tomarrow morning i am taking a train to germany to see my brother for a couple days, then ill go see a friend in basel, then ill go fly to portugal. i have really enjoyed my stay here in courtelary, switzerland. it would not have been as amazing if i had not met pierette. she is so friendly and hospitable. great lady, i'll never forget her. i'm sure i'll see her again someday.
i'll miss all the cows in the neighbors yard and the beautiful beautiful mountains. it is going to be hard to leave her dogs rocky, ika, and guess. at first i thought guess was some weird french dog name, but it turns out the dog was named after the company. ahhhhhh.
i made sure to go get some more cheese and more choclate before i go. the feeling of leaving here hasn't really hit me until recently, maybe an hour ago when the sun went down.
and the compost pile..... i made sure to fix it up today, and layer it good to keep it warm for the winter. i sat with it for a few minutes and ill try to go see it in the morning. theres a few pounds of dog poo in there thats roasting away. i hope pierette makes sure not to forget to add the compost to the garden. part of me is inside that pile.
i miss michelle alot
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
cheese and amazing hospitality
this is going to be a long one
george and mary antoinette!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have a friend that is going to school at the goetheanum about an hour or so away near basel switzerland. i left thursday to go visit him. before i went there pierette brought me to an old underground water mill. it is centuries old. it was used for many many years but then electricty came around and it just became a trash dump for the city and for a bucherie that was near by. later on, one man in his spare time started cleaning it out. he soon got help from his friends and after 7 years it was all cleared out. now they have tours there. it was all in french so i didnt know what they were saying ,but i think i know what was going on.
pierette didnt go with me on the tour. she went to see a friend. so i hitch-hiked to basel. i had 2 signs with me. one the said delemon( which was supposed to say delemont but it was spelled wrong) and on the back in said basel which is french. and i had another sign which said bale, which is german for basel because basel is in northern switzerland where they speak german, and i was told the german speaking people might not like that i had a french sign.
after 15 minutes i got picked up by a guy name sylvin. he brought me 15 minutes down the road to a rotary. it was a good spot to catch another ride. i gave him a bar off choclate for his kindness. i was using the sign that said delemon because delemont was on the way to basel. i was standing in a nice shady spot and got picked up by johnjack!!!!! and his nice car with his nice fancy salesperson clothes. he sold lights for the phillips company. he was coming from a business trip in lyon, france. i rode with him for 45 minutes to delemont. the ride was beutifull. steep mountains foiligiatinggldy all over the place. we came to this one point on the rode and he stopped and let me get out and enjoy the view. then we continued and soon got to delemont. he went a bit out of his way to bring me to a good spot to catch another ride. within 5 minutes i got my last ride. i didnt ask theire names. the guy seemed kind of tough and serious. he didnt talk to me much. he was with a girl who was maybe 27 or 30 who he seemed really pissed off at. i gave them a bar of choclate. he didnt say anything, the girl seemed happy. 30 minnutes later they dropped me off in the center of basel. i ran into the post office and mailed a post card to my friend dave that i've had since amsterdam.
i took the tram to dornach which is the name of the town tim is in. then i walked up the hill, got lost, asked a few people where his street was and then i finnally made it. we started talking about the cheese olympics that was happening that weekend. we were both excited about it. the next day we were on the computer at the youth center looking up the info for the cheese olympics. the last train was leaving in 30 minutes. so we ran back to his apartment, packed up and ran to the station. we didnt buy tickets because we were feeling rushed and what not. the train came but it was on the wrong side of the track and it stopped way down at the other end. so we ran over the tracks hopped over a construiction barrier thing got yelled at by a bunch of construction workers and ran to the train. i thought they were chasing me. it was a rush. we got on the train right before it left. we were on the way to the cheese olympics !!!
unfortunetly the ticket people were in that car and asked for our tikckets. then the police came out of no where and asked for our passports and all that. we had to pay 80 francs. which really stinks. (my parents are now freaking out i bet) . we rode the train for an hour to the village of the cheese olympics. when we got there, there were 80 different vendors. many free samples. it was the first day of the festival. the commisioner or whatever was there giving a speech and there were many farmers protesting. i didnt see but they were throwing boots at her. it was in the paper.
