The Last Day out of 48

January 6, 2014

22:00 Freiburg, Germany

13:00 Edmonton, Canada

So last I had written; I was heading out to Lido. Well it rained and rained and rained so much that day. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad on Lido. It was more of a light sprinkle while I was there. I walked around trying to find the beaches and I just wandered around mainly until I ended back at the waterbus station. So I decided I would stop being stubborn and finally look at a map. It will get me there quicker if I do it that way. Oh how I have been so stubborn at looking at maps and using them as a way to help me out. Turns out I took so many wrong turns to get to the other side of the island- which turns out to be a 25 minute walk -that it took me an hour or so to find myself back at the waterbus station instead of the beach on the other side of the island. Turns out I was just supposed to walk dead straight ahead right as I got off the waterbus. The beach was seriously deserted. Was pretty peaceful so I really can’t complain about it. I felt so at ease compared to being in the concrete jungles of Europe. Nature really is where I feel most at peace with myself. It was calming to be beside the ocean and just listening to the sound of it. I walked alongside the beach for a bit until I notice something on the ground. A HERMIT CRAB! A real hermit crab in nature!

Wow! Super cool. I only ever had them as pets back home! Sadly; it was missing a front claw and I’m not sure what it was doing all out in the open in the rain and so close to the ocean. Maybe it was just trying to scavenge for food. It looked pretty slim out on the beach. Nothing was there but shells. The carcasses of clams and mussels. Lots of the shells were crushed because of all the people who kept walking on them. But one pretty small reddish white shell caught my eye. No cracks, no damage on it what so ever. So I decided the best souvenirs are the free ones! I have a shell from Venezia- Venice.

That I will probably never forget; but maybe down the road it might not mean so much to me. Right now in this time of my life snowboarding and the mountains mean more to me than a shell on a beach. So it took Venice with quite the grain of salt. It was cool to see everything being mainly accessible by boats. But it didn’t mean much to me. Sorry if that’s your favorite place or if you feel like you would die to go there and that I don’t deserve to have gone there. But true be told. I came to Europe to snowboard. I didn’t plan on seeing other places. I do fully respect it though. I enjoyed the food. Oh glorious Italian food. Pasta, pizza, gelato. Mmm… Just imagine! I just tried the cheapest places I could find, now think if I forked out more for the food. How much more delicious it could be. Maybe more fine dining in Italia next time!

After Veneiza, it was time for me to head back to Frankfurt. I started working out the details as to my itinerary for my train ride back. It looked like I had a whole extra day to do whatever I wanted. Should I stay in Venice for that extra day? It was raining, cold, and I was really getting tired of listening to the “oh so catchy” Italian language. Should I just head to Frankfurt and wander around the city some more? I hadn’t really fully explored the place when I was there even though I was there for 3 nights or so. I could store my luggage at the airport. But then I’m stuck sleeping in the airport too. Or worse, forking out the cash to pay for yet another hostel or hotel. What should I do? That’s when my buddy I met down in Laax popped into my head. Not long before I had said I would come visit after Amsterdam for my last week. But Amsterdam came and went and I had remembered my time at Laax. ICE. Not fun. I remembered that dreaded ice along with the ice down in the Jungfrau region too. But I had missed an opportunity to say goodbye to a friend in Paris and that really affected me. So I felt I had to go to Laax, even if it was just for the night. Just one last bit of time to chill with my most memorable friend I made in Europe. And that was from meeting some random person off the street looking for the- what I would call- the most epic Rider’s Palace. So I decided to head off to Laax. While I was on my train to Sargans, the train was traveling through some Italian mountains. Boy they looked like the mountains in Jurassic Park. No lie. It was seriously incredible. That moment I had thanked myself for choosing to go to Laax. Oh how I missed these European Alps. I remember the Swiss Alps all too well! Love at first sight you could say. Then we were going through Austria (Yes, I can finally say I have been in Austria. Will I count it. Not really. Never really seen Austria. Just passed by.) and we finally seen SNOW!! Oh my goodness I was like the biggest kid in a candy store! I was glued to the window like gum on the underside of an Elementary student’s desk. It was amazing! I now remembered why I was in Europe. And Snowboarding is why I’m here. It hit me with full force. I was instantly happy. Whereas Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice and any of the cities I been to could never really fill that gap I was missing. I wasn’t fully intrigued by the cities what so ever. Yea they were uber cool but they didn’t interest me nearly as much as seeing mountains and snow did. I said to myself. How am I able to go to LAAX and not snowboard? That’s just ridiculous of me to have ever thought that. So I said to myself. “I’ll find a way.” And well; that way was found. I went snowboarding today and oh boy it was amazing!

