Tuesday, 8th of October, 2019.
So I am trying to go to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. The plan it is to visit the city during the day, camping outside and hitchhiking next morning. Easy. While waiting in the road for a lift, I see a weird shop on the back of some companies. I do not remember exactly the name now, but it was something creepy about sex.
The first person who stops comes from the gas station crossing the road, and he tells me that he will drop me actually in the highway outside Bern but it is a big one, full of people going to Bern. After saying that he quickly spit on my face this sentence: “But I have to work, so quickly!”. Laugh. So I now call him the I have to work guy, since I cannot remember his name. He is not bad, though, but I feel a weird sexual tension coming from him. Men. So he drops me in the gas station. I have to pee but the bathroom is paid. So I go behind the huge line of trucks on the parking. And it is the first time I pee on myself. Fucking sarouel trousers. But it is just a bit. As soon as I position myself a bit closer to the exit, someone stops. He is Didier. DD to the close ones.
DD has a very smooth voice and way of talking. He calmly says he is going to Bern so he can drop me on the centre. We start to talk and he get surprise and very happy about my travels. He keeps telling me about Bern and showing me around. So then he decides we can go for a coffee in a nice place. He asks me if I want, though, and of course I accept. The restaurant it is a fancy one, very well located, almost under the famous bridge, just beside the river, viewed from almost anywhere in town. It is called Restaurant Terrasse. It is really fantastic! I have one coffee and he has two. But I got all the small cakes which follow it though. DD tells me he is also vegetarian and shows me the picture of his dog. We have a lot of thoughts in common and he is very sweet, so I think we could be good friends in another life. He is very kind and drops me just in font of the main attraction of Bern: Zytglogge.
This street with the astral watch it is the most famous one, of course. There are a few fountains in the way, really cool ones, and at the middle, Zytglogge. Each hour of the day, but mainly at noon, the little dolls in front of it make a movement. At noon, the golden doll guy in the top, hits also the bell. I came back for it at noon and, honestly, I was a little bit disappointed. Also some British guys in the back said: “That is it? All these people came to see this? The Big Ben is better!” Laugh. I get my town map at the tourist station and I make a plan. I first go to the top of a hill, to have a good view of town. Probably the best one. Also there, there is a statue of Albert Einstein in a branch, but there are a few split through the city. I have my lunch there. I just walk around after, through parks, churches, monuments, I see the Alps further in the horizon, and I walk a bit more. There is a funny fact about Bern, in that main street: in both sides, there are like basement rooms, exactly like the ones which are very popular on the United States, from outside the house to go to the basement. Those two wooden doors, on tangential, and when you open they, it leads to some stairs going deep on Earth. But here they do not lead to basements but to shops. And outside the doors there are advertisement of the shops. Some of then are really cool, as you can see in the pictures. Bern it is nice. I like since the beginning. (I am sorry, my dear Clarice Lispector, but I now do not understand why have you hated to live in here so much. Maybe back in those times… I know, though, that your horrible point of view about it, it was what bought me here more than anything else).
When I am leaving Bern and stop in front of the beautiful Einstein Museum to take a picture, I offer to take a picture for an old couple. I heard they speak in Portuguese so I do it too and we all laugh. They are Odete and her husband, from São Paulo. They are spending some vacation in the countries around. Odete is very honest and she tells she really did not like the big cities in Germany and totally not recommend me going there. They are both very sweet and I enjoy my few moments of conversation with them. They go back to Bern and I lead in the opposite direction. First I need to by some groceries.
It is the first night I have popcorn for dinner. I mean, during my camping trips. Oh, good times! It is the cheapest food I can get and it is healthy! Well, not this one I buy ready, but the real pop corn seed you make at home, are healthy! It is still day light so I have to wait for a while until get a bit darker. I could do my shopping with loads of time, which is great! After I eat my popcorn and wait.
The place where I chose to do my camping it is a kind of park but with houses around. The great thing it is very close to my hitchhike spot, which is in town, so I get lucky.
But once in the park, I get a bit concern because there are a few people still walking with their dogs or just crossing. I finally put my tent between some trees and get inside. But I am sure some people saw me.
I have only two problems at night and, luckily, no one of them related to human beings. The first one it is the rain. Oh, my Loki: how it rained that night! Why, Loki? Why? It was your brother having a bad night? And to make it better, I have not prepared my ten properly. I did not fix the edges on the floor! So of course it got a bit wet inside. Also the place and position where I was it did not help. But how could I know it would rain? It was just a bit wet but enough to not let me sleep very well. I think I was worried about a lot of water coming inside, all my things getting wet, I had no place to go, and there is also my computer and camera, so… The second thing it came during the night. First I heard the sniffing. I can wake up very easily when I am camping. Then, all of sudden, what I can only suppose it was a head, slowly move towards inside the tent, something around 30 cm or more. Just above my head. It could have happened in any other spot of the tent, but no, it had to happen above my head. I did not move for a few seconds. The animal also did not. Just when I made a tiny little movement, it vanished! Running away. I assume it was a female dear. No thorns. The size and shape of the head it fits. Perhaps…
I decided to leave very early, even before it starts to get light. But I knew it should be something around 5 o’clock because the movement in the roads around started to increase. For the few minutes I pack and walk to the gas station, it did not rain.
At the gas station, I pack my things properly. Oh, yeah, I left quite fast from the spot because there was no dry place I could organize my stuff. So at the gas station I did that. And the rain starts again, stronger and non-stoppable. I could do nothing but wait. First for the day light to come and second for the rain to stop. I am in no mood to get wet again. Buy the way, while I was in there for personal and obvious reasons, I noted how many people where already going to work. Oh, my Loki, how sad!
At some point a very cute worker from the gas station / mechanic workshop come to “open” everything. Really cute and polite, he says to me a shy “Good morning!”. He has nice butts too, I must to say.
After having my breakfast and going to pee crossing the street, I get ready to leave. The rain had stopped. I say goodbye to my cute little prince and left. I do not like to hitchhike after rain. It is wet everywhere.