mexicans in switzerland

We were all feeling a little pooped by our big days yesterday and keen for something more low key today. On the agenda for the day was buying groceries and then returning to our swimming hole. It’s our legs that need the break, the walking here is relentless. The whole town is walkable and so we do, but that doesn’t give credit to the scale of walking one undertakes here. For instance, after dinner tonight we opted for a stroll to take out the garbage. D and a I went a bit further, always on the hunt for lizards. We didn’t go all the way down to the lake as I knew our (my) legs couldn’t hack it. So we turned back 2/3s of the way down and for curiosity sake D counted the stairs to come back up. Over 500…that’s just the stairs, that doesn’t count the winding paths and roadways too. It’s like the Tour de France of stairclimbing over here.
Everywhere we walk is slow. We meander, we stroll. It’s simply too dang hot to do anything with vigor. I am sweating. All. The. Time. Thank goodness the air smells so sweet here; bottle-it kind of amazing. Because the armpits aren’t smelling so good. Every bit of exertion results in sweat. Pretty sure a juvenile-grade acne breakout is right around the corner. 

The trouble with walking to our favourite swimming spot is that by the time we’ve walked back up, all the good of the cool & refreshing swim has been undone. ​

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My favourite part of the strolling around town is catching glimpses of humanity here. Not the “how is this real life” but rather the sweet old souls who obviously call this home. The other night Helena and I came along what appeared to be a mother daughter pair, sitting on a park bench, overlooking the lake. The mother was elderly, needed assistance lowering onto the bench or up the path to a new viewpoint. The daughter was reading aloud from a novel. The mother looked to be in bliss. Perhaps recalling memories of younger days or simply revelling in the sweet togetherness. 

Hopefully the ordinary moments we are fostering here too are setting the stage for some extraordinary moments in the future.

As planned yesterday, I thought I’d add a couple more shots from my day at the Tour. I didn’t get home until midnight having arrived back to Lugano by train at 11:00 to discover that the busses were done for the night. So after the hour walk back home (+500 steps!) not at my Olympic qualifying pace from earlier in the day, I had no energy to download the rest of the photos.

I took loads. I was wielding 2 cameras, my SLR and my iPhone. Many (most) of what I captured looked like this:

But a few did turn out pretty well to help capture the feel of the day. (Oddly, my phone has been more reliable for good shots here. Hmmm, perhaps time for a new SLR…hint hint Honey…Oh wait, we’re both unemployed…my bad, disregard.)

A few more scenes from Bern as I made my way back to the train. Of course the images don’t do justice to the size of the Alp’s looming in the back ground. 

Off to bed for the night (we are 8 hours ahead of Alberta) My sleep patterns are a bit wonky here. I seem to have shifted into the “more mature” life phase of needing less sleep. I’m wide awake still at midnight and awake the next morning to hear the church bells marking the time, praying that I hear seven but counting only 5 bells. Thankfully I have not lost my ability to roll over so it is eventually the 7 bells that gets me out of bed; that and the call of the coffee… 

Tomorrow we aim to try a hike and a boat ride. Hoping for shade and a breeze.