that night was the giant vat of fondu. fondu for 1200 people!!! there were hundreds of tables set up in the big room and each table had a 2 or 3 gas burner thing for the pans. we had to pay 18 francs to eat the fondu but it was very much worth it. before the fondu was ready we were talking with a nice french guy named george. he asked where we were staying, and we told him we were probolly going to camp out in the woods. then he and his wife told us to stay at there place. george is 60 something now and he is well travelled. he said he did alot of hitchiking when he was younger. the european hospitality is incredible. incredible!!! during the 2 hours of stuffing myself with fondu they bought us wine liquor, and then bought us coffee.
all the sudden this band came out of nowhere and started playing poka music. i never thought i would get into poka, but i did. the people we were sitting with grabbed our arms and started swaying back and forth real upbeat like. i was laughing hard. there were people on stilts putting pepper on people plates. georges brother kept on sayin ca va ca va.
george and marie antoinette brought us to theire beautiful big house a few towns over and showed tim and i to our room. we got to sleep on a nice big bed. before we went to bed we all sat in the kitchen and drank tea and talked. george is an administrator for a watch company. that next morning he brought us to his work and gave us a really nice tour of the factory and took time to explain everything. there is alot that goes into making watches. lots of time. i still dont much care about them though.
for the last 20 years george has gone to bangcok 2 weeks of every month for business. he drove us to a house he is having built for his daughter who is an artist. its a beautifull place in the country side. lots of big windows and light colored walls. then he drove us around the windy backroads and then into france. he liked to drive fast and i started feeling quieeezy with all that cheese still in me. then he dropped tim and i off at the cheese olympics and told us to give him a call if we wanted to stay another night. tim and i were so cheesed out. there was a cheese buffet for pretty cheap but i didnt want any cheese. so we walked some trails and hung out with some cows for a while then went back to the fest. there was this really rocking bluesish polka band playing with funky bass and tight drums. they had a girl rocking out on the apline horn. it was great.
there was a hotel down the road that we went to in hopes of getting into a sauna. when we got there we found the sauna but needed a key to get in. there was a hockey rink attached in the complex and we went inside and sat down for a bit and ended up watching a really good hockey game. it reminded me off the old days when i used to play. we called goerge and he came and picked us up. tim and i planned on making him dinner but somehow it eneded up with george taking us out to this fancy upscale restaurant. the food was delicous and the wine too. we tried to pay but george said to forget about it and threw down some money. what an amazing inspiring guy. i was tired by the time we got back and went right to bed. in the morning they again had breakfast for us. bread and homemade jam. yogurt and tea. coffee.
after breakfast we went on a walk with george through the woods. he brought us to the top of this mountain. on the top of the mountain there was a small cabin where anyone can go and spend the night. its always open. the view was blurred from all the fog but it felt really good being there. we walked back to the house and then said our goodbyes to george. we walked an hour and half back to the olympics, ate some samples for a couple hours then tim hitched a ride back up to basel.
i went and watched a crappy hockey game and then met up with pierette at the cheese parade. she was going to bring me home but that didnt work out because her niece unfortunetly got in a car accident and pierette had to leave quick and i wasnt around at the time. so i was on my own to get back. i started walking and saw a sign that said 5 hours to st.imier, which is the next village over from where im staying. i was walking down the path and met this couple that told me of a good spot to get a ride. so i went to that street and started walking. i got picked up by a family of 3. a mom and a dad that spoke little french and there 13 year old daughter. they were very kind and brought me 10 minutes down the road. i got my next ride in about 20 minutes but didnt get to far with that one. then i started walking up the steepish road towards st.imier. i never had to wait so loing for a ride since that time in austria. i didnt mind it though. i felt really good then. i was signing to myself and clapping my hands.i had fun. i was walking for over an hour putting my thumb out to every car. except when i saw a dog. he was timid at first but then he was so so friendly and loved when i patted him. he stank like cow. when i was petting him a bunch of cars had gone by.eventually i got a ride and it brought me all the way to the house. so i got to town withing 2 hours instead of walking for 5.
this is the longest entry yet. and ive tried to keep it short. so many experiences this weekend. this could be more detailed but i think im done writing for now.
george and mary antoinette!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have a friend that is going to school at the goetheanum about an hour or so away near basel switzerland. i left thursday to go visit him. before i went there pierette brought me to an old underground water mill. it is centuries old. it was used for many many years but then electricty came around and it just became a trash dump for the city and for a bucherie that was near by. later on, one man in his spare time started cleaning it out. he soon got help from his friends and after 7 years it was all cleared out. now they have tours there. it was all in french so i didnt know what they were saying ,but i think i know what was going on.
