2 - 9 June 2017

It fees a bit like I reach the end of a period, an amazing journey, but that's not the truth! These are the last days before I'm spending three months in the International Scout Centre in Kandersteg.

When I landed at the airport of Geneva I didn't spend a lot time in putting everything back in its place, so I had to do that this sunny Friday morning. And with th advise of Jörn, I left his place and cycled to the visitors centre of CERN. Very interesting! Later, I cycled through the centre of Geneva and saw the highest fountain I ever saw. That was the start of my trip through Suisse. The rest of the day I followed the road along the lake of Geneva. Beautiful! In the afternoon I arrived at the house of Juliette, after I walked the last bit up, because when I had put my bike back together at the airport I had done something wrong with the gears, so I only had 12 left instead of 14... And maybe I was a bit tired. Juliette was not at home but had let me the key, so I could cook and have a nice bed to sleep.

The next day I cycled on along the lake of Geneva, still very beautiful. I fixed my Rohloff system at a bicycle shop and at the end of the afternoon I cycled to the Château de Chillon. A nice old castle at the side of the lake. In Clarens I got a warm welcome from Florine and Jean-Daniel and we ate a nice raclette. Delicious!

It rained a lot last night and according to the predictions it should be dry soon, but that didn't happen this Sunday. And to make it even worse, there was a steep hill at the start of my route. After lunch it became dry and I continued my route along the beautiful countryside. At Antoine and Galliane in Bulle I had a nice dinner and I slept very well.

It was raining again, when I wanted to leave the next morning, so I found my rainstuff again and went on the road. I even put on my long trousers for the cold. That was a long time ago! I cycled to the top of a hill, to a village called Gruyères (yes, from the cheese). I walked a bit around this mideavel village and it's château. Very pretty! I cycled to The chocolate factory of Suisse in Broc, where even from a distance I was able to smell the chocolate. Strange, but nice. I cycled on and around lunchtime it was dry again and I enjoyed a slice of brown bread with the vlokken I had received from Daan :D. I cycled along the river and at a certain point I started to take some smaller paths, what was really nice. In Fribourg I cycled a bit around and went to the Gotteron Valley to find a place for my tent. At that moment I realised I could check my mail again, maybe some warmshower had responded at the last moment. And that was the truth! I cycled back up to the centre, to Emmanuella and her roommates, where we enjoyed good conversations and salad.

Finally some sun! At least when I left, because after 10 minutes it was raining cats and dogs. I decided to change my shoes again and at my shelter I met a man who told me to take another, more quiet route, as I was heading. There I found a bridge with some stairs, but the rest of the route was fine. I didn't want to stop to much because of the rain, and so it happened that I was already in Bern at 2 o'clock. I drank some tea in a small restaurant before heading to Claudio and Anna, where I warmed myself more up in the shower. For dinner we had a very nice pasta and we talked about a lot of different things.

On Wednesday I had a day off. Yeah! I slept a bit to long, but after breakfast I went for a walk through the centre Bern. I saw a lot of (cute) shops and I went to see the bears. I also visited the cathedral before heading back to the warmshowers. I read a lot in my book, did some washing and we enjoyed dinner together.

When I woke up the next day, Claudio and Anna were already gone to their work. I went to the Rose Garden after breakfast and this time there were real roses, in contrast to the Rose Valley in Morocco ;p. And I had a beautiful view over the centre of Bern. I also went to the centre Paul Klee, because the Lonely Planet advised that, but it wasn't really interesting from the outside. After that, I followed the signs with number 8, through Thun and Spiez. Very nice cities! From Spiez I took the road to Aeschi, which was pretty tough. And I found the difference between the two signs for cycle routes. One is for more or less flat roads and the other one is for mountainbikes. Those are really difficult with a fully loaded travelbike. It took some time, but I found the warmshower in Aeschi. We had a good time!

Whooo! The last day of cycling! After a breakfast with fruitsalad, I said goodbye and the first part was downhill. Very nice. The rest of the day was with some hills, but also with a lot of nice views. The biggest challenge appeared a few kilometres before the end. A very, very, very steep hill. It was only four more kilometres, but this hill took me a lot of time. After that I was in Kandersteg in no time and found the International Scout Centre pretty fast. I talked a bit with some other Pinkies to be and enjoyed the time. The girls were sleeping in a big room and every now and then, somebody else arrived. After dinner we talked more and I finished my book. So exiting!

Tomorrow I'll meet more people and then we can start the training. I can't wait!