Switzerland, pt 1 (Lyon, Bern, and starting our Workaway experience)

After Barcelona, our next destination was Thun, Switzerland, where we would be staying for 4+ weeks. Because of the lengthy distance between the two countries, we opted for a stayover in Lyon, France to cut down on the continuous travel time. Our bus leaving Barcelona was scheduled for 9am, but left about 3 hours late. Honestly, this wasn't really much of an issue for us as most of our busses thus far had been on time ("on time" for a European bus, depending on location, is within about 90 minutes of scheduled departure), and we had nothing scheduled for that evening. What was an issue, on the other hand, was that we were now travelling without Nicole's crucial documents (Permanent Passport {France doesn't accept USA emergency passports} and Vaccine card) thanks to our mishap in Barcelona. Around hour 4 of our 9 hour bus ride we both realized that we already across the French border, so it did not end up being an issue.

We arrived in Lyon that evening and hopped on the metro train to our stop. That night we were staying in an apartment just outside the city center with a Couchsurfing host. For those of you that don't know, Couchsurfing is an app/community of hosts that offer a place to sleep (sometimes just a couch, as the name implies, but sometimes a private room too) while they are in transit or visiting a location. The accommodation is free, and the host often takes the surfer out exploring the city, etc. Nicole and her roommates have hosted couchsurfers back in the US, and Nicole has stayed in many on her previous travels. However, this was Kyle's first time. Our host, JoAnna, was a wonderful, quirky, kind-hearted, and knowledgeable school teacher from the area. She actually already had another surfer from the US staying with her, but they were both nice enough to allow us to join as well, and we even had a room to ourselves. That night, while we got ready to go out, JoAnna played us songs on the harp while we sipped Tinto de Veranos (Nicole and I brought some wine from Spain. While not required, it's good to bring a gift or something to share with your Couchsurfing host when you can!). We went out shortly afterwards and grabbed some dinner on our way to hang out by the river (we were starving after the bus ride. Kyle secretly doesn't mind this, because when we get hungry enough, he can convince Nicole that we should get kebabs - a common, but unhealthy and often dicey street food in Europe). We ended up drinking some craft beers at a cool spot on the water, and JoAnna even invited some of her friends to hang out before we all had to make our way back on the late night bus. Her friends were hilarious, and we learned that pedestrians cussing out traffic is not only an informal French past time, but even their kids get to do it!

The next morning JoAnna went to a bakery to get bread and pastries for a traditional French breakfast. We learned many things, including that there is a right and wrong way to cut cheese in France, that coffee and croissants are, indeed, a very French breakfast tradition, and that EUROPEANS EAT WAY TOO MUCH BREAD IN THE MORNING. After the hearty meal, we were all in much need of a walk so we headed down to the weekend markets along the river. On the way, we stopped at a pop up Renaissance festival and learned how to disarm a sword from the hands of an attacker. These are the important, useful life skills we were hoping to learn on this trip (we are kidding, of course)! The markets were amazing and full of fresh fruits, dried meats, and French cheeses. After the markets, we explored the streets of Lyon, and even had what felt like VIP treatment as our host took us through the traboules, which are special passageways under the city. One moment we would be walking through a typical cobblestoned tourist street, the next we would duck through an inconspicuous looking, unmarked old door and walk through a tunnel to a peaceful, secluded courtyard. Without Couchsurfing, we likely would not have even known they were there!

Later that afternoon, it was time to leave Lyon and make our way to Thun, Switzerland. This time we would be taking a BlaBlaCar. BlaBlaCar is a website that pairs needy passengers with drivers already making the same or similar journey. In this instance, there was a guy making a weekend trip to Lyon and returning to Switzerland that same Sunday, so we were able to link up with him (and another passenger) for a fairly cheap price. The driver is often just looking for a little gas money and some conversation to help pass the time. For those of you playing "Kyle and Nicole Transportation Bingo," you now have: planes, trains, metro/subway, bus, Vespa, 4-wheeler, furgon, ferry, Go Opti, and BlaBlaCar to cross off. You might as well include hitchhiking as a free space, because that is bound to happen soon! The ride was great as Lionel (our driver) and Julie (the other passenger) were both fun, interesting people with a lot of good stories and tips for what to do in Switzerland.

We arrived in Bern, Switzerland later that evening and took a train down to Thun. Our first impressions were: #1, Switzerland is just as beautiful as we remember and #2, Holy cow is it expensive (which you'll get tired of hearing as we continue to post, much like the Swiss citizens get tired of foreigners saying it). Our train ticket for a less than 20 minute ride was ~$20, while a similar ride in the other countries we had been to thus far were in the $3-5 range. When we arrived in Thun our Workaway host, Regula, was there to greet us at the train station. Here we'd be staying for the next 4 weeks, with a place to sleep and meals provided in exchange for varying types of work. While we had had some small exchanges via WhatsApp with Regula leading up to the meeting, we weren't really sure what to expect. However, it was immediately evident that not only was she just as kind and warm as her previous reviews had suggested, but also hilarious and down-to-earth to boot! Despite the late arrival time, and her early work schedule, she had a hot meal and a shot of Rotelli (Kyle's new favorite liquor) waiting for us at "home." And honestly, this really would end up being our home away from home.

