Pedestrian Crossings, Planes and Proper Nuns.

So, I survived my flight and landed in Switzerland on Sunday after a relatively enjoyable journey. I've never been great on planes and I think the reason for that is I've never been on one long enough to feel comfortable about where I am. Once we were in the air I was able to imagine that we weren't flying, just taking a really long time to taxi over to the runway. This helped, even though it's really rather stupid when I think about it.

I spent Monday morning wandering around Fribourg, which is the closest large town to where I'm staying. It seems to be pretty average, with what I understand to be the Swiss chain shops in the centre of town along with the railway and bus stations. The pedestrian crossings are by far the scariest things about the town. Other than the traffic coming from the wrong way it seems that no one in Switzerland bothers to look to see if there are any cars coming before they step out on the road, making each crossing a potential accident scene. One the other hand, if you don't just walk out then the cars won't stop, so you really have to be both aggressive and confident that you won't be killed. I have a friend that - much to my annoyance - used to just walk out onto the road without any real care. Needless to say, she would love it here.
I later toddled down towards Fribourg's old town. After some more walking I found a bridge over the river (La Sarine) and I have never seen such a spectacular view in the middle of a town. And I have never been so annoyed not to have my camera. I would try and describe it but I really wouldn't do it justice. I decided to walk down a flight of stairs that I found next to the bridge without thinking that I would have to walk back up. The view from the bottom was just as stunning. I must go back someday armed with something better than the camera built into my phone.
Another amazing thing about this town is that there are nuns walking around. Real, genuine nuns! There's Monks too apparently, but I have yet to see them.

I seem to be coping with the language barrier. I have a French phrase book (thanks again to the Gillespies!) that is constantly in my coat pocket. Another piece of advice that I was given was if I couldn't think of the word just say it in English with a French accent. This seems to work bizarrely well. That said, I start language school on Monday.

I plan on doing a bit of adventuring while I'm here. There's a ticket you can get which is valid for four months and allows you free access to all of Switzerland's trams, buses and trains. As long as I'm back here by half four in the afternoon then all is good.
Somewhere I really want to go is the small village just down the road called Misery, it sounds like it could be a lot of fun. I may even eat in the Restaurant de Misery. I would be truly disappointed if it was anything more than half a slice of dry bread and water served in a cracked cup.