Farewell Switzerland

Well, my time has come – for now at least – to leave this land of good chocolate, cuckoo clocks, smelly cheeses, incredible mountains, filthy cigarettes, Nazi gold, ridiculous small dogs, offensive prices, and many somewhat humourless law-abiding people!  Hey, but it’s not all bad!!!  I couldn’t have asked for more out of the last year.  To recap bits of it, in case you’ve missed some….

I’ve been right up into the Arctic Circle,
and down into the underground cities of Turkey,
I’ve done the Heineken brewery tour for breakfast,
and been a drunk fool at Oktoberfest,
I’ve snowboarded myself stupid in the winter,
and climbed my arse off in the summer,
I’ve celebrated New Years in London’s Trafalgar Square,
and danced in front of 700,000 at the Zürich Street Parade,
I’ve walked through ancient cities in Turkey,
but then seen the stolen “good bits” in a Berlin museum,
I’ve tackled 4000m peaks,
and relaxed on the lazy, sleepy islands off Thailand,
I’ve caught a live sex show in Amsterdam,
and been woken to sounds of a free show in my hostel dorm,
I’ve drunk with the Spaniards,
and knocked my socks off on Absinth – 80%! – in Prague,
I’ve made the pilgrimage to Gallipoli for Anzac Day,
and also walked the D-Day beaches at Normandy,
I’ve had a friend try to die on me on Koh Phan Gan,
and had mates pass out on me in Zürich,
I’ve had all my clothes stolen in Sweden,
and bought ridiculous tourist trash everywhere I go,
I’ve seen the Carnavale in Venice,
and been in a bus crash in the Middle-Of-Nowhere Thailand,
I’ve drunk wine under the Eiffel at night,
and stood in awe at the impressive Mont St. Michel,
I’ve slept in a snow cave at 3000m,
on the floor of a train and in a convent dormitory,
I’ve skipped “Sound of Music” style down an archway in Salzburg,
and got drunk and naked on a snowed-in rugby bus from Geneva,
I’ve seen some of the most amazing art you could ever imagine,
but fallen asleep in a Vienna concert,
I’ve travelled third class on a Thai train,
and ridden a fifteen hour non-stop hell bus in Turkey,
I’ve haggled over something worth twenty cents,
but also paid eight bucks for a small beer in Norway,
I’ve been to some of the great cities of the world,
and seen some of world’s worst excuses for beaches,
I’ve met some of the best people I could ever hope to meet,
and I’ve had the most fun I could ever hope to have!

So, basically, I haven’t done much at all!

Where from here?  First a little side trip to Ireland for a few weeks to get my fix of Rugby World Cup action (got tickets to two games including Oz vs. Ireland at Landsdowne Road – yee ha!), and then I’m back to Old Melbourne Town. After that…well… I don’t exactly know!  I’ll do nothing for a bit and then I’ll do something, but you’ll hear about it all when the time comes.