pierette didnt go with me on the tour. she went to see a friend. so i hitch-hiked to basel. i had 2 signs with me. one the said delemon( which was supposed to say delemont but it was spelled wrong) and on the back in said basel which is french. and i had another sign which said bale, which is german for basel because basel is in northern switzerland where they speak german, and i was told the german speaking people might not like that i had a french sign.
after 15 minutes i got picked up by a guy name sylvin. he brought me 15 minutes down the road to a rotary. it was a good spot to catch another ride. i gave him a bar off choclate for his kindness. i was using the sign that said delemon because delemont was on the way to basel. i was standing in a nice shady spot and got picked up by johnjack!!!!! and his nice car with his nice fancy salesperson clothes. he sold lights for the phillips company. he was coming from a business trip in lyon, france. i rode with him for 45 minutes to delemont. the ride was beutifull. steep mountains foiligiatinggldy all over the place. we came to this one point on the rode and he stopped and let me get out and enjoy the view. then we continued and soon got to delemont. he went a bit out of his way to bring me to a good spot to catch another ride. within 5 minutes i got my last ride. i didnt ask theire names. the guy seemed kind of tough and serious. he didnt talk to me much. he was with a girl who was maybe 27 or 30 who he seemed really pissed off at. i gave them a bar of choclate. he didnt say anything, the girl seemed happy. 30 minnutes later they dropped me off in the center of basel. i ran into the post office and mailed a post card to my friend dave that i've had since amsterdam.
i took the tram to dornach which is the name of the town tim is in. then i walked up the hill, got lost, asked a few people where his street was and then i finnally made it. we started talking about the cheese olympics that was happening that weekend. we were both excited about it. the next day we were on the computer at the youth center looking up the info for the cheese olympics. the last train was leaving in 30 minutes. so we ran back to his apartment, packed up and ran to the station. we didnt buy tickets because we were feeling rushed and what not. the train came but it was on the wrong side of the track and it stopped way down at the other end. so we ran over the tracks hopped over a construiction barrier thing got yelled at by a bunch of construction workers and ran to the train. i thought they were chasing me. it was a rush. we got on the train right before it left. we were on the way to the cheese olympics !!!
unfortunetly the ticket people were in that car and asked for our tikckets. then the police came out of no where and asked for our passports and all that. we had to pay 80 francs. which really stinks. (my parents are now freaking out i bet) . we rode the train for an hour to the village of the cheese olympics. when we got there, there were 80 different vendors. many free samples. it was the first day of the festival. the commisioner or whatever was there giving a speech and there were many farmers protesting. i didnt see but they were throwing boots at her. it was in the paper.
that night was the giant vat of fondu. fondu for 1200 people!!! there were hundreds of tables set up in the big room and each table had a 2 or 3 gas burner thing for the pans. we had to pay 18 francs to eat the fondu but it was very much worth it. before the fondu was ready we were talking with a nice french guy named george. he asked where we were staying, and we told him we were probolly going to camp out in the woods. then he and his wife told us to stay at there place. george is 60 something now and he is well travelled. he said he did alot of hitchiking when he was younger. the european hospitality is incredible. incredible!!! during the 2 hours of stuffing myself with fondu they bought us wine liquor, and then bought us coffee.
all the sudden this band came out of nowhere and started playing poka music. i never thought i would get into poka, but i did. the people we were sitting with grabbed our arms and started swaying back and forth real upbeat like. i was laughing hard. there were people on stilts putting pepper on people plates. georges brother kept on sayin ca va ca va.
george and marie antoinette brought us to theire beautiful big house a few towns over and showed tim and i to our room. we got to sleep on a nice big bed. before we went to bed we all sat in the kitchen and drank tea and talked. george is an administrator for a watch company. that next morning he brought us to his work and gave us a really nice tour of the factory and took time to explain everything. there is alot that goes into making watches. lots of time. i still dont much care about them though.
for the last 20 years george has gone to bangcok 2 weeks of every month for business. he drove us to a house he is having built for his daughter who is an artist. its a beautifull place in the country side. lots of big windows and light colored walls. then he drove us around the windy backroads and then into france. he liked to drive fast and i started feeling quieeezy with all that cheese still in me. then he dropped tim and i off at the cheese olympics and told us to give him a call if we wanted to stay another night. tim and i were so cheesed out. there was a cheese buffet for pretty cheap but i didnt want any cheese. so we walked some trails and hung out with some cows for a while then went back to the fest. there was this really rocking bluesish polka band playing with funky bass and tight drums. they had a girl rocking out on the apline horn. it was great.
