so ran this 11k run in Davos, wanted to get under an hour so i rocked 59 minutes - got beat by numerous children, but you know what, it felt great. they were also handing out coke at the water stations - no, i don't want coke, give me water, was what was going through my head. also handing out alcohol free beer at the end, you know, with all the b vitamins and carbs to rehydrate yourself better. only in switzerland.
after that it was a pretty chill weekend, needed a good relaxing one anyways - basically just fell asleep for hours in the sun at schwimmbad, i'm still continuing the streak of sleeping in parks, 6 weeks and counting.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
gurtenfestival
last weekend was this gurtenfestival, in berne, about an hour from here.
the link:
http://www.gurtenfestival.ch/program/program_en.aspx
it was such a good time, i wish they had some music festivals like this at home - but alas, no one would be happy with music till 5 am in canada. some really great shows, franz ferdinand was awesome, got right up to the front. some cool ska bands, danced barefoot in the mud - oh yea, it pretty much thunderstormed for two nights, essentially rained inside the tent. it was so great though, definitely the mud and dirt and rain just made it better, just classic. just the atmosphere was amazing, just lots of people having a good time together. this was a terrible job of explaining, but honestly, the experience was one of the best i've ever had. came home with a bag of wet clothes, covered in dirt, tired from dancing, but completely worth it.
in other news, i really like kebabs. been running a lot lately. work is alright, just hangin out mostly. hair's getting long but i'm gonna leave it.
coming up: 11k run this weekend, and bungee jumping 220 m the weekend after that, i'm terrified.
the link:
http://www.gurtenfestival.ch/program/program_en.aspx
it was such a good time, i wish they had some music festivals like this at home - but alas, no one would be happy with music till 5 am in canada. some really great shows, franz ferdinand was awesome, got right up to the front. some cool ska bands, danced barefoot in the mud - oh yea, it pretty much thunderstormed for two nights, essentially rained inside the tent. it was so great though, definitely the mud and dirt and rain just made it better, just classic. just the atmosphere was amazing, just lots of people having a good time together. this was a terrible job of explaining, but honestly, the experience was one of the best i've ever had. came home with a bag of wet clothes, covered in dirt, tired from dancing, but completely worth it.
in other news, i really like kebabs. been running a lot lately. work is alright, just hangin out mostly. hair's getting long but i'm gonna leave it.
coming up: 11k run this weekend, and bungee jumping 220 m the weekend after that, i'm terrified.
Monday, July 13, 2009
surenenpass hike
went on this hike in the alps, started in a town called altdorf and hiked to engelberg. it was like 28k with 1800m elevation, pretty much just another typical hike. it was quite nice though, came up over this surenenpass, it was raining a bit, which made for some nice clouds and fog. after going on a few of these hikes, i think that i have a bit of perspective on the mountains here - and i think that i still like the ones at home...it's just different i guess, but i'm the kind of guy that goes trekking because it's a chance to challenge yourself and to push it to the limits, to go where no one has gone before, to get away from everything - and here it's more like, there are cable cars and furniculars to take you up to trailheads, warm and comfy mountain huts to sleep overnight in, cows, sheep and farms everywhere. it's not the same looking down into a valley and seeing a town instead of just trees and rivers. that being said, of course it's still very pretty and there are tons of alpine meadows filled with flowers, once you get high enough there are all those little blue forget me nots just like at home.
for this particular hike, we started up under this cable car path to the trailhead, and then proceeded to do a bit of up and down through a more or less flat section, through to a bit of a ridge walk that led to a some snow covered paths. essentially walked up a glacier, up to this surenenpass. it was quite foggy and rainy that day, made for some great photos though. after going over this pass, it was a short walk down to an alpine hut. this was actually quite nice, there was a room just for the 10 of us that were there, dinner and breakfast included. pretty much just ate a ton of pasta and cheese for dinner, and loaded up on bread and milk for breakfast, definitely from the cows that were all over the trail. of course, walking through the typical swiss valley, one can hear just a ton of cowbells at once. the next day was a walk down to the town of engelberg - a nice mountain town might i add, seemed like it would be a great ski base in the winter. lounged around until 7 again, for the free train, played some dutch blitz - i have slept in a park for 5 weeks in a row now - and then took the train through lucerne, back home.
definitely gonna hit up a couple more hikes in august, gonna try and find a bit of a tougher one, and try to get higher to see what 3500 or 4000 m feels like.
also i think it was this week that i had, in consecutive days, lunch at work: 1. all you can eat thai restaurant 2. the most massive doner kebab in history. patrick meunier, you will be the death of me if you keep convincing me to eat as much as i can.
