This month has gone by so fast. It is so hard to believe that I am down the final month here in Switzerland, actually its less than a month now. That's why my weekend away was so great, and needed. I left my house on Friday evening and took the train to Bern, arriving about 9:30. I met Karen & Andy at the tram stop with Bella and we walked back in the light snow that had arrived the previous night. The first snow for much of Switzerland (including the Geneva area and the Bern area).
We stayed up talking for a bit, and then all went to bed, ready to eat ourselves into a food-coma the next day. I slept incredibly well, but it was most likely a combination of not having children outside my door and a soft bed. The next morning, Karen made cinnamon rolls and we had hot cocoa. YUM! Afterwards it was a mostly relaxing day, Andy went to pick up the turkey they had ordered from the supermarket, and Karen and I did a little prep work. Although, it was mostly Karen. I felt weird for not helping more. But there wasn't much I could do, since she had done most of it herself. She even made the cutest place settings with each guest's name attached to a pear! (see photo)
At about 3:30 her friend Julie arrived with her boyfriend Cédric and we ate Artichoke-Spinach dip and talked and laughed while the turkey cooked away. We played a really fun game called DOG, which I had never seen before but is very much like Sorry, if only a little more complicated/intense. I am now on a mission to find it before I go!
Then came the dinner. All I can say is YUM. We had turkey and stuffing, candied yams, green bean casserole and rolls and cranberry sauce... It really was amazing. (Again, see pictures). After dinner we were all SO full we decided to take a walk in all the fresh snow which had dumped itself on the city during the day. I had forgotten how much I love the sound of shoes crushing and crunching in the snow. We wandered around along the river front, and talked and laughed and took some photos and just generally had a good time. Bella really enjoyed the snow. We got back to Karen & Andy's apartment around 10 and were still too full for dessert so we played a game, had some tea and then finally got around to the wonderful pumpkin pie that Julie had made (from scratch!) It was devine. We were playing a game called Settlers until about 1 in the morning when Julie & Cédric decided they should head home and the three of us, plus Bella decided it was well past our bedtimes.
On Sunday, Karen, Andy, Bella and I went on a walk around Bern in the daylight, taking me to the Christmas market which opened over the weekend, along with some of the traditional "tourist" spots/attractions. I finally saw the Swiss "parlament" building (where the first approved my visa to come here!) and yet another large European church. We wandered around, saw the Bern bears again, this time the babies were out! And then headed back to the apartment for some leftovers and tea before I joined them at their church for a lovely time and then headed to the train station.
That however was when the magic of the weekend ended.
The Swiss train system is known for being on-time. Accurate. And reliable. Sunday night was NONE of the above. My train from Bern to Lausanne started off alright, until we got to Lausanne 10 minutes late and I had missed my connection. Thankfully a second possible train was leaving in 30 minutes so I only had to wait in the freezing cold/snow (thankfully covered, but still snowing) until then. And then THAT train didn't leave Lausanne until it was 8 minutes late. As we arrived in Nyon, I ran to catch my bus which pulled away RIGHT when I got there. And I only have one an hour. Instead of waiting for an hour however, I decided to take the train to Coppet (another 8 min train ride) to catch the bus from the other direction, which was leaving in 20 min. Or so I thought. The train to Coppet was 5 minutes late. Under normal circumstances I have 7 minutes to catch my bus from the time the train arrives until the bus departs. I was scared of missing it, scared I would be late and stuck in Coppet for another hour, this time in a much less traveled station, with fewer lights and NO place to stay warm. Thankfully I caught my bus, by 1 minute. Which then was late getting to my stop but that was besides the point. I was just so frustrated by then, tired, cold and ready for bed.
I made it home, and happy to be there. And slept incredibly well.
I'm down to 23 days... And all I can say is that I hope my bed feels like home when I finally arrive the 23rd of December. Another blog will come soon, with more "emotions" I'm sure.
Ciao for now. Love,
Mattie
**PHOTOS NOT WORKING AT THIS TIME :( - PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER!!! I'll either link to a FB album or add them again!**
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