Catching Up

It's Saturday night and I'm realizing that I have quite a few days unaccounted for on this blog. I'm not going to bore anyone with details, but Wednesday was a day off (hence nothing exciting) and Thursday was our first exam. So those two days we did absolutely nothing for the vast majority of the day.

As a treat, Friday we took rail, tram, cog car, and boat to the Chateau de Chillon, a castle nestled between the edge of Lake Geneva and the Alps. It was this site that inspired Lord Byron to write his famous Prisoner of Chillon, about an imprisoned prior who opposed the Savoy rule. The castle itself is wondrous to behold, as it sits on the very edge of the lake. Water laps at its base, which evokes a certain sense of awe and majesty that one would not get elsewhere.
The group in front of Chateau de Chillon

As an added bonus, the latrines opened straight on to the water! Guess those 17th century guys didn't care too much for health or hygiene.

View from latrine seat down into lake

The castle was spectacular, but a close second was the journey to get there. After a two hour train ride, we arrived at the foot of a mountain. From here we mounted a cog car and rode it most of the way up the mountain to 1057 meters elevation (somewhere around there) to have lunch. Although the day was dreary, the views from the cafe were lovely. Instead of taking the cog car back down, we opted to take a cable car down the mountain. It was arguably the most frightening thing I've ever done, but definitely a lot of fun (and beautiful). It's so interesting that the cars work on gravity... as one goes up, the other, down! We got to the bottom of the mountain and found a giant lake in between us and our castle, so we jumped the next boat available. It was just a water taxi, but it seemed like a luxury liner to me. Next to the castle, the boat ride was my favourite part of the trip. The wind at my back and lake spray in my hair... it could only have gotten better if I were in open waters.

Today (Saturday) has really just been a day of catching up, buying last minute items, and packing. We head out to Scotland tomorrow (2:00 flight out of Geneva), and I can't contain my excitement. Although I've looked at the weather and admittedly did not bring warm enough clothes. Perhaps that gives me an excuse to buy some warm clothes.... ;)