for this particular hike, we started up under this cable car path to the trailhead, and then proceeded to do a bit of up and down through a more or less flat section, through to a bit of a ridge walk that led to a some snow covered paths. essentially walked up a glacier, up to this surenenpass. it was quite foggy and rainy that day, made for some great photos though. after going over this pass, it was a short walk down to an alpine hut. this was actually quite nice, there was a room just for the 10 of us that were there, dinner and breakfast included. pretty much just ate a ton of pasta and cheese for dinner, and loaded up on bread and milk for breakfast, definitely from the cows that were all over the trail. of course, walking through the typical swiss valley, one can hear just a ton of cowbells at once. the next day was a walk down to the town of engelberg - a nice mountain town might i add, seemed like it would be a great ski base in the winter. lounged around until 7 again, for the free train, played some dutch blitz - i have slept in a park for 5 weeks in a row now - and then took the train through lucerne, back home.
definitely gonna hit up a couple more hikes in august, gonna try and find a bit of a tougher one, and try to get higher to see what 3500 or 4000 m feels like.
also i think it was this week that i had, in consecutive days, lunch at work: 1. all you can eat thai restaurant 2. the most massive doner kebab in history. patrick meunier, you will be the death of me if you keep convincing me to eat as much as i can.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
amsterdam
went to amsterdam last weekend. basically, friday night was a party in the football stadium with 40000 people dressed in white, for sensation white. pretty much one of the most ridiculous events i have attended, didn't stop till 6 in the morning, at which point i took the train back to central station and slept in a park for several hours. oh yea, the black eyed peas decided to show up to this event at about 2 in the morning - almost forgot that happened. after sleeping in the park i had a herring sandwich, with onions and pickles. i thought i was good, but it gives you terribly bad breath. hit up the albert cuyp market, which is a big street market that had some cool stuff in it. went to the heineken brewery, that was alright - pretty touristy, but you get free beer - in retrospect, i had to pay 15 euro to get in so that point is invalid. kinda had to do it though i guess. ate some pretty good noodles and curry - i thought there was a fairly large asian population there actually, judging from the size of chinatown. wandering around the canals, chinatown, dam square and all the bridges was pretty cool. other amsterdam activities as well obviously.
went on a bike tour in the morning, saw a windmill, ate dutch gouda cheese. saw some dutch cows. took photos of wooden shoes. went through these big parks that were neat. went to the rijksmuseum which i thought was really cool, loved the paintings. rembrandt was kind of a big deal, i have to admit. it's also kinda neat, when you put your face really close to the painting and see the detail...just careful of the security. continued on, to drink some heinekens, naturally, and continue our wanderings. ate fries with mayo, delicious waffles with ice cream.
finally, went on a walking tour in the morning, got an explanation of everything, which was good - turns out that we had already wandered around most of the city already. after that, i got fast food out of a vending machine wall simply for the novelty of it, it was terrible. then took the train about 30 minutes west, to zandvoort aan zee, on the north sea coast. went to the beach, it was actually very nice - nobody there though, it was late afternoon on a monday though. the water was pretty warm, and the sand was definitely there. the sun was out for a bit, but it got somewhat windy and sand got everywhere, particularly on the cheese i had purchased for sandwich making, it added great texture. i quite liked this small town, nice to get away from the crowded streets of amsterdam. sat down and had a delicious dutch pannekoek, a pancake thicker than a crepe but thinner than a pancake, i think, with apples and cinammon. it was great. stayed for the sunset over the north sea, i thought it was pretty cool cause the sun sets in the west and all. tried to take some photos, they might work out, i'm not sure.
i think i could have done without so much time there - it was definitely pretty cool and all that, but being there for too long was a bit overwhelming just with it being packed with tourists and the crowded big city atmosphere.
went on a bike tour in the morning, saw a windmill, ate dutch gouda cheese. saw some dutch cows. took photos of wooden shoes. went through these big parks that were neat. went to the rijksmuseum which i thought was really cool, loved the paintings. rembrandt was kind of a big deal, i have to admit. it's also kinda neat, when you put your face really close to the painting and see the detail...just careful of the security. continued on, to drink some heinekens, naturally, and continue our wanderings. ate fries with mayo, delicious waffles with ice cream.
finally, went on a walking tour in the morning, got an explanation of everything, which was good - turns out that we had already wandered around most of the city already. after that, i got fast food out of a vending machine wall simply for the novelty of it, it was terrible. then took the train about 30 minutes west, to zandvoort aan zee, on the north sea coast. went to the beach, it was actually very nice - nobody there though, it was late afternoon on a monday though. the water was pretty warm, and the sand was definitely there. the sun was out for a bit, but it got somewhat windy and sand got everywhere, particularly on the cheese i had purchased for sandwich making, it added great texture. i quite liked this small town, nice to get away from the crowded streets of amsterdam. sat down and had a delicious dutch pannekoek, a pancake thicker than a crepe but thinner than a pancake, i think, with apples and cinammon. it was great. stayed for the sunset over the north sea, i thought it was pretty cool cause the sun sets in the west and all. tried to take some photos, they might work out, i'm not sure.
i think i could have done without so much time there - it was definitely pretty cool and all that, but being there for too long was a bit overwhelming just with it being packed with tourists and the crowded big city atmosphere.
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