weekend in Bernies

I caught a night train out to Bern on Thursday, arriving Friday morning. Chris met me at the station, but we were both wiped, so went back to sleep. For lunch, we caught a ride with Fanni out to Yverdon for lunch with Mallory. I spoke French, Chris German, and all was good in the world. Rain in the afternoon dampened our touristic impulses, so we headed back to Bern for some Fastnachts reccy.

On Saturday, Bec and a couple of friends came up from Lausanne for the parade. She describes it better than I would, and will probably have photos. Anyway, it was good fun, and good to catch up.

In the evening, Chris and I again hit the streets. We talked to a scot, and then two Scotts, again multilingual at every opportunity, which amazed me. Chris' cold contact skills also amazed me, and its not impossible that a second Scott expedition might be attempted at some point. From there we went to Schlactehaus to meet Knorrli, her cousin, and Yvonne. Great time, albeit that my conversation was a little lacking, due to beer and some social ineptitude. Chris fared better, although we were both past our prime when we left about 5ish. Fair enough, I guess.

We spent the first half of Sunday feeling sorry for ourselves, then went and watched Sideways in town. Good flick, always refreshing to see that American cinema is capable of presenting interesting characters, and that the term romantic comedy can still carry some value. Then pizza, night train home.

I had more social contact in a weekend than I had in a month in France, and that was great. The night train experiment was probably a failure. Although I met a very nice swiss girl on the way over, I didn't really sleep on either leg, which put me in less than optimal physical form at each end. Next time, perhaps in 3 weeks if the Scott expedition greenlights, I'll try taking "normal" trains, perhaps via Geneva.