Cowbells, Gruyere, et les Alps

I'm getting Artsy Fartsy in my old age.

Day 1

L’Etivaz a Gstaad

Distance: 16KM

Elevation: 1150m

More info here. 

After an amazing few days in Villars-sur-Ollon, I was ready to hit the mountains. I want to thank a few people for making this possible.  Christina et Eva etait tellement gentille, elles m'a donner permission pour laissez mon vela dans le chalet pour le fin de semaine.  Sans leur aide je pense pas que mon weekend serait possible.  Merci beaucoup!

I'd also like to mention one of my hosts, I stayed with Sarah Prior in Yverdons-les-Bains earlier that week, and we talked about doing some hiking.  This is the beauty of Couchsurifng, you meet people along the way who are interested in the same activities, and with the contacts you make, hikes like these are made possible.  I was touring the school and preparing for the presentation on Friday and I didn’t have any time to research some hikes.  She sent me an email with a complete itinerary for both days, merci encore Sarah!

 SO MUCH CHEESE!!

Looking down at L'Etivaz

École Beau Soleil - Following in my father's footsteps

This is the school my father attended 50 years ago. 

This is the view from Villars-sur-Ollon looking down to the valley below.

So I biked quite a ways to visit my dad's old school, over 2200kms.  It was the final destination on my trip through Europe, and for good reason.  Not only was it where he spent time as a ten year old, it's also one of the seven locations around the world where he wanted his ashes spread over water.  Maintenant je comprend pourquoi.  This spot is without a doubt one of the most beautiful areas in Switzerland, maybe the entire World.  Called the PreAlps this school is nestled in between glacier mountains, and beautiful soaring peaks.

Updated videos!

I just added some new videos to the "Come ride with me" page.  I have so much video footage, I don't know what to do except share it with you!  There's some beauties in there so click here take a ride!

Take this video for example.  This protest erupted in the middle of Basel while I was rolling down the street one day.  You don't see this everyday folks.

More info here: tens-thousands-kurds-protest-over-isis-inaction-europe-video

The vineyards and lakes of Switzerland

Couchsurfing.com is such an amazing way to travel.  Connecting with the locals is just so important to me.  I have not yet stayed in a hotel, and I don't ever plan to.  

I really lucked into a place in Yverdon-les-Bains, I walked into a vegetarian Meat Free Monday theme night.  Let me explain.  See here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12953772-the-meat-free-monday-cookbook - Paul McCartney and his family started the concept and wrote a book.  

I was accepted so last minute by these two hosts!  They had a really nice apartment, with huge vaulted ceilings, massive rooms, and a sweet balcony.  I was so lucky to walk into a kitchen in full gear as 6 people whipped up an amazing veggie meal. Yellow curry (made with mortar and pestle), basmati rice, fresh organic veg, homemade humous, and apple strudels!  The strudels were the best part I think.  We all got to make our own with the dough, apples, nuts, and maples butter!  Shape it with our hands, fill the inside and then roll it.  They came out still hot from the oven after dinner, GoldStar to the hosts!  What fun! Great people, great food, great conversation!  Merci a Sarah et Regis!  If you ever visit Canada again, the Yurt door is always open!

Back roads in Switzerland, the road less traveled truly is the best way.  Leo enjoying the view.

Switzerland is one of the most naturally gorgeous countries in the world.  C'est vraiment formidable, I'm almost at the Alps!

 Lausanne was beautiful!  I stayed with Julien whom I met at my Couchsurfer's place in Yverdon the night before. He and his roommate were incredibly hospitable and we went out for beers together to a local pub, then hit la Place de Riponne for some late night laughs.  What a fun way to spend some time in the big city.  Merci les deux!  Lausanne hosted the Olympics!  I had forgotten, lots of really neat Olympic info signs every where in Lausanne, that was neat.

Eating garbage in Luxembourg

I am fully aware of the shock value the title of these blogs create, and I love it.

Screen free

So it’s been raining for at least a week now.  Not just a little mist, like solid downpours for 5 hours a day.  One day I was listening to my music with my phone in my waterproof jacket.  Nothing new here, I’ve done this many times before with no issues.  I put the phone in my side pocket, zip it up tight with just the wire coming out, and then run the wire inside my jacket to my ears.

Suisse military, LSD, Banking

One pedal at a time!

Basel

So my first stop in Switzerland was Basel.  I arrived quite late into town, after dark, and I hadn’t set up any CouchSurfing connections because my phone drowned, and my adaptor for my laptop broke.  But, it was Friday night, and I thought I’d take my chances.  If all else failed I could go to the train station and hangout till sunrise and then ride on from there.

Switzerland is similar to Spain in that you can drink outdoors in public.  I love this about Europe because it means the people gather and hang out together without having to be in a club or restaurant etc.  Generally speaking, people will grab a few beers and head to a park to meet up with friends, I just like this so much because it really does create a sense of community.

Aš esu iš Kanados

So here’s a good story…

I’m chilling at a campsite when I get a message on Facebook from Radoslav.  I played pro volleyball with Rado in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2007.  All the message says is, “Alex are you in the Netherlands?”.  I write back that I am.  He says he lives in the Netherlands.  So I think to myself, it’s a big country, and it’s late what are the chances.  I mean, I’ve biked from one end to the other, literally, stopping in villages all along the way and I never thought Rado would be living here.  So what are the odds we’re close by each other? 

I’m starving, it’s already dark, I still have to bike into town.  So basically I tell him what campsite I’m at, and that it would be cool to see him if he’s in the most southern part of the Netherlands near the border with Belgium and Germany.  I’m quite confident this won’t be happening tonight, as he’s likely somewhere North of here hundreds of kilometres away. I think nothing of it, and I take off on the bike.

