Switzerland FLIMS

After we left the Post's we took a train from Lucerne to Chur which we were told is the oldest city in eastern Switzerland. A very industrial city, fairly small and not much to look at, we hopped on the first bus we could find to Flims. There are three towns situated around one large ski resort, called LAAX. We arrived in Flims and with only an address to giuide us, we found our way to Moni and Willy Wakelin's house. Moni and Willy run SFC Switzerland, and Moni has been a very good friend of ours since we met her in Canada last year, drove her and Raffi down to the States with us and put them up in our house for three weeks. Anyway, she and Willy were very happy to have company and as they were preparing to leave on an adventure of their own this week (China - NewZealand), there was a "traveller's BUZZ" in the air around the house.

The first night we were in Flims, we had real authentic Swiss pizza from a local pizza shop. The next morning we took Moni to work about 45 min down the road, then took her car and went exploring. It's both very exciting and slightly dangerous as you learn the rules of the road in a new country on the fly...and try to remember where the heck you are on the map (we didn't have a map). We looked at a few castles that day, saw an old church up in Falera (one of the other towns at the base of Laax) and took lots of pictures. We also discovered this incredible lagoon swimming area that we decided to come back to. That night, Moni and Willy had a sort of 'going away' party for themselves as they wanted to say their goodbyes to some of their friends before they left for China. That was great for us, because we got to meet some of their friends. We had Mexican food...ha, which took us back to Colorado for a minute, and then hit our beds tired from a day of running around.

The next day, we slept in, did a little bit of much needed laundry, and made our way to that lagoon we talked about earlier. That experience was my best yet...I think. Travelling is sort of a work out in and of itself, but being fairly athletic, I had been itching for a good aerobic challenge since playing soccer that one day in Germany. As some of you may know, one of my weakest sports is swimming. Thanks to my family and their 'short and stalky' genes, I sink in water. Anyway, this lagoon had an island in the middle and some rocks to jump off, and we swam sooooo much that day. We also saw two of our friends that we had met at the party the night before. We felt like locals knowing people wherever we went. It was such a great time. We liked it so much, that after an amzing traditional Swiss dinner of what sounded like "rocklette" we talked about returning the next day after Willy was done with work for another round of swimming.

The next day, however was rainy and thundering and lightning all day, so as for Val and I, while Moni and Willy went in for their last day of work before summer break, we finished our laundry and spent a lazy rainy day inside on the computer making arrangements for Italy. When Willy returned from work, the storm was still storming, and we felt a little bit of relief to say, "Yeah, it's still pouring...looks like swimming is out of the question." Willy, being his New Zealnd 'I love adventure' self replied, " Oh, well, I'd still like to go if you guys want to." We didn't know what to say, as we don't swim much in the first place let alone in the thundering downpour. So we packed our dinner up in a picnic bag and left in our soon soaking clothes for the long rainy 2 mile walk to the lagoon. I will be the first to admit that I've never been a huge fan of lightning and I was saying my prayers as we walked, exchanging uneasy glances with Val every now and again, as Willy walked along, no doubt enjoying his adventure all the while. We finally arrived at the lagoon and went for a swim. It was so much warmer in the water and we had a great time. Val watched from under an umbrella we found. We had dinner and returned home. We laughed most of the way home and were all very excited to come into their warm house. That night, we all packed up and Val and I prepared to leave for Italy and Moni and Willy for China. We also had a chance to go and watch another soccer game in a local hall where roudy fans gather for the celebration of every game during the Euro Cup. We had beers and bratwurst and watched Spain kick Russia's bums. Val and I had been there the night before for another game, but this time, with our friends, we had a much better time.

The next day, Moni and Willy, being some of the nicest people we know, drove us down to a train station through the mountains close to the border of Italy (so we could have a 3 hour train ride as opposed to a 7 hour one). The land was very beautiful and we gave some good long hugs as we wished them well on their China adventure and they wished us well on ours. We will see Moni and Willy again in New Zealand, and so it was a very happy goodbye. Our next stop: Venice and what surprises await us!

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