The Alps..and trains

After a wonderful night out with Werner (who treated us to dinner and a lovely little bar on the Austrian border) Will and I departed the next morning for a whirlwind train tour of Switzerland. We boarded the "glacier express; a train that runs from a town near Rebstien (where Werner is from), to Zermatt, right in the shadow of the famous Matterhorn. We left at 8:30, hopped on the train, and met some great people in between going "ooh" and "ahh" as I cursed my camera for eating conventional batteries alive (my camera is now not working until I can find a charger, but fear not! Will's camera has been supplamenting the pictures I would otherwise be taking with mine, so the series of "Nate in front of famous European things" is still moving nicely along. I think I'll make a calendar.)

The Alpen portion of Switzerland was absolutely fantastic. It reminded me of Alaska, only with cities where there shouldn't be. Literally there would be towns perched precariously over a meadow, and a road leading in and out while the railroad chugged along across the opposite valley. There were glaciers, sheep, and lots of beautiful sunlight as the train wound its way up to Zermatt. Zermatt itself was a lovely little town, with lots of cool Swiss buildings, now I know why the town of Leavenworth, WA, is trying so hard.

After Zermatt (only an hour in town mind you..long enough to get the "Nate in front of Matterhorn" shot for the calendar), we departed for our epic train ride to Paris. The train was long, and I slept alot and finished book 2 of my journey, "Kingdom of Fear" by Hunter S. Thompson. Now on to "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy."

We arrived in Paris around 6...and this blog will continue as I'm running out of minutes on my over-priced internet machine....

Will update soonish.

-Nate