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It was now 7pm. I was exhausted following the ten-hour hitch and getting a bit desperate as car after car passed me, despite the placard I held which read 'FRANCE: £10?' Just as the streetlights began to buzz a van screeched to a halt a couple of hundred metres down the road, I grabbed my impossibly heavy rucksack and lurched after them. "Ten Quid?" he asked, before opening the door of their small van. I was to share the back with several crates of beer that they'd just bought in the duty free...

European Tales: Switzerland 1996, a lengthy tale

Joseph Tame
2006-06-30 17:53:26

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it turned out to be near a large lorry park, and the next morning I was up early, clutching my Union Jacks on the slip road heading East towards Belgium. I figured that it would be best to head for Switzerland this way, avoiding the notorious hitcher trap known as Paris, but even so it was a very difficult journey. To make matters worse the weather was scorching. On the third day I was dropped off on the Brussels ring road, and having stood for hours in the sun with no luck I headed off down a small lane in search of water. I spent several unearthly hours feeling very light-headed - in the end I had to beg for water from an elderly couple using sign language. When the lady saw me starting to drink from the garden hose she rushed off, bringing back four bottles of chilled Perrier water. With that I felt refreshed and headed south once again. Two days later I reached Basle, a friendly city right on the border of France, Germany and Switzerland.

For the following three days I camped in the open conservatory of my relatives, Hedi & Heinrich. Having stayed there during previous family holidays in Switzerland I felt quite comfortable in pitching my tent there, despite the fact that they were away on holiday. It was during these three days when I communicated with virtually no one that what I had done begun to sink in. I felt terribly homesick and debated with myself as to whether I should return home that week. As usual though, mum and dad were on the other end of the phone and gave me the confidence that I needed in order to continue. The following morning the neighbours invited me around for breakfast, which I thoroughly enjoyed, communicating using my appalling German. Later that day I headed back into the city centre to pass the time and also to get information on working in Switzerland. One of the highlights of the day was visiting a public toilet by the riverbank. Having inserted my fifty centimes (20p), the door to the space age cubicle opened. Once inside, ...