Szia, Kriszti

Life is a funny thing.
It brings fantastic experiences and wonderful people to you, then tears them away with no regard for your heart or mind.
This weekend has supplied its fair share of heartbreak. We've ridden an unpredictable, violent roller coaster over the past three days and it's safe to say I'm exhausted. 

On Friday, I was tasked with babysitting the brood. It was a 2:1 vote to watch High School Musical, with Kevin failing to convince his sisters to watch the World Cup. It was hard sitting there knowing that my best friends were having fun at the lake, but thankfully the parents didn't come back too late and I scurried out at 10:30pm. I was met with deliciously coconutty Hungarian snacks and some particularly potent homemade wine, which I didn't drink too much of so as to not induce violent vomiting. We talked and laughed until the early hours, with time passing all too quickly as we realised that it was the last time, at least for a while, that all four of us would be together. When people this incredible wander into your life, you make a conscious decision to make your friendship work, no matter how hard it is. I know that we will see each other again, I just don't know when.

A mere five hours later, I was up and at it again. 
Kriszti, her parents and I made our way sleepily towards Zermatt, which is pretty far away from Divonne. We stopped off at a village called Randa, where we did a 2-hour uphill hike towards the Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge. There were multiple times that we asked ourselves "is it worth it?", but my god it was utterly breathtaking. The bridge is set in the middle of a handful of mountains, passing over a little waterfall that trickles down the mountain towards the village. No photograph could ever do it justice, but here are some futile attempts.

After a tricky descent, where I ended up flat on my derriere thanks to a misjudgement on my part, we made a short trip to Zermatt. You can't drive all the way up, so we just dumped the car on a side street to avoid paying the extortionate parking and taxi fees. Instead, we took the shuttle train up and wandered around for a bit. I have to admit, if I had just gone for Zermatt, I'd have been more than a little disappointed. It was lucky that we had made other plans to fill up the day, because there's not much to see in a ski town when it's not ski season. Don't get me wrong, the Matterhorn is definitely a sight to see, but is probably where my interest in Zermatt ends (sorry to any fans I've offended with that comment). 

The journey back to Divonne was spent desperately trying to not fall asleep, although I think I squeezed in about 10 minutes of shuteye. As Kriszti's dad drove, we all admired the magnificent sunset over the lake. Despite the woman in the next street warbling into a microphone and butchering some of my favourite songs, I slept pretty well on Saturday night (I was probably still recovering from the wine!)
I got to recharge my batteries a bit, as there was no need for me to wake up early on Sunday. Our plans to go to Chamonix were cancelled because of the diabolical weather forecast, which was a shame but probably for the best. It's an awfully long way to go and not very enjoyable if it rains all day. Instead, Krisztina's family went to the market and bought some goodies to take back to Hungary with them. We then went to Lausanne for the day, just walking around, taking pictures and enjoying the weather (we even managed to get a 'family' ticket for a 40-minute boat ride), all the while snacking on yummy treats. Afterwards, we made a quick stop in Nyon so that they could see the castle and the stunning view across the lake, before they had to go back for a barbeque. 

I'm telling you, I've never shot out of a car that fast in my life. As I recall, I told Krisztina not to look at me, said thank you and see you in August. And then I was gone. I just wanted to get in the house, lock myself in my room and have a little sniffle to myself. Of course, the family went out and put the alarm on, so I couldn't do that. Luckily, I just hopped on my bike to meet Jason at the lake and eat my feelings. I can't say it fixed me completely, but having a hug and a listening ear put me on the right tracks. Just under three weeks left, I've got this!