Aug1st Fireworks Lake Lauenen Lake Hongrin
Thursday, July 26th, was a huge shopping day for me and Allie. Our shopping spree spanned two cities and dozens of stores. We met at 11am in Bern and left at 6:45pm from Thun to drive back up to Saanen. It was loads of fun. We even had a health carrot/mango juice (which tasted like crap) spilling incident. Thank goodness the lady we bathed in it was so nice and understanding. At the end of it all, we were so exhausted, we literally dropped in the car and Allie is a stronger person for being able to drive us all the way home up those curvy roads, while I slouched in the passenger seat drinking iced tea and moaning that I couldn't feel my legs. But we brought home a few bags full of goodies. Opening them up and putting all the stuff away was like Christmas, lol. And in all of that, there were no shoes for me. Ts, ts, ts. You know what that means, right? I'll have to go again. Shoot! lol
We barely had time to freshen up and change and Reto's friend Rene was at the door to pick us up for our....
One Wild Night
With the World Beach Volleyball going on, the place was a zoo the whole week, and with the grand finale coming up on the weekend, Thursday night was really charged up! The night played out in two different bars. We started out at the Beach Bar which had sand for a floor. It was a bit chilly but I just had to take off my flip flops and go bare foot on the sand. Just a must! To keep us warm, the good people of the Bar had some torches burning along the outer edge of the bar, and of course, Reto, Rene and Bruno felt they should "improve" one of the torches. We had to persuade the owner of the bar, that their intentions were totally innocent. Somehow, we didn't end up thrown out (could be because one of the bar tenders "thought" i was one of the cheerleader girls? should have played that one but i'm waaay tooo nice and honest! too bad for me!) After Allie and I found our "hands", well, the night just got that much crazier. Those hands were everywhere and all over everything and everyone. Getting trapped in the bathrooms just added to the fun, but after some guy so shamelessly stole my hand, and Rene so thoughtlessly put Allie's hand in the fire, we decided to move on to the next target. It was the Sports Centre where they had some concerts and a huge party going on. We were told we needed to pay 30 CHF to get in, but somewhere along the way, after stopping for some cold left over sausages at the only food stand still open (well, it was not really open, but the guy who works there is Reto's friend, so he gave us whatever he had left there, which we were very grateful for) and stopping for a pee break (missed my flip flops this time), we met some people (more friends of Reto's) who gave us their bracelets so we can go into the Sports Centre for free. Well, those bracelets were not original any more so we needed a way to fasten them to our wrists. Someone had the brilliant idea we should use gum! It worked....sorta. A few steps from the entrance to the Sports Centre, Allie discovered her bracelet was missing! Stupid gum that don't hold! Panic! So we settle with the thought we're gonna pay for her only to find out we don't need to pay any longer since the concerts were over and it was past 1am. Coolio! Inside the Sports Centre the fun continued. I got attacked, while Reto had "words" with a certain someone who just doesn't get it!! But Rene "saved" me and then had to save the guy from Reto! Allie found "Bar Star"! At 3pm, the lights went up. Show was over :( We grabbed a cab and went home. The next day, Friday, Reto's work had given everyone the day off and tickets to watch the games! Sweet! So that's what we did. It took us a while to get going that next morning but we made it. And it was a good thing too cuz we got to watch both Swiss men teams play. Unfortunately, they lost, but we still had fun watching. Later that evening, Reto and I had had just about enough of this hoopla and headed over to Bruno and Katja's place from which we left for a fishing weekend on the..