At this point in my trip my NL SIM card is dead and I don’t have any minutes left.  So I can only check the internet when I’m on WIFI, which is at the campsite.  I roll back into the campsite, I’m gone maybe 20 minutes.  I don’t even make it to my tent, I just stop to check if he wrote back and he says he wants my cell number.  So I send it to him, not sure if it will work because I’m out of minutes, and I figure we’ll chat and see if we are within distance so we can visit sometime this week.

Phone rings, “Alex it’s Rado, I’m in the parking lot, can you come and find me please I can’t find your tent!” hahaha…what a guy!  I later found out that he saw the URL of the campsite, researched it immediately, got the address, jumped in the car, and drove straight here.  He was walking all over the campground looking for me while I was shopping, and when he gave up he went back to the parking lot.  So I turn around walk 20 feet and there is Rado!!!  So after 7 years of not seeing him, and realistically thinking I’d never see him again in my life, here we are in Vaals in the dark at this campsite just jumping around screaming!!  You can’t imagine, my best friend from Lithuania just showed up at my campsite, what fun!

Being the gentleman that he is, Rado insisted I come and stay with him for the night.  The Lithuanian people are incredibly generous and very welcoming.  I experienced this first hand while playing in Vilnius for the year, all of my teammates were great!  So I grabbed some gear and jumped into the car with Rado.  We had some great laughs on the way to his place in Kerkrade!  We grabbed some beers, and some stroopwafels (of course) and sat around catching up for the rest of the night.  I also got to see Lena!  She lived with us in Vilinius and she was pregnant when I left.  It was just so surreal to see these two again, I gave Lena a big hug! She then brought me a bowl of home cooked soup. Wow…I hadn’t eate hot food in quite some time, not to mention home made.  It was delicious.  I also need to mention the apple and pear cake she made.  I was so hungry I ate the whole thing you are a brilliant chef!

It was amazing to hear about Rado’s beautiful family, his first son is 6 now and he just had a second baby.  Felicitations Rado!  He has a new home and he has a great job in the Netherlands.  I’m just so happy for these two because they are Quality with a capital Q.  Rado gave me a real bed to sleep on, and I was very grateful for that.  It was just brilliant to spend time with him again, something I’ll never forget…ah the joys of traveling abroad.

This picture is taken at like 2AM.  Rado just started yelling "Alex, Alex come here, let's make a picture in the bathroom!".  So we did.  Be well Rado, et mercy beaucoup encore.

Bike touring in Europe

Hiking near Echternach, Luxembourg

What a second, someone looks a little out of place. Can you find the Canadian goose?

This was a long day of climbing switchbacks in the Ardennes. 

Hiking in Calpe

So it’s a well known fact that I am afraid of heights.  Well, not everyone knows this, but I have confirmed it.  Many times.  I can’t handle it.  I get sweaty, my heart races, I get all panicky, I worry about falling off the edge.  It’s a phobia at its best, because there is usually no threat of danger.  It’s just a simple irrational fear, and it grips the very centre of your core.

So we went hiking in Calpe, the usual "no threat of danger" did not apply here.  It has steep cliffs, with no guards, and it juts straight up out of the ocean.  It appears as though it’s an island from afar, but upon further recon it is indeed attached to the mainland.

I digress, ok so I recorded some videos at different stages throughout the climb to journal my ascent into the clutches of total fear.  

WARNING: These videos are rated Mature.  The subject matter may contain vulgar language, including swearing in several languages, cursing out my friend, and taking the lord’s name in vain.  If anyone takes offence to such vocabulary, then viewer discretion is advised.  

PS: I don’t remember swearing at all while climbing hahahaha, it wasn’t until I watched the videos that I realized how bad it was.  I think it’s hilarious because I don’t swear that often, it just shows how frightening of an experience it was for me.  I was wigging out due to the height of the climb, and the sheer cliffs all around me dropping into the utter dark abyss below.

Germany and Luxembourg!

Riding in Luxembourg. Amazing bike trail from Aachen to Troisvierges. 

Sunset after a long day. Slept next to the cows that night. I could hear them chewing grass all night. 

Morning mountain mist in Germany

Is this a wild orchid?

Another campsite in Germany

The Ebola outbreak and my trip to Ghana

So one news item that I have been following while travelling, is the current crisis in West Africa.  Ebola has killed thousands and has been called the modern day plague.  WHO doesn’t think it’s slowing down, and they have predicted scary numbers before it runs its course.

Ghana has not reported anyone testing positive for Ebola yet.  Although, neighbouring countries have.  There are people fleeing to Ghana through the mountains though and there are no checks at the airport.  With everything that is going on in that part of Africa I have decided to cancel my trip to Ghana.

It’s the smart thing to do, but I’m still disappointed.  I was really looking forward to seeing that part of the world, especially the library and the university where my grandfather worked.    Accra Ghana was one of the cities where my father lived while growing up.  My grandfather helped build a library there and they spent a few years in West Africa.  Off the coast of Accra is one of the locations that my father wanted his ashes spread, and I had plans to do just that.  This spring I went through the lengthy process of securing a Ghanian Tourist Visa so that I could travel there.  Paid $95 CAD and went through a lot of paperwork, including getting a yellow fever shot.  All for not, as I have a three month Visa that expires on October 3rd and I won’t be using it.  

My father actually had two very serious bouts with malaria while in Ghana and finally a doctor told my grandparents he had to leave because another round with malaria could be his last.  So they sent him to Switzerland for boarding school, and that’s where I’m headed right now!  I’m currently in Larochette, Luxemberg on my way South to Villars-Sur-Ollons where my dad attended Ecole Beau Soleil!