Lausanne

8th & 9th July 2010

Arriving into Lausanne around 3pm, we checked in to our hostel. As soon as we'd checked in, and picked up our free transport card (Common in Switzerland!) we got changed into our togs and jumped onto a metro down to Ouchy. The strangest thing about the metro was that there was no driver. It was like an underground tram, but there was no dude up front running it. It was all completely automated. Stupid Swiss, good at being smart.

Anyway, Ouchy is the lakeside suburb, with lots of pretty green areas, and on a warm day such as the day we visited, lots of people. We got on a bus and went a bit further down the road to escape the crowds. Once of the bus, we strolled along the lakeside for a bit. We found something that we think might have been a summer holiday program. Kids were being taught Capoeiraand heaps of other sports. There were heaps of people playing beach volleyball and basketball. The whole lakeside was a hive of active people. We found a nice little spot on the edge of the river where we jumped in and swum among a group of kids learning how to kite surf. The water was absolutely freezing so we didn't stay in that long, but it was nice to get cooled down.

We jumped back on the bus and headed back to the main part of Ouchy, where we started spotting tonnes of people dressed completely in red. At first, we thought it was just coincidental, but then there were way too many people wearing head to toe read for it to be a coincidence. We eventually found what appear to be an event hosted by the local radio station; Rouge FM. It all made a little more sense. Dan was wearing a red, but wasn't game to try and get in - it looked a bit fancy!

We again, took the driverless tram back up the hill where we went exploring the nearby supermarket for dinner supplies. We made it back to the hostel just at the perfect time to cook dinner. We just hung around in the nice lounge room for the evening catching up with the world on the internet!

The next morning we packed up our bags again and checked out of the hotel - again leaving the bags behind. We jumped on the driverless trams further up the hill to the deserted Old Town. Again, the first stop was the lovely cathedral (Seriously starting to get sick of churches now!) before descending down the lovely covered wooden staircase. On our way down we found a character that was trying to build a Lego wall around the front of the house. Ambitious.

By the time we got down to the Old Town shopping area, the beautiful town clock was ready to strike midday. We sat on the fountain with baited breath to see what was going to happen when it struck noon. It was super disappointing. Some music started and then the little figures just starting rolling around in circles. I did not understand it.

The next hour or so was just spent strolling through the pretty old town. Afterwards we headed back down to the hostel to make lunch and collect our bags and before heading off to the train station for our mid afternoon train to the Swiss Capital.