We had another. This time, we didn't have to sit in the van for hours on end singing ridiculous songs while being driven to an unknown location (though we knew they were really just driving us around to kill time). Instead, we stayed around Adelboden.
We went curling! Seriously, it is a real sport. If you're watching it on tv, and you feel compelled to ridicule their ridiculous brooms and silly shoes. Don't! It's really really hard. I'll take good old fashioned shuffle board any day, because that doesn't require you to throw your body on the ice while sliding forward and aiming a 50 pound (8000 chf) rock across the floor at a target you can't see because you're only a foot off the ground. Not easy.
After shuffle board, we ate lunch. Let me tell you about Mixed Salads. They are simply the most delicious things ever. I think they're more European than uniquely Swiss in origin. What you do is: arrange coleslaw, carrots, sweet corn, and sometimes pickled beets around a bowl in quadrants. Then above that you put some lettuce, on the lettuce you put cucumbers, tomatoes, boiled eggs and some other vegetables (again in quadrants) and cover the whole thing in creamy dressing. Here's a picture of one that Laura made for me.
Delicious. Try it at home. Ok, I had a mixed salad for lunch.Then, we went tobogganing. I will not call it sledding. Sledding is fun and you go on a gentle hill and you sit in a plastic sled about an inch off the ground, if that. No, they don't do anything half-assed here in Switzerland. First, we sit about a foot off the ground on these wooden contraptions that have metal runners. I'm sure they were sharpened or something too--because that would just make it more dangerous and thus more fun! Jen drove us up a hill and dropped us off on the top of some sort of World Ski Cup black diamond run. "Good luck, I'll meet you at the bottom!" All the Europeans, who had seen these toboggans before hopped on and took off. It took me a while to get up the courage to push off (though, not as hard as jumping off the bridge).
I couldn't even make it to the bottom. I am the Worst Tobogganer ever. Ever! I kept getting off the groomed run and ending up in powder. I eventually gave up and walked the rest of the way down.
On my second run, I did a little better until somehow I lost the sled and tumbled end over end about seven times before coming to a stop. I gave up on "sledding" after that. I think my neck is a bit sore.
After that disaster, we were given a word search puzzle that was supposed to lead us to our next location. We figured it out just fine and learned that we needed to walk to Unter dem birg, or about 3 miles. Seriously? It was about 15 degrees (that's F) outside and getting dark. I guess that's a scout thing....hey! it's miserable out, lets do something ridiculous! So we walked, when we got there, Jen and Madge had made a fire for us and we ate soup and bread and then left. The stars were beautiful, my toes were on their way to frost bite. (seriously, they shouldn't have been so red and swollen when I got home).
What a great day.
[[NOTE: I actually do Not have a picture of that salad, turns out it's on Laura's computer. If she'll send it to me, I'll post it. ]]]
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