Walk it off...

My first full day in Switzerland started a bit rough... Everything caught up to me and let's just say it wasn't pretty... So I did what any normal person would do and decided to walk it off. I found a hiking trail and hiked all the way from Pieterlen to Biel. I had a general idea about the trail, but seeing as all the signs were in German, I really had no idea what I was doing... I also discovered that my limited high school French is even more limited than I believed, seeing as I still had no idea what the signs were saying once I got to Biel.

In other news, I SAW COWS!!! It's actually quite sad how excited I got. I mean chocolate and cows ARE Switzerland!!!! I was just walking along in the forest minding my own business and heard a bell. It sounded like the Salvation Army Santa's that annoy the heck out of you at the grocery store, so I peaked through the bushes to see what bike or child was insistent on ringing that dang bell, and it was a cow!!!! (Instantly forgiven for ringing the bell by the way...) I mean I've seen cows before, I even ended up sitting on top of one when I was about six, so clearly I just like cows... All I could think about after the cow sighting were the stories my dad used to make up when we were kids. They always started the same way: Messy and Bessy were two cows who lived up high in the Swiss Alps...

Besides saying hello to my childhood memories, there were spectacular views from my hike. The trail weaves in and out of the forest so you end up walking dirt roads, neighborhood blocks, and almost nonexistent paths. Part of the path has a "vitaparcours" trail with different exercises to try.  I attempted the balancing blocks, running the ladders, slalom, and swinging on the rings... Thank goodness no one was there to witness any of these stunts because as I was swinging on the rings, I saw a spider hanging out right next to my hand, screamed and promptly landed my rear in the dirt.... Such fun. My "walk" ended up being about 11 miles, so needless to say, my new bright neon sneakers are no longer so bright...

Love, Alison