We Take Ourselves With Us

 One last morning in Interlaken, and we bid Auf  Wiedersehen to our lovely river view and to the more German part of Switzerland. We were off for Lausanne, from which one can literally see France across Lake Geneva.   We hopped a train for the couple hour trip, which took us from the Alps through beautiful Swiss farmlands.   Ned had read that newcomers to Lausanne should avoid driving at all costs--the roads are confusing, the signage equally so, and the entire town rises from the lake on steep, steep hills. Well, after exiting the train station in the wrong direction, and finding ourselves pulling heavy luggage up cobblestone hills and then staircases that never ended--and getting pooped on by a bird and losing a suitcase wheel--we decided that newcomers to Lausanne should avoid walking at all costs. Then, it started to drizzle. But, eventually, we found our home for the next two nights, the Hotel de la Paix, and it became very clear why all that walking was importa...

Our first morning in Dunedin, I was up before everyone and in search of a Chemist (pharmacist) who might help me find eye drops that worked.  On my way, I searched out an open breakfast place and found Modaks Espresso--a colorful, quirky hole in the wall. We were in various states of awakeness as we fell into our seats.  Some, not so much: Some, getting there: Some full on and fueled by iced coffee--which in NZ always seems to be made with ice cream: To identify your table, you're given an image of a celeb.  We could ID Prince, Fresh Prince, and Carleton; the last left us baffled.  Rando NZ dude? Breakfast was big and bold: waffles with bacon and fried bananas; breakfast burrito with spicy salsa and chorizo; more bacon with avocado and corn fritters.  Yum! We split up after brekkie, with Harper and I going shopping for NZ teen clothes, and Penn and Ned off in search of NZ Funko Pops.  Everyone's got their something....