Swiss Adventure Week 3th-8th August 2004

Imagine a week full of crazy things except that they are actually so crazy that you can't even imagine them. Double it and you get the Swiss Adventure Week. The home base for a week-long exchange was some kilometres away from Zürich up to the mountains, a cottage called Stockhütte. It was the perfect scenery for outdoor activities, such as mountain biking, hiking, climbing rocks, swimming in a mountain lake and even riding a cow (!) We were altogether around 25 people trying out things that I think not many of us had done before or at least I hadn't. The most I enjoyed biking down the mountain, or to tell you the truth, the last lap from the cottage on a good asphalt road down to the village without any braking was almost euphoric! I have to admit that it was a bit scary to ride on all the rocks in mud and rain, and my hands hurt like hell the day after that because of all the braking and tensed muscles. Two girls even got injured a little bit after falling down with or from the bike but every game needs its sacrifice and Sport macht Mord, doesn't it?

After couple of days of smelling the fresh mountain air we headed back to civilization and got to know a cosy town called Luzern with a city quiz that the organizers had made for us. Asking locals (or other tourists) and trying to figure out where the questions and hints take us was a nice way of getting to know the city, because you really had to think and pay attention to the surroundings, although it was PRETTY painful to walk around in 35 degrees and sun shine with a hangover and no water bottle in the bag* Same day we also made a loooong rubber boat trip down the stream, which was like a dream in the beginning with sun shine, bikinis, beer and relaxed atmosphere but later on turned into a never-ending nightmare, when the sun went down and the river, hunger and cold water just kept on going. Actually later on I went to a same city in Sweden to study with one of the main organizers of that boat trip and I remembered to remind him many times about my suffer, although it was more like a matter of laugh than annoyance as the time went on, hih. The boat trip lasted actually so long that we didn't have any time for the famous tram party that day, but, hey, at least there's a perfect excuse to go back to lovely Zürich to check how the guys party in a moving tram.

The week climaxed with two days in Zürich. As we came back from our trip to the country side, we didn't get to enjoy the city life too much but took a tram to the woods to have a barbeque and an early farewell party there. It was really beautiful and lyrical to be outside in the torch light, the whole situation was almost like from a fairy tail. Fairy tail was also next day: Street Parade! As it was already my second time in Street Parade I somehow knew what to except but still I was as amazed as the first time to see, how many colourful and cheerful people there are out on the street partying with the disco beats. That was a wonderful day full of dance and laugh, one of those days and events you just can't describe to anybody, you have to experience it by yourselves.

All in all a cool week, relaxing but full of action at the same time. Zürich guys really have it in their blood, bravo!

written by: Emmi Rautkylä, Helsinki