Today the Tour de Suisse ended in Tobel, which was very exciting! The finish line was only about a mile from the farm so at about 2:15 Andreas, Cony, and I rode our bikes up to see it. The whole street was blocked off and apparently something like 37 other kilometers were blocked off too. It was a big deal.
After we were there for about half an hour, Peter showed up. We were all sitting down at a restaurant with tables set up outside for the event. Christof showed up about another half hour later, barefoot. I asked him why and he said it was because he is a hippie, and then proceeded to point out the fact that he was apparently the only one at the Tour de Suisse because everyone else had shoes.
Andreas, Christof, and I walked back down to where the finish line was and waited for the cyclists to arrive. There was a giant screen that showed us where they were by helicopter video. Everyone was cheering and singing and the music was playing so loud that I could barely hear enough to have conversations with Andreas and Christof at some points. We also were able to get a lot of free gear. For example, we each got a "Tour de Suisse" Tshirt and hat and some sponsor of the Tour's hat, scarf, and cow bell. It was cool, but very hot! The weather was great, but I was definitely sweating the whole day.
Andreas started a countdown for me once the giant mass of bikes were only about two minutes away. He had his camera ready too! We were able to watch the start of the last lap. After that, there were a pair of bicycle stuntmen that kept jumping lines of people laying down on their backs on the pavement in order to pass the time while the crowd waited for the cyclists' return. It was fun to watch and at the end the one biker made them all turn over on their stomachs and he just rode right over their butts, which they were not expecting haha Then, the three of us saw Cony and Peter on the other side of the track, so we made our way over to them.
I had been taking pictures of my favorite Swiss spice all day, because it was all over the Tour, and so Andreas and Christof took me over to the tent where the founder was. While I was talking with Stedy, and he was getting a good laugh about how Americans can never really pronounce it correctly, Andreas bought me four different spices that I get to bring home with me in September! I was sooo happy and thanked him very much. It was very nice of him.
Nadja showed up right after we saw the cyclists finish the lap that they had started while we were watching earlier. Then we walked down the street a little further and came across the tent that Roman and his friends were sitting in. The whole Lehmann family was there! There was live, "typical Swiss" music playing and Nadja told me that I would never see that many people in Tobel again haha
I had a great time at the Tour and was very happy that I was able to be here for it. Around 6pm, Nadja and I had to leave to head over to softball practice. I ran practice again today because Tiin could not be there and we did some fielding, hitting, a scrimmage at the end because there were enough people today, and then the pitchers threw for a little while afterwards. At the very beginning, after warming up our arms, I played a throwing accuracy game with them that I loved from Elyria High, and it made me think about how much I miss playing for Coach Fenik. The girls liked it too, so we played two rounds.
Once Nadja brought me home, I talked with her and Roman in the kitchen until she had to leave. Roman and I were able to watch a little more of Pirates of the Caribbean, which of course made me happy, and then he went to bed.
I had a great day and now have to get some sleep. Talk to you soon!
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