there was a hotel down the road that we went to in hopes of getting into a sauna. when we got there we found the sauna but needed a key to get in. there was a hockey rink attached in the complex and we went inside and sat down for a bit and ended up watching a really good hockey game. it reminded me off the old days when i used to play. we called goerge and he came and picked us up. tim and i planned on making him dinner but somehow it eneded up with george taking us out to this fancy upscale restaurant. the food was delicous and the wine too. we tried to pay but george said to forget about it and threw down some money. what an amazing inspiring guy. i was tired by the time we got back and went right to bed. in the morning they again had breakfast for us. bread and homemade jam. yogurt and tea. coffee.
after breakfast we went on a walk with george through the woods. he brought us to the top of this mountain. on the top of the mountain there was a small cabin where anyone can go and spend the night. its always open. the view was blurred from all the fog but it felt really good being there. we walked back to the house and then said our goodbyes to george. we walked an hour and half back to the olympics, ate some samples for a couple hours then tim hitched a ride back up to basel.
i went and watched a crappy hockey game and then met up with pierette at the cheese parade. she was going to bring me home but that didnt work out because her niece unfortunetly got in a car accident and pierette had to leave quick and i wasnt around at the time. so i was on my own to get back. i started walking and saw a sign that said 5 hours to st.imier, which is the next village over from where im staying. i was walking down the path and met this couple that told me of a good spot to get a ride. so i went to that street and started walking. i got picked up by a family of 3. a mom and a dad that spoke little french and there 13 year old daughter. they were very kind and brought me 10 minutes down the road. i got my next ride in about 20 minutes but didnt get to far with that one. then i started walking up the steepish road towards st.imier. i never had to wait so loing for a ride since that time in austria. i didnt mind it though. i felt really good then. i was signing to myself and clapping my hands.i had fun. i was walking for over an hour putting my thumb out to every car. except when i saw a dog. he was timid at first but then he was so so friendly and loved when i patted him. he stank like cow. when i was petting him a bunch of cars had gone by.eventually i got a ride and it brought me all the way to the house. so i got to town withing 2 hours instead of walking for 5.
this is the longest entry yet. and ive tried to keep it short. so many experiences this weekend. this could be more detailed but i think im done writing for now.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
more cheese then i've ever seen
pierette has been really great with getting me cultured here in switzerland. she set up a private tour for her and i at a cheese factory. she knows the lady who helps run the place and bribed her with jam and apple juice.
when we got there we had to put on a long white coat and a hat for sanitation reasons. susan, who was the co owner of the place talked alot about the cheese process and all that goes into it. they make four different types of cheese there. one of the cheeses that they were making is about 800 grams and it takes 10 liters of milk to produce. the milk comes from local farmers who bring it to the outside of the shop and have it pumped in. they dont go into the shop with the milk for sanitation reason. the milk is pumped in throught a tube and then weighed. after it is weighed it goes through a whole mess of tubes and into a big huge vat that holds atleast 3,000 liters. it looks like a big mixing bowl. the mixing bowl gets heated up and mixed up good and they add things to it and then when its ready , big fat tubes bring it into this other machine which is full of these cans. the cheese is sprayed into the cans and then pressed to drain out the liquid. after a short time they have to flip the cans so the cheese rotates, otherwise the cheese would be stuck in the can. im still pretty confused with the whole cheese process. i think after it is pressed it goes into a salt water tank for many hours which is where it gets its outer skin. after that it sits for alteast 3 months, and every day they wash them with a damp rag to keep them moist so they dont loose to much weight. for a while they were having to wash all of them by hand, but now they have a machine that washes them and can wash up to 300 an hour or 3000 i forget. also everday the cheeses nead to be flipped.
the dairy farmers come twice a day 365 days a year. so its hard for susan and her husband to take a vacation. they both seem really happy though because they are living there dreams. susan wanted to own a small shop and her husband wanted to specialize in this one type of cheese.
their cheese is shipped to a bunch of different countries including the united states. i took some pictures and even if i knew how to get them on the compouter i wouldn't because i was asked not too.
