessert I had had in months.  We caught the 2:17 train to Geneva, went to a park, took a mini nap in the park under the warm sun and in the cool breeze, and then headed over to the Basilica of Notre Dame for a half hour to check on the English Mass time and to take a look around.  After a quick prayer and taking in the awesome Gothic architecture, we continued on our way around Geneva, looking at different shops, saying the rosary as we went.  We walked by the bay, which looked to be very peaceful.  One thing that I really wanted to do was have hot chocolate in Switzerland, which, if their chocolate was any indicator, was gonna be good--and it was.  Easily the best hot chocolate on this side of the world--even better than Italy's.  It was VERY hot, and made with so much dark chocolate that it tasted like a melted chocolate bar.

Nave of Basilica of Notre Dame

From there, we met up with the rest of the group at the basilica for Mass, and as we got close we saw a crowd of protesters, who were clearly Arab, marching outside the wall surrounding the basilica, holding torches, flags, and posters, chanting some crazy slogans.  It was both humorous and a little frightening at the same time, and I'm not really sure if they were even chanting against the Catholic Church or whatever it might have been, but we went into the church and left without incident.  During the Mass, though, I experienced something that I hadn't the entire time I had been in Europe up to that point--a piano.  Every other church has had the organ and/or Gregorian chants, so I had to chuckle to myself when I heard it, especially since one of our fellow Bernardians is very traditional and doesn't think that pianos are licit instruments in the Mass (which, according to one papal document, is not).

Afterward, we took a train to the Geneva airport, where we waited around from 8:30 until our 6:30 am flight back home.  It was probably THE worst sleep I have ever had, having slept first in a neck and spine-wrenching position in a lounge chair, then on the hard tile floor.  Luckily, we were able to grab a pretty good spot, where we were able to make a 'wall' with the chairs, making sure that no one would steal our stuff.  It was a good system, although I was really hot sleeping by the vent, then really cold when I woke up 2 hours later and the heat was off.  At the time it was absolutely miserable, but looking back on it, all I can do is laugh, since it was the most ridiculous situation.  And that's all folks from Switzerland!