switzerland

SWITZERLAND

Geneva - Over indulging in cheese fondue.

Amazing view but oh so cold ... sufferered from the attitude up here

Kotuku and Scott on the Potty at the Castle near Lausanne

Me and my man ... 10 minutes to create 10 seconds to destroy!

Mine and Marias dream come true ... to go ice-skating among the mountains. Yeah I may look terrified .. its because its my first time around and I had forgot how one is suppose to stop!

Katrina, me, St Bernard and Nicole. Ready to hit the slopes (or rather sit on my bum in my case).



Left London on Sunday December 22nd (hung over due to Kats birthday celebrations the day before). Lost jacket in Heathrow Airport. Found Jacket. Arrived in Geneva ... and man we were hot even though it was 9 degrees, we were expecting the worst and so were all bundled up. Went out for dinner for Katrina's birthday at an Italian restaurant with amusing waiter (well he thought he was funny). Lost Camera. Found Camera (and was a bit of a joke for the rest of the trip on what I would loose next). Went for a walk around Geneva trying to dodge dog pooh which is bloody everywhere. Over indulged on cheese when we went out for dinner for a traditional cheese fondue. Caught train to Lausane and explored Castle (can't remember the name at the moment). Tour Guide Scott was in fine form - the most amusing time I've had looking around a castle! On the way back stopped in Mortreux (or something like that) where we were pleased to find it had Xmas markets. Awesome scenery of the alps which are on the Evian Water bottle. Drank in room (black Russians) then walked into town only to find that most pubs were closed on Xmas Eve so Nicole, Leigh and myself did a random sneaky home. Met some very strange and forward locals on the way, Had a quick peak at midnight mass too. Tried to ring home for Xmas Day but my stupid phone card wasn't accepted by the hostel phone. Was glad to get through to the whanau though briefly. Xmas Day - No snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We didn't surface till late as some had very sore heads. Leigh, Nicole and I got a little bored so downed a good part of a bottle of our duty free whist waiting for the others to get ready. Scott cooked us brunch and then we went to visit Simone who cares for a sick women in a rather extravagant house (more like museum really) and had afternoon tea. Met her boss, Fat Sam who entertained us with one of his magic tricks. Went back to the hostel (and took over the place) and cooked up a storm!. If anyone is interested we have a 1.5 hour video footage of our cooking processes, with the highlight being 'cooking the brocoli'. Ate drank (the rest of our duty free) and got merry of course. Said farewell to Leigh and caught train to Interlaken. Went exploring and watched curling at the local arena. The six of us slept in close quarters with the smallest most uncomfortable bunks ever! The next day was quite miserable and windy so we went to a more sheltered area of the mountains. Caught the gondola up to 10,000 feet, Kots and I discovered that we suffered from altitude sickness. Very weird feeling but had lunch up in the revolving restaurant with specatular views. After a compulsory snow fight we took on the task of building a snowman on the lower slopes (and then had great pleasure of destroying it) . Following this we went ice-skating which was awesome and so so so soooo cool being surrounded by snow covered mountains. Went skiing (well the others did, I just sat on my arse and got frustrated because the learners run sucked). It was snowing big fat beautiful snowflakes. Have still got bloody bruises all over my shins (had ... finally gone) but at least I can say I went skiing in Switzerland (even if it was for only 30 seconds at a time). A few of us went back a little earlier than the others because our feet hurt etc and started drinking. Us girls had a good boogie at the club which was in the hostel. Apparently Jaffa, Vicki and Elaina, I could still remember the hip-hop sequence from our classes - good grief I must of being drunk. Well it has been over a year since I vomited but on Sunday morning I was sooooo sick and found myself making a nice little nest on the floor because I couldn't handle pulling myself up onto the top bunk every time I had to make a random visit to the bathroom. Bad wine I put it down too. On the plus side when I managed to look out the window the surrounding hills and mountains were white after a huge dumping overnight! Nic and I said goodbye to the others and went back to Geneva to catch the plane back to London. Arrived back in Kilburn with dinner waiting and had just enough time to repack, have a wee sleep and then was off to Edinburgh �.

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