The World's Largest Theme Park

I know the Swiss will be offended, but I feel like I'm visiting the world's largest theme park. It starts at the border where you buy the overpriced ticket (read "Swiss Motorway Tax"). Then you wait in long lines (a.k.a. Zurich traffic jams - no bypass around the city) and eat at overpriced food concession stands (better known as run-of-the-mill pizzerias where I dropped $28 on a (generous) bowl of pasta, a salad and a small beer).

I had two reasons for coming to Switzerland (which isn't exactly directly between Paris and Presov). First was to visit my long-lost (well, not really lost) cousin David near Basel. We hadn't seen each other in over 40 years, but we had a fine old time drinking, eating, telling stories, etc. Thanks for the hospitality, David!

The second reason is tomorrow's cross-country ski race near Einsiedeln. It was supposed to be IN Einsiedeln, but since they have hardly any snow there, they've moved the race up the valley to Studen, where the ground is covered with a white substance that resembles the stuff that used to build up inside your old freezer. But it's fast skiing - you just have to stay upright. And the scenery is spectacular - Alps on all sides of you. (The course itself is the usual Alpine XC course - up one side of the valley and down the other.)

Speaking of skiing, I did 22km yesterday on some trails near Gerardmer in the Vosges Mts of France. The snow conditions were pretty bad, but the trail system was excellent - this place would be a blast if it had good snow.