when we got there we had to put on a long white coat and a hat for sanitation reasons. susan, who was the co owner of the place talked alot about the cheese process and all that goes into it. they make four different types of cheese there. one of the cheeses that they were making is about 800 grams and it takes 10 liters of milk to produce. the milk comes from local farmers who bring it to the outside of the shop and have it pumped in. they dont go into the shop with the milk for sanitation reason. the milk is pumped in throught a tube and then weighed. after it is weighed it goes through a whole mess of tubes and into a big huge vat that holds atleast 3,000 liters. it looks like a big mixing bowl. the mixing bowl gets heated up and mixed up good and they add things to it and then when its ready , big fat tubes bring it into this other machine which is full of these cans. the cheese is sprayed into the cans and then pressed to drain out the liquid. after a short time they have to flip the cans so the cheese rotates, otherwise the cheese would be stuck in the can. im still pretty confused with the whole cheese process. i think after it is pressed it goes into a salt water tank for many hours which is where it gets its outer skin. after that it sits for alteast 3 months, and every day they wash them with a damp rag to keep them moist so they dont loose to much weight. for a while they were having to wash all of them by hand, but now they have a machine that washes them and can wash up to 300 an hour or 3000 i forget. also everday the cheeses nead to be flipped.
the dairy farmers come twice a day 365 days a year. so its hard for susan and her husband to take a vacation. they both seem really happy though because they are living there dreams. susan wanted to own a small shop and her husband wanted to specialize in this one type of cheese.
their cheese is shipped to a bunch of different countries including the united states. i took some pictures and even if i knew how to get them on the compouter i wouldn't because i was asked not too.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
a true swiss experience
fondu!!!
for now on every place i go i want to try to learn a different cultural recipe. so the other night when i heard we were going to have fondu for dinner i made sure to get my notebook. peter taught me step by step how to make fondu as i stood beside him looking on as he cooked. peter is pierettes babies daddy.
its very important to have a hard cheese. you also need a white wine that is not sweet. if it is to sweet add a little bit of lemon juice.
chop up some garlic and onion which is optional and fry it up on a low heat with some butter if you want. some people add different things at differnt times, but after the onions and garlic are heated up well peter throws everything in together. so add the cheese, white wine, pepper, and maize which helps hold things together and stir continuously. peters mom said to stir in a 8. i like stirring randomly. how do you like to stir. email me at dward.okun@gmail.com
the mixture will start to bubble after a while and when you take the stirring spoon out you will see a solid strand which is good. you can also when adding everything in, put in whaterver else you want like tomatoe sauce or eyeball juice.
peter had cut up a bunch of pieces of bread for dipping. he said to make sure that each piece has a good amount of crust so the fork can hold onto it good without it falling in the fondu. they say that if you loose your piece of bread you have to buy a bottle of wine.
he put the bowl of fondu on top of a metal plate which had a small amount of gas burning under it to keep the cheese hot and melted and not get to clumpy like.
i ate so much fondu. i felt gross. but good. i was also told that it is important to drink wine or something hot so the cheese doesnt clump in your stomach. no soda.
saltie!!!!!! they say
for now on every place i go i want to try to learn a different cultural recipe. so the other night when i heard we were going to have fondu for dinner i made sure to get my notebook. peter taught me step by step how to make fondu as i stood beside him looking on as he cooked. peter is pierettes babies daddy.
its very important to have a hard cheese. you also need a white wine that is not sweet. if it is to sweet add a little bit of lemon juice.
chop up some garlic and onion which is optional and fry it up on a low heat with some butter if you want. some people add different things at differnt times, but after the onions and garlic are heated up well peter throws everything in together. so add the cheese, white wine, pepper, and maize which helps hold things together and stir continuously. peters mom said to stir in a 8. i like stirring randomly. how do you like to stir. email me at dward.okun@gmail.com
the mixture will start to bubble after a while and when you take the stirring spoon out you will see a solid strand which is good. you can also when adding everything in, put in whaterver else you want like tomatoe sauce or eyeball juice.
peter had cut up a bunch of pieces of bread for dipping. he said to make sure that each piece has a good amount of crust so the fork can hold onto it good without it falling in the fondu. they say that if you loose your piece of bread you have to buy a bottle of wine.
he put the bowl of fondu on top of a metal plate which had a small amount of gas burning under it to keep the cheese hot and melted and not get to clumpy like.
i ate so much fondu. i felt gross. but good. i was also told that it is important to drink wine or something hot so the cheese doesnt clump in your stomach. no soda.
