Let's Go

Back then it was "Let's Go". We just couldn't go anywhere without a "Let's Go" Bible and a European Rail Timetable. I got ours on super special for 99p. Granted it was slightly out of date (1987 version) but I was convinced that wouldn't matter. If "Let's Go" said it, we would do it! Because "Let's Go" advised us to travel light, we did. With our sleeping bags and other essentials (like toilet paper - page 25) there wasn't too much room in our back packs for less essential things like clothes after that. This all made perfect sense before we left. To be even more efficient and save space, I cut "Let's Go" down to just the countries we planned to go to. We could not have been better prepared ; )

The entire trip, we never made an advance booking. We turned up always expecting a vacancy. 

The Luxembourg hostel was a great luxury compared to the night before at Lille. There wasn't much else for us to do though other than to walk around the city and enjoy the views because the country is a financial centre and too expensive for our budget.

The next day we travelled to Switzerland and arrived at Lausanne on the northern shores of Lake Geneva. It is so beautiful there it felt like another world. But again it was very expensive. A McDonald's meal cost us 3 times the price of back home in New Zealand.

We met an Australian called Alex at the hostel. He planned to take the mountain train to Gstaad from Vevey which wasn't very far away. 

We bought some world renowned Swiss chocolate and starting at Lausanne we changed to a mountain train at Vevey. The inclined trip to Gstaad was the kind of moment you could stay in forever. The views of the mountains, the green grass and the flowers. The log cabins and pure blue skies. The sound of the train and the warm air flowing in through the open windows. Switzerland is exactly as you see on a postcard. 

I'd never heard of Gstaad before but it is a ski resort and a popular destination for celebrities. The Swiss Tennis Open is held there. It's very small and exclusive and I'm sure we looked completely out of place, especially the way we were dressed!!  

I had been combining studying and working for Nestlé for 2 years and they have their head office in Vevey so we decided to go there on the way back. 

My Grandad in England had told me before we left to make sure I went and said hello. But the clothes I was travelling in were an embarrassment. In fact I may as well have been walking around in my undies...

You could be fooled into thinking you have found Paradise in Switzerland but that is just an illusion. The next day while we were admiring the beauty and architecture in Geneva we saw a homeless man reach into a rubbish bin and pick out a bottle and drink the last remains. That really shocked me, my mind took a photo which has never gone away.

Our world has created exclusive havens for the rich. First Class, Upper Class, Private Schools. Like a Swiss bank account, you can't crack the code to get in. You can only briefly observe from the outside and then you have to move on. 

What I'm sure of is that the World is upside down. The rich have no need of God and they don't believe in him. But the homeless, the brokenhearted and children are the strongest believers you will find. In that coming day, when only faith, hope and love remain, the tables will be turned forever.

Read Next Chapter : Germany
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