Dairyland for the Lactose Retarded

My plan for Switzerland had been Geneva, Bern, Zurich.  However, when I sent out my request for a couch in Bern, I got a reply from a couple in the nearby town of Fribourg (pronounced Free-bore).  Lauren had a friends that had visited there and heard it was beautiful.  After a brief google, I quickly accepted.

Xavier and Elise sounded like fun people and I couldn't pass on such a cute little town.  Plus, Bern happened to be situated between Fribourg and Zurich, so I could still make a visit if I wanted.

Xavier was the principle host online, and while they had no hosting references, they had been surfers before.  Plus, with a girl in the household I don't feel near as exposed.

I was so glad I made the exception, because Fribourg was absolutely gorgeous.  It had, what I would consider, extremely hilly streets, which only added to its dynamics.  All the buildings were old and made from stone, with little street lamps hanging above the doors. 

Just a ten minute walk from the station to their flat and I was already in love.

Both Xavier and Elise walked me back to their flat.  By sheer coincidence, Elise had actually been on the same train from Geneva.  While we were just on the edge of the French part of Switzerland, both of them also spoke German in addition to English.

Now as it turns out, I had come at a very important time in Switzerland.  That night was the Swiss hockey championship final game.  Bern vs Zurich.  Elise had to get up early the next day, so when she went to bed, Xavier and I headed across town to watch the game at a pub with his friends.

I had thought that since Fribourg was so close to Bern, that they would side with them.  However, Bern had beat out Fribourg, so everyone was backing Zurich instead. 

By the time we got there, it was the last period.  It was a 1-1 tie game, until Zurich scored two seconds before the buzzer.

Afterwards, we went for a victory beer.  Most of Xavier's friends peeled off to go home, so it ended up just being three of us.  We mostly ended up talking about music. 

He had an interesting taste in a wide variety of music, as I had already heard some samples back at his flat.  He also was a bit of a promoter of music in Fribourg.

Xavier had bought an old public transport bus and turned it into a party bus/business hub/backstage hang out: Le BusPoint.  Some major carpentry work went into this thing, as well as plenty of electrical planning.  He used it to rent out to customers as well as a band interview venue for local festivals.  One of which festivals was actually put together and planned by Xavier and some of his friends.  Kind of amazing really.

The next day, Elise had to work but Xavier only had a short meeting in town, so he offered to show me around a bit.

Fribourg is an absolutely beautiful old city that's partially in a valley next to a river, and the rest of the city was situated above with various hilly streets. 

It was a very long hike up the hill on the other side of the valley, but the view was so worth it.  You could see literally the whole town.  Xavier even pointed out his apartment building from clear across the city. Everything was very green there.  On the way down the hill, we passed a flock of sheep and other various small groups of farm animals, including these adorable baby goats. 

After fully descending (and then scaling the opposite side of the valley), Xavier pointed me down a long street of shops and left for his meeting.  I walked this street pretty much until I started to see more livestock than people. 

I headed back to the flat, as Elise was supposed to be back soon, and that night they were making traditional Swiss fondue for dinner.

Fondue is too good to let something like dairy intolerance stop me from eating it.

My mother makes a cheese fondue for holidays using various cheeses, mostly different types of cheddar I believe, and beer.  The Swiss use two types of cheeses, Gruyere and Emmanthaler, and dry white wine.  It is difficult to make such an authentic fondue in the states because the Gruyere we can buy is almost guaranteed to be pasteurized, as in Switzerland it is not.

We dipped bread into the fondue, and it wasn't impolite to just eat straight of your skewer.  My hosts put a bit of tabasco on their plate to dip their bread in, but Xavier said his father would be appalled if he saw him doing that.  The tabasco was a nice addition.  I also mentioned that in the States, we would dip apples in the cheese to.  They had never tried it, but agreed that it sounded like a pretty tasty idea.

That night we decided to watch a movie.  They asked if I had any suggestions as to an American film they hadn't seen.  I mentioned the movie Crash.  If you have never seen the movie, I highly suggest it.  I'm pretty sure it won several awards.  The film is really five our six stories that are all interconnected, and each story has to do with stereotypes, racism, and religious stigmas.  There's no way to explain the movie, you just have to see it.

Elise and Xavier loved it.

I explained that not everyone acts like they do in the movie, but everyone has at least a hint of each stereotype in the back of their mind.  They may not act based on those stereotypes, but the thoughts are still there.  We can't help it.  The mind creates stereotypes and schemas to process information faster, sometimes they are generalizable, sometimes not.

After the movie (and checking the score of the Chelsea match), we all hit the sac.  The two of them had to work the next day, and I was stopping in Bern on my way to Zurich.

Salut Fribourg
Tegs