saltie!!!!!! they say
Monday, October 19, 2009
apple juice
today we took all the apples that we collected to the apple press place in the village right down the road. there was a machine that i put the apples into that funneled them into a shredder which then shot the shredded apple into a bucket. once the bucket was full we emptied it into another machine that squeeeeeeeeeeezed out the juice. im going to try to explain the machine. it was cylindrical and maybe 3 feet tall and a diameter of a foot and a half. the outer part was made of corregate metal that had a detachable sac on the inside. and in the very middle of the machine was a rubber tube. i guess its kind of lake the layers of a tree. kinda sorta not really much at all. sooooo, we put the grated apples into the machine there, then put the lid on top. there was a hose attached to it that filled up the rubber tube with water which was in the middle applying pressure and expanding outward to squeeze out all the juice. the juice would flow down the corregated metal into a bowl that went all around it, then funneled out into a bucket after going through a strainer. while that was going on i was making shredded apples with that other machine. then when the second machine was done juicing we would open it up, push down the dry stuff and fill it up with the shredded mushy apples. we kept doing that until it couldnt be compacted anymore then we would empty the sac filled with dry apple stuff into a wheel barrow and then set aside for the cows.
after a few hours we made 350 liters of juice.
after a few hours we made 350 liters of juice.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
the swiss alps
what an amazing adventure. i am kind of an idiot for doing what i did. scary scary
pierette and her friend went about 3 hours south to a town called evolene. its right in the alps. i went along for the ride not knowing where i was going to sleep that night, so i brought a sleeping bag and tarp. when we got into the town we went to a nice restaurant and pierette and her friend sylvia bought me a delicous pizza and some wine. she was friends with the owner of the restaurat and asked if it was ok with him if i slept in the ski storage room that was connected to the restaurant. after the meal i was shown to my room. i put my sleeping bag on the floor and slept sooooooo good for 9 hours. i woke up around 7 and packed up my things and headed for the mountains. it looked so much closer then they were. it took me an hour to get to the start of the trail. by the time i got there i needed a rest. i started making my way up and everything was going great, and then i kind of lost the trail. i ended up walking up on some sheep. we both starteled eachtoher. the sheep started baaahing and then all the others started. i walked for a while through the woods and then up this real steep part with alot of help fromthe walkng stick. then i came to a road. i was a little annoyed to see a paved road after the ordeal of getting up that slope. i ate some chocolate, found a trail and headed up the mountain. there were lots of icy streams gushing down the mountain. at on point i got to a stream that was to wide to hop over. there was a rope to hold onto to help get across. the water was flowing fast under the ice and i couldnt make out what were icy rocks and what was ice. i started making my way across and then the ice broke away and flew down the stream and my boot went shin deep in the water. but it wasnt a problem because i was wearing water boots that pierette let me borrow. there not very good for hiking but they kept my feet dryish.when i was crossing the stream i was so happy and excited i started making noises and screaming and whooing.
soon after i again lost the trail, so i made my own way, which i like to do but at the same time i dont for the reason that trails are there so the area doesnt get ruined by hikers and what not. i found a really awsome walking stick that really helped me out alot. i am incredibly thankfull for that stick. more on the stick later.
i was soon back on a trail and everything was going really great. the view was amazing. snow capped mountains all around. i could see the small villages below, way way down below. then piertte sent me a text message asking me to come down because they wanted to leave in about an hour. and i had been hiking for maybe 5 hours by then and i was way up there. i wanted to keep hiking and get to the top but i needed to get down quick. this is when things started getting intense. i realize now that i should have turned around on the trail i was on and went down that way, but i just started sliding down the steep mountain. sliding down wet grass, and rocks, and when i started going to fast i would jam the stick in the ground to stop, then start again. i did this for a while until i got to a cliff. terrifying!!! i am very very bad with heights. no way i could have gone back up the mountain to get back on the trail.much too steep. i had to find another way down. so the walking stick and i slowly edged over to the right crawling along the slide of the cliff holding onto small trees so i wouldn't fall. if i didnt have the stick helping me i dont know what i would have done on that part of the mountain. the stick and i were making are way over to an area where i saw that it was possible to get down a bit further onto a more flat part. when we got there i sat on the edge and put my foot on a branch sticking out the side, then i jumped down putting the stick in the ground at the same time and landed safely. then i realized that i lost a shoe that i had attached to my bag. with a good bit of trouble i climbed back up just a bit and got the shoe then jumped back down. for a while i was able to make my way down by doing the same thing, just find branches sticking out where i could grab onto and jump down and jam the walking stick in the ground to keep my balance. then, there were no more places where i could jump down onto a flat area, it was steep steep steep, and no grass, just icy rocks. i was getting really nervous which was probolly my biggest problem.i put the stick in between some rocks and i was about to make a step when i dropped the stick and it rolled and rolled then fell off the cliff. i was upset that i didnt have the stick any more , and i was even more bothered that i lost the stick that i had somewhat of a bond with. i took off my gloves to get a better grip on the rocks and slowly slowly made my way across. at one point i had to crawl along the side of the cliff on my stomach. then i found more places where i could jump down a few feet at a time. then i looked over and saw a steep but not too steep grassy area where i could just slide the rest of the way down. with alot of trouble and nervous sweating i made my way over and rested knowing that i wasnt at risk anymore of falling off the cliff. aarghhhhh. it was ridiculous.
