Switzerland

OK, so I'm alive. It's been hard to find internet and I've been really busy, but I'm staying in hostels again and shouldn't have so much of a problem.

When I left Paris I headed down to Toulose, France to try to visit an old neighbor from Thompson (who I never had met in Thompson) and to see the Tour De France. My train got in early and since the internet or call center was not open yet I headed to the down where the Tour was having time trials. Before many racers had begun it started to rain heavily. One guy even slipped coming right out of the start gate, which was pretty heartbreaking to see. He limped to the bike so I can't imagine that he did too well. That's what he gets for not mountain biking more and getting some handling skills! Right?

So after I walked between the start and finish lines I headed back to Toulouse and soon made my way to dinner with that neighbor and some friends. The next day we went to see a castle. It was perched high up on a cliff and actually consisted of four towers. This tower is one of many that existed as a refuge during a crusade by the christians to wipe them out.

From here I headed to Ljubljana, Slovenia and met up with a friend of my fathers. I spent the day riding around town and getting a feel for the place. Later that night I met up with his older son and we went out partying in town. Ljubljana is a medium sized city that has lots of charm. The next day I took a train to another town and visited Postonja cave. You actually take a small train deep into the cave and then walk for over a mile. It was spectacular and very different.

Then I headed up to the Slovenian National Park Triglav. I went hiking here, saw some neat waterfalls, partied in the small town, and spent a day climbing with some cool Germans.

Yesterday morning I arrived in Zurich and after wandering through that city and seing its sights I came to Interlaken. This place is made for me. It is in the shadow of the Eiger and Jungfrau. I went for a hike to the top of one ridge and when that took a lot less time than I thought I also went to Grindelwald and watched the sun set on the Eiger. There were even some crazy mofos who were on the place because their lights came on when it got dark.