Where do you dream tonight?

 

 

You cannot get more swiss

    Decat in Kandersteg, unde am fost la ceva workshop schwitz-rusesc. (da, stiu, suna ciudat, dar ma rog, oamenii incearca; pentru prima data am fost de partea cealalta a gardului, si anume in partea in care oamenii au bani si fac cercetare, si m am uitat cu oarecare mila la ailalti care faceau ceva modelari avansate..dar nedublate de experimente).

 

    In fine, conferinta e besides the point. The point is ca loc mai elvetian, cu mai multe vaci, munti si steaguri cu cruce pe metru patrat io nu cred ca exista. Plus ca e singurul munte la care am fost si unde miroase ca acasa - a brad....si a iarba uda....ei, da, recunosc, mi e dor putin :P

 

    Niste poze, in ceatza, pentru ca soarele a iesit dupa ce am plecat noi: a se lua aminte la poza cu CARUTZA, e facuta pe drum national, si poate fi printata si administrata anal oricui mai comenteaza despre carutele de la noi :).

 

 

 

His

 

 

 

 

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Mine 

Sarumana

 ...lu' Explorish pentru ca m a invatzat acest minunat trick cu Picassa

 

 

Glacier du Tour

     Ar trebui sa dau cu copy paste mai jos "le recit" pe care m a pus benga sa ma ofer sa il fac pentru clubu alpin (nu ca o sa il citeasca prea multa lume). Point is ca am plecat la o ora la care iarba sigur nu crestea pe nicaieri in directia Chamonix, precum ca sa facem o tura ushoara pe acest frumos ghetzar, pana la Cabana (Refugiu, ma rog, ca e in Franta, si cik oamenii se ataca la termenu cabana) Albert   

Intaiu', la 2700 de m. Un grup uber eterogen (22- 71 de ani), unii de treaba, altii mai ciudatei. O fost cred ca cel mai dificil si rewarding hike pe care l am facut, numa 1300 de m diferenta de nivel, si scurt al naibii, ca numa in sus am mers. Am plecat in tricou, am ajuns sus plangand dupa manushi si fular.
Refugiu era full (153 de locuri are) si ne o costat cu cina si mic dejun pe la 35 de euro. Care io zic ca ii un rip off, pentru ca am dormit cu aburi la gura (cred ca si ningea la un moment dat), si mancarea era najpa. Da ma rog, era si varianta hors-sac, adik in sac, da afara, pe prispa. Moka. Ma rog, 3 euro dak voiai sa mananci inauntru mancare din propria-ti punga.

A doua zi am coborat/urcat in Elvetia, pe un delushor la fo 2300 de m care se keama L'Arolette si ne am uitat la Montblanc. Dupa care am coborat cei 2300 de m vai de genunchii mamucutii si ai tatucutii.

    O fost uber fain, cu siguranta vreau sa mai merg odata pe acolo inainte sa plec din .ch.

 

 

Si varianta tehnica

 

A shy sun was peaking through the Neuchatel clouds on that Sunday morning. Morning for the less lazy of us, because I personally crawled to the bus stop, questioning my love for the mountains as I was swallowing my last drops of bitter coffee and trying to open my eyes. After an efficient meeting at the Island of Boudry (everybody was in their driver’s car in less then 15 minutes, with sandwiches, chocolate and water packed), we headed direction Martigny via Lausanne.

 

          Two hours and some evil jokes later we arrived in Tour, the small village guarded by it s flowing Glacier. The sun was now bright, drying the last drop of rain/dew that still lingered on the myriad of mountain flowers that filled the valley. While equipping for going up, we also got a grip of the concept “Surtout pas de baskets”. This may sometimes mean “But sandals with socks are acceptable”.

 

   We walked through the meadow and followed a narrow path through the forest, almost like a winding staircase. Mousse to the left and shining green, the first shy torrents flowing from the glacier to our right, bending our heads under the branches that shadowed the path, we walked in an Indian file until the first “crux” (yes, you may laugh, but as a hiker, I always liked this word, when my climbing friends talk about the key step) – the passage was now a bit steeper with a bit of 2a (?) climbing involved.

 

   Nobody needed the rope that our guide was carrying, and after hoisting ourselves on the granite path, we arrived in the sun, getting ready to turn right, towards the side of the glacier. After a short chocolate break, watching the torents from above, we continued going up on a “morene” trail, where the glacier on our right was getting larger and larger. 

 

            A longer lunch in the shadow next to the blue seracs was well deserved, since the climb to there took us a lot less then we expected. Pulling the polaires out we continued going up, with our eyes focused towards  the refuge that was now visible on top of the icy mountain.

 

 he last 200 m were a bit more extreme, walking on a steep snow covered hill. But as the refuge was full and at least 50 people have walked the trail before us, even our well equipped guide managed to get up without getting his feet, ahem, socks wet. 1300 m in height and a bit more in length (but not a lot, there are no flat regions, it’s always “up” at various angles) – and we did it all in 4 hours.

