Tuesday 28 October 2008

Happy metro day!

My host at the hospitality club very kindly informed me of the fact that the first metro in Switzerland was opening while I was staying in Lausanne. The result may be seen below. =)

Monday 20 October 2008

HELP!

I'm trapped in a wine cellar in the french swiss countryside! There is no way out! Send more hors d'euvres!

(For illustrative purposes only.)

It is with both heavy and happy heart that I leave my new friends in Champvent, near Yverdon. Heavy, because it will be some time until I see them again, and happy, because I was so extremely lucky to get to meet them.

We had an excellent time picking grapes near this castle:

Chateau Champvent

Some of the gang, having a afternoon bread-and-chocolate break

If I ever get tired of travelling, I can at any time come back as an au pair, or was it garçon pair. Seriously considered it...

Sunday 19 October 2008

Interlude

Thus is told of our slightly heroic agonist of this story, squire Dimsloth the Slow. Only the birds in the sky and oxen in the fields bore witness to the following event, as the squire was upon entering the glorius realm of Champvent:

Being a creature of nature, Dimsloth, as most other beings upon this very earth, frequently answers nature's call. Riding his trusted aluminium steed, Brocinante by name, along a trivial road, our squire found himself in just such a state as of in no long time wanting to perform this particular act of nature. As no opportunities to do so presented themselves along the road, the need made it self ever more present. At a specific point Dimsloth decided that his state of need should and would be swiftly alleviated, although the place was not of tactical value. He thus dismounted Brocinante, which he tethered to a sign post, and proceeded in his firm intention.

Sweet relief came upon our hero, as the traffic on said road suddenly increased. Wagons passing him started to make themselves known by use of their horn. Not wanting to turn around, squire Dimsloth finished his business with grim determination. Soon thereafter, turning around smiling, hoping not to lose too much valor, he addressed the passing wagons with discreet vawing of the arm. Greeting him in this feeble act was a barriage of thrown objects, some of which almost hit him. Upon closer inspection, Dimsloth found it to be wrapped crystalline matter, sweet tasting, easily digested, mainly carbohydratic in nature; in other words, candy.

"What an unlikely response to witnessing a call of nature!" our hero proclaimed to himself, as the bombardment continued. The answer to this unuttered riddle presented it self soon enough: It was a procession of wedding guests moving from one location to the other, and in this particular part of the realm the custom is to shower innocent bystanders with said objects while travelling.

Our hero, upon this realization, laughed out loud and ventured forth on collecting this freely given, or rather thrown, booty, before setting out on further adventures. Thus ends this incident.

Tuesday 7 October 2008

Not moving very fast...


In the hopes of getting a grape picking job, I've been hanging around Yverdon and Lausanne, just enjoying life and the nice people I meet (everybody should be members of the hospitalityclub, really!). It suddenly seemed like a good idea to learn french, so I made a few preparations. I've also bought a cheap ultraportable linux laptop.

The purpose of this trip is constant, but the means change constantly. This is an educational journey, but it seems to be hard to "just" travel; motivations fly here and there. And when I'm about to leave one place for the next, a feeling of slight dread hits me: The simple fear of the unknown. Wonderful! This is absolutely not a 8-to-16 job. But it would be nice if it paid better...