A small band was playing to the left. Later in the night I heard from a true Swiss mountain lady (a normal girl) that all of the Swiss gold is underneath these fountains in a huge vault. She said that if someone breaks in, the doors seal, and the entire vault is flooded with water. "It's the same water from the fountains," she joked. Back to my trip to the Aar. We met a few more people in front of the Parliament building and then walked down to the river. On the way, there was a large park with public swimming pools. The park was full of Swiss citizens laying out and catching some rays from the sun. Definitely a spot I will be hanging out at often on sunny days. We took a path for about 2km along the river to Eicholz. A park on the river with a soccer field, beach volleyball and tons of places to build a fire, including fire pits and just spots where fire burnt wholes in the grass.
A Saturday of BBQ at Eicholz is a must for the Swiss if the weather is permitting. With temps in the high 70s and the sun above us, we decided to take a swim in the Aar. The water that supplies the Aar is straight from the mountains so it is a bit cold. 12.7 degrees Celsius = 54.86 degrees Fahrenheit. About the temp I take my ice baths at. Not only is the water freezing, but the current is quick. It flows at ~15mph. Others were taking advantage of the speed.
They're called river surfers, which is a popular extreme sport in Switzerland. They hang onto a bungee cord which helps keep them in place, but also move around. Neither the temp, nor the current was going to stop me from swimming in the Aar. Three of us jumped in and floated/swam down the river for about 100meters. The water was shocking. It was beautiful most of the day until about 6:30. It started raining and didn't really let up for about an hour. A lot of people left, but we braved through. Once the rain had stopped, a family next to us welcomed our party over for a plate of food. I, with about 15 others walked over happily to be greeted by a man in his 50s who handed us each a plate. There was a ton of food. A lot of different types of salads. All quite good. Back at our fire we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores (a new food for just about everyone except for the Americans). I didn't know marshmallows were a US thing.
We left and got back to the train station at about 8:30. On the train I saw a friend who lives on my floor. He had groceries so I helped him into Tscharnergut. Once we got to our floor he said he was going for a 10k run and asked if I wanted to join. "Of course," I said. We ran on the trails in the forest. He's from Sweden and has a background in soccer so he is a decent runner. When I got back to my room, a friend from Denmark was waiting at my door. She had put her phone in my backpack to keep it from getting wet at the Aar and had forgotten to get it back. She invited me to go to the city center with her and some friends. This is where I met the Swiss mountain lady. It was a great night and another long night. I got to sleep around 4:30.
I woke up late again this morning. Today was more of a relaxing day. I walked around outside and explored some places close to Tscharnergut. I think I might buy a basketball to play on a court I can see from my balcony. I was suppose to be at Fellergut by 8:30 but this is taking forever to write. There is a going away party for three Americans who are leaving tomorrow and Tuesday. Chow!
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