 

We drank beer and laughed satisfied, waiting until
16:00
, when our winter cabin opened (yes, we were very efficient, and arrived at the refuge around
14:00
), we shared a nice moment and got to know a bit eachother. All ages, all backgrounds and all happy to have done such a nice walk.

 

The ones still full of energy (well, everybody except me) went for an afternoon walk on the glacier and adopted some rock (aka the pile of stones of the Neuchatelois). The author joined later, for the first round of dinner. Probably the best potato soup ever.

 

After we admired the sunset over the (fill in the names of the mountains) and enjoyed the winter-like smell, we invaded the “hors-sac” living room for a game of cards and an evening tea/coffee/beer/some weird alcohol/chocolate and then gratefully hit the sleeping bags in a frozen sardine fashion.

 

In the morning I was again struck by the efficiency of the group who rounded up for breakfast in less then 15 minutes. Once the hot chocolate and pruneaux d’Agean to keep us fit were consumed, we went for a walk on the glacier, under the morning sun. Watching some more brave then us climbing the Table, two other teams getting up on Chardonay, we thanked ourselves to get the feeling of walking on 50 meters of ice and admiring two members of our teams playing the penguins when going down hill.

 

We left the refuge around
9:30
, heading for la Tete de Balme, a 2300 peak , across the border, in

Switzerland

. After a quite painful descent on a steep slope, covered with quite hard snow, we managed to regroup and start walking on the narrow path under the rocks. The void on our left and majestic stones on our right, we stopped from time to time to admire the Montblanc which shyly hid it s face under a fluffy white cloud, we identified peaks and flowers and even got a glimpse at a marmote sumo match. A nice and long “Sunday walk”, as one of the people defined it led us to the swiss border. From there to our target we climbed another km and found ourselves at…L’Arolete (Tete de Balme was lower so we weren’t too displeased by our mistake). We enjoyed a long picnic and a short siesta, with Les Drus and Le Montblanc reflecting in our eyes.

 

 We continued then to go down, passing by la Tete de Balme, as to be able to check it also on our list.

 

The descent was quite harsh for the knees, so some of us decided to continue in telecabine, and 30 minutes later we regrouped in the Tour parking lot.

 

After a traditional last drink in F., we headed under a shy rain towards foggy Neuchatel.

 

 Fr me it was probably one of the best hikes, fun and yet with some difficult parts, as to keep the excitement at a decent level. The way the blue seracs shine under the sun, the mix of polar feelings and European summer, the open spaces that make one feel “king of the castle” incredibly small and humble in the same time charged my batteries for a while.

 

I guess heartily thanks are in order for our organizers – JSC and MyL, and from my part to all the group that added the nice and fun human touch to this hike.

 

restanta

 De la Lausanne, pentru toti fanii lu nenea DG. Vine o poveste faina maine (sau mai pe seara) despre o activitate complet diferita, da voiam musai sa pun si pozele astea:

 

 

After party, 5:45, train

 

Raining mit sunshine

     Sometimes life unravels nicely.

 

    Work goes good (not excellent, but good), parties rock the house (House being the key word, yes, me, me, the Rammstein freak, the tie-dyed T-shirt Doors flowers in my hair freak is becoming a raging clubber, looking for David Guetta CDs), love pours on you like summer rain...
    And you breathe it all in, and write more letters and stories then in the whole previous year, and you find your charcoal and paint brushes, braid your hair, heck you even FEEL the NEED to wear high heels once in a while. Plan weekends and run away from work in the middle of the day, cross the mountains just to see yourself reflected in your love's eyes, because that's the only mirror in which you look beautiful.

    And one day you call. And ask in a fainted voice "Could I come to your place?", and your heart does the canari dance, waiting for the answer.

    "Yes"

 

    Does that make you happy? No, that makes you SCARED, scared shitless, scared beyond all horror movie scare, because yes, kindness sometimes can be an unexpected act. Because you already had all the weapons up for defense and now it s hard to put them back discretely. Because yes, in your world, even in sunny days, the sky still threatens to fall down mit thunders.

Silence

 I am sure she s up above now, walking hand in hand mit granpa, walking around through gardens of clouds and golden vineyards, as us, us left here watch in our mind her body that betrayed her being put down in a grave. I am sure she is happy. She couldn t live without him. She had to follow. She was sad and lost without him.

They were 60 and still holding hands. They were 70 and still teasing eachother. He was 80 and at his funeral I remember her saying "I wish I could ask him what to do now, he was so good at these things...:". She had to follow.

"Hai, Ioana, sa iti arat ce struguri frumosi avem..."

I beg you pleaaaaaaase

 Vreau tricoul de care zic oamenii astia aici. Mie imi plac the evil pidgeons since a long time ago. Vreau tricou. Sa mi dea tricouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.