Hongrin Lake
It's an artificial lake in the french part built in 1963 and used for making electricity. The water from the lake is let go from the dam once in a while and runs down into Lake Geneva making the lights stay on, lol. But it's absolutely gorgeous and they bring fish with a helicopter every week, so the people can fish. Bruno is a renounced fisherman and Reto is an eager beginner, so the two of them had a lot of fun fishing together. Reto caught three fish altogether and we cooked them and ate them. They were yummy. But we were glad there was other food there as well, lol. The lake cabin we stayed at belongs to Katja's dad. It's big enough for all of us (we were 8 altogether) and yet quite cosy and romantic. There is no electricity so at night they use candles. It also happened to be full moon while we were there so you can imagine the beauty and magic of the place at night as well as the tranquillity and peace of it during the day. I went with the boys on one of their fishing trips with the boat, but for the most part, I spent my time relaxing, sunbathing and reading my book. But on Sunday afternoon, I was glad to get back home where after a two hour shower, i felt like a newborn.
Monday flew by in a daze and Tuesday night we were invited to Rene's for a...
Pre-August 1st Dinner
August 1st is National Swiss Day. Everyone is off, there are numerous live open air concerts going on everywhere and in the evening people light big bonfires up in the mountains and of course, there's the fireworks. So Tuesday evening we went over to Rene's and had a nice grill dinner with him and his girlfriend, Monika ,after which Reto and Rene gave us a little private fireworks show. Reto was going to wait till 1min past midnight but the boy in him would not be made to wait that long. It was mostly noise making firecrackers, one of them called "lady farts" which happen to be my favourite...figures, lol, the other, a type of rocket which, after being lit on the bottom, flies up into the air and explodes with a big bang. For the grand finale, Reto lined up three of those rockets and lit them up at the same time. After a few seconds, two of them flew up in the air and exploded. The third one sputted out and sat there quietly. Reto and Rene decided to go over and investigate what the problem was. Not a good idea. Monika and I held our breath while the boys approached the defective rocket. After careful inspection, they decided that it would be a great waste to just leave it like that, so they decided to re-light it using a candle placed underneath. Really, really not a good idea. Monika and I fought for a place under the table while Reto and Rene went to light a candle under the rocket's ass. They managed to do that without any accident then ran quickly back to the table, which was a safe distance away. We waited and waited and waited and waited and nothing was happening. Nothing continued to happen for quite some time, then brave ... and dumb Rene decides to go and see what's up....or not up in this case. He had just turned to walk back after inspecting the rocket when it exploded with a deafening bang. It didn't go up in the air but just disintegrated on the spot. See the pics. Rene was unhurt. But the boys thought that was the coolest thing ever. Monika and I just shook our heads and congratulated each other on being female. The next day, the four of us decided to spend the day grilling at ...
Lauenen See (Lake Lauenen)
It's the only natural lake around here with a beautiful waterfall coming down the rocks next to it. As all of the lakes, it is breathtaking and tranquil, but on that particular day, being Swiss National Day, the tranquil part was obliterated by all the people. The day was perfect weather wise, hot and sunny with not one cloud in the sky. People were jumping and swimming in the lake, which looked like great fun, but guess what? That's right! We forgot our swimming suits!! Nonetheless, we had a nice fire grill lunch by the lake after which we relaxed and then ended the day with a walk around the lake. Reto and Rene didn't forget to light up some firecrackers in the parking lot (thank goodness it was mostly empty by that time) as well as at a couple of spots along the way back which they found "suitable" for firecracker fun. Boys will be boys! By the time we got home, dusk was falling over the land, and in the churchyard, people were gathering for an evening open air concert including Alp Horns. Reto and I could watch and listen from our balcony. Later on, we went out to the town square where people had a huge bonfire burning and everyone was out enjoying the warm, beautiful, starry night and lighting firecrackers in the air. The town square is right next to the train station so when the trains were passing by, the passengers had a good view of the fire and the fireworks. Cool, hah?! Back at our house, Reto had his two jewels he saved for us to light up and enjoy. One was a "zuckerstock" which i'm not sure how to call in English, but it looks like a fountain of fire and the other was a super rocket which flew up high in the sky where it exploded in a brilliant sphere of colour. We sang the Swiss national anthem and had some nice sweet muscat wine to toast to Switzerland's 716th birthday. It was born on August 1st, 1291! Happy Birthday Switzerland!