Few ice patches, nothing unbearable. And gosh. Powder everywhere. So much untouched. Why? Off piste isn’t very deep right now, so there are lots of rocks. Plus a lot of the pistes are pretty flat where the powder is and you need speed to actually make it anywhere. Powder will actually slow you down. Laax redeemed itself and I would seriously love to enjoy an entire season in the small town of Laax. I would love to explore the area and to see the ridiculous amounts of snow laax is supposed to have. To watch pros do their thing and to see all the hot shredders hit the sweet kicker lines they have set up! My friend that I was staying with was given “The book of LAAX” by his work. He works for Laax as an instructor so its pretty much a given. But to see some of the pictures in this book at what laax once had once upon a time would be brilliant to see in real life. One thing is for sure. Out of all the places I been to Switzerland and LAAX in general is probably my favorite place of all Europe. I WILL have to come back!

Now as I write I’m heading to Mannheim where I will then connect to a train to Frankfurt. Then I will have to sleep in the airport or find some sort of Wi-Fi around and then 13:30 on January 7th is when my flight will leave Frankfurt and I will have to part ways with Europe. I’m super stoked to finally be going home! I think I might curl over when the cold finally hits me since I been spoiled rotten with no colder than -3 here. But I will jump for joy. It will be a joy to not be a mute anymore and to finally enjoy the English language. T.V will be in English, Radio will be too! All types of announcements in English. Even advertisements! With that in mind; I do want to go for a German, preferably Swiss German class. So I can go back to Switzerland with more confidence. And I have a Swiss German friend that I could possibly Skype to practice with! Bonus points! I can’t wait to start editing a video from my travels and go back through my photos and remember all the good times I have had. The lessons and the experience I have gained from this 48 days off work.

I remember back when I had super cold feet about this trip. “How can I afford this? Will I have enough? Will my couch surfing hosts be ok? What if something bad happens? I think I should just not go.” So many wild thoughts went through my mind the months leading up to this trip. And what do you know. I went with the flow. Did whatever I felt was right and it turned out to be amazing! I met incredible people I really do hope I could see again. I became very independent. But fairly stubborn because of my independence. And I lost my credit card and my phone got stolen as well. But in the end those things never really did affect me. Believe me I tried hard to bring a tear to my eye. Didn’t really work. I tried as hard as those spoiled little kids ha ha! Nothing came about. So I decided it didn’t really matter. At the back of my mind, I always knew that no matter what the little things don’t really matter because I’m alive and well. That in the end is all the really matters. A phone or a credit card will not help me if im not alive or well. So I dropped it like it was hot and moved on. I can cancel the phone and credit card at a later time because right now I haven’t a clue how to, since I’m not in the same country. Again lesson learned to write this stuff down before leaving the country! I can always get a new phone and credit card. Material objects can always be replaced. If not then NO BIG DEAL! Out with the old and in with the new! I was really tired of my I phone anyway. I just didn’t think it was going to happen this way. Whoever stole it can keep it because they must have really needed it.

Well that was my trip. I’ll write one last blog entry on the trip once I get back into Canada and am finally all settled and unpacked. Probably once I’m back up at work. Stay true, people love you and never forget who you are and what you are fighting for! I’m on facebook and if you ever need someone to chat with about anything, give me a shout! I’ll be there. Over and out!