Lausanne & La Dôle

Friday afternoon we went to the town of Lausanne - about 30 minutes form Nyon to apply for our Swiss stay permits.  Lausanne, the capital of the canton of Vaud, is the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee and recognized as the Capitale Olympique.

Castle in Lausanne

Following the official business we visited the Olympic museum located right on the water.

Fountain at the entrance to the Olympic Park

Bunch of us in front of Musee Olympique

Prototype 2012 Olympic Torch

Among those honored, of course my favorite - Roger Federer

USA/Canada hockey

The rest of my Friday was rather uneventful - came home and hung out with my host family.  They have been wonderful and really making sure I feel welcome in their home.  I went to a little gathering of my host dad's friends on Wednesday during which they played instruments and I was able to listen to them while just sitting back and relaxing.  We've eaten all sorts of food - all sorts of cheese (of course), really good home-made apple juice, tiramisu, mussels, veal (I think?) and different types of bread.  I've eaten so much bread, meat and cheese since coming here!

Saturday morning I got up at 6am for a trip to ski in the Swiss Alps!

Train/Lift pass for the mountain

We took the little red train up into the mountains to La Dole - a peak in the Jura mountains in Vaud (our county in western Switzerland) that rises to an altitude of 1677.2 meters (little more than a mile). La Dole is the second highest peak in the Swiss Jura - however, we had about six people in our group who ended up taking a lesson since they had limited skiing experience, thus we were on the easier side of the mountain for this excersion.

For our whole day pass + skis/boots/pools + helmets + lunch, I paid about a grand total of 60 francs - amazing deal!  Sarah and Chris convinced Carolyn and I to go to the top of the mountain for one run, really thought I was going to die part of the way down but it was insane and I'm glad I can say I did it once.  Another fun thing about the mountain that it was right on the French/Swiss border so sometimes while skiing you crossed over the border into France!

Swiss side of the border

French side of the border

We got back to Nyon around 4:45pm and then all rushed home to change and return to Nyon at 7 to celebrate Jasmine's birthday.  Dinner was at a little Italian restaurant across from the castle in Nyon (which I will finally remember to bring my camera and take a picture of) called La Puccia.  The rest of the night was divided between Cactus Jack and the Fishermen's Pub.  Fisherman's Pub was really crowded and fun since most people there were young-ish and spoke English (it's a Canadian owned pub).  Got back home and finally settled for the night around 12:30pm after a great Saturday in Switzerland!

Carolyn, Katie and I at Cactus Jack