2004-10-19 |Grindelwald,SwitzerlandWe woke up and I immediately went to the bank, the post and shopping. Ibought a Swiss army knife. The thing is freaking bad ass (notice the Renneengraving). It has everything a hard working man needs. Even a lighter whichis really powerful. When asked for what I want engraved, I wasn't selfish byputting my first name. I put Renne so that my children can use it to burntheir hands and scare their mom with them and their first knife.

After that we went to the bike shop to start our adventure sport wechose. This was probably the most bang for our buck and was the best decisionbecause the weather was pure crap today. It took about 30 minutes to get teebikes but it was worth it because the bikes were great mountain bikes thatwould work great for riding down the alps in the rain. We rode to the trainstation and then received info on how much it will cost us to ride up oneway with bikes. but it was too expensive to get where we originally wantedto go, so we decided to go to Grindelwald for 7 francs, plus another 7 forour bikes. The reason the higher locations are so expensive is because theonly method of getting there is by cable car. Once we both got our tickets,Matt realized that he didn't have his rail pass on him and he had to haul assto the hostel to get it. He had about 10 minutes to get it and get back tothe train station. I thought for sure he would miss it and we would have towait another hour. But sure enough he got there and we rode our bikesbasically straight onto the train. He got there in the nick of time, but hefelt sick, his knee was sore and he had a headache. He felt better once wegot there and had food.

Matt is awesome though. its scary how similar he thinks to me. he and Ihave dedicated the next two weeks together and we also get along so well soit works out great. The conversation never covers the same informationtwice, he has great stories, and plus he laughs at all the stupid stuff Isay. I really feel comfortable around him and he already knows me very well.I am totally on the same oat as him, in life and everything else. I am soglad I met up with him.

So we made it to grindelwald and walked around a bunch. We stopped in toget lunch (trying to find soup) and come to find out all this restaurant hadwas a grumpy and rude cook (who yelled "you must order now, kitchensclosing") and also they had crappy bread soup. I even considered leavingonce he yelled that at us.

but once we ate and left, we were off to the downhill roads. It was a 17KM ride and we even had no map to get back. but its pretty easy to navigatearound the huge natural barriers. It was definitely a rush, but we wereabsolutely drenched (including my bag and jeans). I also had no gloves, butbecause I prepared for that I wore. (Yeah I know I am a total retard, but itwas my last day in the cold and I didn't feel like buying and lugging arounda new pair of gloves) It was hilarious though.

The scenery was fantastic here, but I will keep the memory with me andnot share it because it was too wet to take pics and also because we weregoing 25 miles an hour downhill and that is dangerous. Sorry. ;-)

We made it back and even had to ride on a freeway to get back. Peoplehonked at us, but the thing was that it was safer there than on thelittle curvy road with cars blazing by you.

Once we got back and settled in, we went to the laundry mat even though wehad done laundry the night before. yeah it sucked, but I didn't want to havemuddy, wet and stinky clothes for when I come back. We were tired after thisand mostly just relaxed the rest of the night (there also isn't reallyanything to do at night here).