Regula lives in a 100 year old typical Swiss chalet. It has three levels, several bedrooms (we still aren't sure how many) and an additional unfinished (think dirt floor) basement area for storage, pantry space, and tools. Our room was on the top floor, which we shared with her son Ursin (he is in the Swiss military and only home on weekends) and a French exchange student, Joy (she was gone on holiday the first 3 weeks we were there). Our view overlooking the Thun town, the lake, and the mountains beyond was spectacular! The following morning we got up late (our first time sleeping in in several weeks) and had a nice note and a short ToDo list waiting for us. The list also had a few Swiss chocolates included, as well as a note about heading to Thun that afternoon to enjoy the nice weather. The nice note, the treats, and the suggestions of things to do nearby would become a staple of our daily experience. The work started off pretty simple, with some cleaning tasks around the house (replacing soaps and laundry detergent, cleaning some garden decorations, etc.) but would ramp up quickly, as we will explain later on.

A couple of days in we knew that we still needed to solve Nicole's permanent passport issue (this was step one of our Theft Recovery process, which included insurance paperwork, replacing stolen items, replacing documents, new credit cards, etc.). We were told in Barcelona that if we happened to be in Switzerland for an extended time, it was actually quicker to get a new passport there then back in the United States, which blew our mind. In the US, an "expedited" passport can take up to 10 weeks. In Switzerland, it was estimated at 10 business days. So on our third day, with nice weather on the radar and a prompt from Regula, we hopped on the early train back to Bern (hooray for only being 20 minutes from the Swiss capital!). We walked from the train station to the US Embassy and, after some back and forth that included a post office run, we handed off the proper paperwork and Nicole's emergency passport to the extremely nice and helpful gentleman at the service counter, and we were off to accomplish one final task before exploring the city. Our final task was to activate a Swiss SIM card that we had purchased from a kiosk in Thun. Since Switzerland is not part of the EU, the SIM card we had purchased for "all of Europe" did not work, and we had to get a new one (this one was a brand called Lycamobile). We had tons of trouble trying to get it activated, so we figured that while we were in Bern we might as well head to the Lycamobile store (the only one in Switzerland) to get if figured out. We walked 3-4 miles and arrived at a store that was entirely covered in Lycamobile advertisements, which we thought, as anyone would, that we were at the right place. The only things that were slightly off: there was a sign in the window advertising both fresh and frozen fish, and a delivery truck was unloading cans of beans and other supplies out front. What we actually walked into was an ethnic grocery market, and they were in no way able to help us activate the phone (but they did offer to sell us another Lycamobile SIM card, insert eye roll here). Nicole was just a tad angry, but luckily we had several miles to walk it off.

From there, we started our exploration of the beautiful city of Bern. Bern is set along a large bend in the scenic, turquoise waters of the Aare river. It has a large "old town" area with architecture from the 1100s-1600s and is full of souvenir shops, restaurants, luxury stores, watch and clock factories, chocolate factories, and much more. Prior to entering the old town area, and thanks to tips from the other passenger in our BlaBlaCar (thanks Julie!), we explored the Rosegarden overlooking the city. The garden had dozens of types of roses of many different colors, and most were still in bloom. From there we walked to the TramDepot for lunch, which consisted of some local craft beers and sausages and pretzels. In the same location was a fenced in area near the river which had live bears! The bear in the symbol of the canton (region) of Bern and they've actually had bears in various zoo-like enclosures in the city for several centuries. After lunch, and watching the bears for awhile, we spent a couple of hours exploring the city. After a little debate, we decided to make the trek up to Gurten Park, and hill that overlooks the city and the mountains beyond. Although we got a late start, and were the only people at the top, the view was well worth it. One thing we also noticed was that there was a venue at the top, perfect size and with a great view, for any recently engaged couples looking for a nice wedding reception spot....

We headed down the hill as it was getting darker, and decided to get a hot meal to warm up. The only reasonably cheap option was to split a pizza, which we did. What we did NOT do was say "no" when asked if we wanted water. The waitress brought us out two bottles of water, and when we got the bill they were $7 EACH. No joke, people, Switzerland is very expensive. We took an evening train back down to Thun and made our way back to the house, took a shower, and went straight to sleep. When it was all said and done, we had ended up walking over 21 miles that day. From there, our real work experience began!