Lausanne

After heartily celebrating the first night of Euro 2008 last night, I woke up a little disoriented. I was in a random hotel room with three people sound asleep on beds scattered around the room. It took me a second to realize I was not in a hostel. I was in Geneva -- Pam and I had crashed in Cathy and Lori's hotel room after the game. We had ordered an extra cot and Pam and I split a twin-sized bed. Half my body was still numb from sleeping on my side all night. With my head still ringing I wasn't sure if I should go eat something, go back to sleep, or throw up. I decided to head downstairs for some much needed coffee and what I thought was a "free" buffet. Found out later that breakfast cost an outrageous $56 per person. ouch! No worries though, the bill was automatically charged to the room under the name Caldeira. :) Pam joined me about an hour later, just as they were putting away the food. Cathy and Lori.... well, they made it just in time to check out, pay the bill, and catch our 1PM train back home.

On the way back to Bern, we decided to get off the train at Lausanne. Pam and I had been through the city several times before on our way to other destinations but we never actually got out to explore. Lausanne is a little less than half way between Geneva and Bern along the northern shore of Lac Leman (a.k.a. Lake Geneva). I could try to describe the city's beauty in words, but it would be no match for those of Victor Hugo: "Lausanne is a block of picturesque houses, spilling over two or three gorges, which spread from the same central knot, and are crowned by a cathedral like a tiara....I saw the lake over the roofs, the mountains over the lake, clouds over the mountains, and stars over the clouds." Yeah, ditto.  From the train station in Lausanne we walked (uphill) to the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. The views from the top of the church tower were breathtaking. If Victor didn't do it for you, here are some pictures to fill in your imagination. Or see this video.  

Anyway, after about an hour we decided to head back. It was Sunday, so most of the stores were closed. But on our way down we stumbled across a little bar called "The Great Escape." It was perfect. We watched the French Open final between Federer and Nadal while sucking down chicken fingers, french fries, and beer. The tennis match wasn't competitive. But we had fun anyway. We eventually made it back to Bern in time to catch the game between German vs. Poland.  I made a healthy serving of nachos (as if we hadn't gorged ourselves enough), we enjoyed a few more beers, and I ended the day the same way I had started it....disoriented.