so i found another walking stick that reminded me alot of the other one, and i just started sliding down the mountain and jabbing the stick int he ground when i got to fast. i did this the rest of the way down for about 15 minutes until i got to a trail.
i walked down the trail and soon came to the main road. it was an hour past the time that pierette wanted me to be there. they were waiting for me at a restaurant and i still had an hour to walk. fortunetly, the second person i showed my thumb to gave me a ride all the way. his name was philipp. sooon enough i was back safe and with a big big smile on my face. ill never forget this experince. and i will never go down a mountain like that again. probolly not, maybe.
pierette and her friend went about 3 hours south to a town called evolene. its right in the alps. i went along for the ride not knowing where i was going to sleep that night, so i brought a sleeping bag and tarp. when we got into the town we went to a nice restaurant and pierette and her friend sylvia bought me a delicous pizza and some wine. she was friends with the owner of the restaurat and asked if it was ok with him if i slept in the ski storage room that was connected to the restaurant. after the meal i was shown to my room. i put my sleeping bag on the floor and slept sooooooo good for 9 hours. i woke up around 7 and packed up my things and headed for the mountains. it looked so much closer then they were. it took me an hour to get to the start of the trail. by the time i got there i needed a rest. i started making my way up and everything was going great, and then i kind of lost the trail. i ended up walking up on some sheep. we both starteled eachtoher. the sheep started baaahing and then all the others started. i walked for a while through the woods and then up this real steep part with alot of help fromthe walkng stick. then i came to a road. i was a little annoyed to see a paved road after the ordeal of getting up that slope. i ate some chocolate, found a trail and headed up the mountain. there were lots of icy streams gushing down the mountain. at on point i got to a stream that was to wide to hop over. there was a rope to hold onto to help get across. the water was flowing fast under the ice and i couldnt make out what were icy rocks and what was ice. i started making my way across and then the ice broke away and flew down the stream and my boot went shin deep in the water. but it wasnt a problem because i was wearing water boots that pierette let me borrow. there not very good for hiking but they kept my feet dryish.when i was crossing the stream i was so happy and excited i started making noises and screaming and whooing.
soon after i again lost the trail, so i made my own way, which i like to do but at the same time i dont for the reason that trails are there so the area doesnt get ruined by hikers and what not. i found a really awsome walking stick that really helped me out alot. i am incredibly thankfull for that stick. more on the stick later.
