misAdventures of Workmonkey 3.0

Interlaken, Switzerland -- Switzerland (Interlaken and the surrounding area) has to be as good as it gets. This is definately the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. The Alps are as cool as the pictures have always shown .... Adding to everything is the fact that it is fall, so the trees are turning colors I have never seen before. Also because it is fall (November specifically), it is dead season, so nobody is around. But since it isn't winter yet, the weather is still nice. We own the hiking trails. This area is still very rural, which suprised me. You walk through the valleys, and all you see are old-school farms, cows, and farmland. And I haven't seen a pigeon yet. It is a good break from the museum and church life of the past few weeks. The hostel here adds to everything, as it is sort of an American sanctuary in the middle of Switzerland. It is more like a resort than a hostel. They have a bar and club in the basement with live djs, a restaurant, satellite tv, movies every night, piano ... all for 17 bucks a night. The hostel is one of the few places in Interlaken right now that actually has people. We spent yesterday hiking into the alps to towns with populations of around 100 people ... towns of an elevation of around 8,000 feet just sort of sitting in the middle of the Alps.
The best part of the trip at this point is the simplicity that I have been able to reach. It is such a break from life in the bay area. All of my possessions are in my backpack. I wear what is clean, not what I think matches with my shoes. Breakfast and lunch is always some variation of cheese and crackers. I don't spend 12 dollars for a ham and cheese sandwich at some overpriced deli on California street. Shower when you get a chance. Sometimes, in cold water. This place is the first place with a tv. You come back at night after a long day hiking and have to invent new games to play, cause my old standbys of cable and computer games aren't here. When you get bored of a town, you pack up a few things, and move on to the next town. Every country is new. Switzerland borders with Italy, but as so far as I can tell, they don't have a thing in common. Anyway, tomorrow we move on to Munich, Germany. From there we are spanning out to check out some of the smaller German towns. Kind Ludwig's castles are supposed to be the cool thing. I'll let you know.

sound of music lover