i was soon back on a trail and everything was going really great. the view was amazing. snow capped mountains all around. i could see the small villages below, way way down below. then piertte sent me a text message asking me to come down because they wanted to leave in about an hour. and i had been hiking for maybe 5 hours by then and i was way up there. i wanted to keep hiking and get to the top but i needed to get down quick. this is when things started getting intense. i realize now that i should have turned around on the trail i was on and went down that way, but i just started sliding down the steep mountain. sliding down wet grass, and rocks, and when i started going to fast i would jam the stick in the ground to stop, then start again. i did this for a while until i got to a cliff. terrifying!!! i am very very bad with heights. no way i could have gone back up the mountain to get back on the trail.much too steep. i had to find another way down. so the walking stick and i slowly edged over to the right crawling along the slide of the cliff holding onto small trees so i wouldn't fall. if i didnt have the stick helping me i dont know what i would have done on that part of the mountain. the stick and i were making are way over to an area where i saw that it was possible to get down a bit further onto a more flat part. when we got there i sat on the edge and put my foot on a branch sticking out the side, then i jumped down putting the stick in the ground at the same time and landed safely. then i realized that i lost a shoe that i had attached to my bag. with a good bit of trouble i climbed back up just a bit and got the shoe then jumped back down. for a while i was able to make my way down by doing the same thing, just find branches sticking out where i could grab onto and jump down and jam the walking stick in the ground to keep my balance. then, there were no more places where i could jump down onto a flat area, it was steep steep steep, and no grass, just icy rocks. i was getting really nervous which was probolly my biggest problem.i put the stick in between some rocks and i was about to make a step when i dropped the stick and it rolled and rolled then fell off the cliff. i was upset that i didnt have the stick any more , and i was even more bothered that i lost the stick that i had somewhat of a bond with. i took off my gloves to get a better grip on the rocks and slowly slowly made my way across. at one point i had to crawl along the side of the cliff on my stomach. then i found more places where i could jump down a few feet at a time. then i looked over and saw a steep but not too steep grassy area where i could just slide the rest of the way down. with alot of trouble and nervous sweating i made my way over and rested knowing that i wasnt at risk anymore of falling off the cliff. aarghhhhh. it was ridiculous.
so i found another walking stick that reminded me alot of the other one, and i just started sliding down the mountain and jabbing the stick int he ground when i got to fast. i did this the rest of the way down for about 15 minutes until i got to a trail.
i walked down the trail and soon came to the main road. it was an hour past the time that pierette wanted me to be there. they were waiting for me at a restaurant and i still had an hour to walk. fortunetly, the second person i showed my thumb to gave me a ride all the way. his name was philipp. sooon enough i was back safe and with a big big smile on my face. ill never forget this experince. and i will never go down a mountain like that again. probolly not, maybe.
apples
i dont think i ever before climbed an apple tree until a few days ago. im pretty afraid of heights, but when im in a tree its different, i feel safe.
pierette and i went to her friends house who have a lot of apple trees. my job was to climb the trees and shake them so the apples would fall. they fell onto tarps we put on the grass and then we collected them. my pants and sweatshirt ended up getting covered in cow poop. the brown really went well with the orange of my sweater.
her friends were very nice people who seemed to live very simple lives. theire kitchen is exactly how you might think of what a farmers kitchen might look like with a wood stove and those red and white square sequenced curtains. they gave me coffee with home made schnapps in it. they made the schnapps with potatoes that they grew. the kitchen smelled like cow and horses which makes sense because the barn is directly connected to the kitchen. i felt good there. comftorble.
a few days ago i climbed pierettes apple trees with pooja and gave them a good shaking. it was so funny watching her trying to get down from the tree. once the neighbors cows saw that we were picking apples they all came over to the fence for a snack. i hopped over the fence to try to milk one but they wouldnt let me near them. someday i will milk a cow.
there is an apple juicing place down the street where we dropped off all the apples. on monday and tuesday we wil juice them.
the compost is doing great, even in this cold weather. its shrunken down to almost half the size. pierette let me put the dogs poo in there which will be broken down and rud of any pathonegens after the compsoting cycle.
pierette and i went to her friends house who have a lot of apple trees. my job was to climb the trees and shake them so the apples would fall. they fell onto tarps we put on the grass and then we collected them. my pants and sweatshirt ended up getting covered in cow poop. the brown really went well with the orange of my sweater.
her friends were very nice people who seemed to live very simple lives. theire kitchen is exactly how you might think of what a farmers kitchen might look like with a wood stove and those red and white square sequenced curtains. they gave me coffee with home made schnapps in it. they made the schnapps with potatoes that they grew. the kitchen smelled like cow and horses which makes sense because the barn is directly connected to the kitchen. i felt good there. comftorble.
a few days ago i climbed pierettes apple trees with pooja and gave them a good shaking. it was so funny watching her trying to get down from the tree. once the neighbors cows saw that we were picking apples they all came over to the fence for a snack. i hopped over the fence to try to milk one but they wouldnt let me near them. someday i will milk a cow.
there is an apple juicing place down the street where we dropped off all the apples. on monday and tuesday we wil juice them.
the compost is doing great, even in this cold weather. its shrunken down to almost half the size. pierette let me put the dogs poo in there which will be broken down and rud of any pathonegens after the compsoting cycle.
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