jumping off of bridges

So, the stress has been building up to outrageous levels this week, all the more outrageous considering that this is only the second work day this week, after a thorougly relaxing weekend in the south of france. Then today I was convinced that I had lost my wallet, which seemed to just add another level of complication; It was not in either of the two places it could be (my pocket, or my backpack) and I had ransacked my room for good measure. To great relief I found it in my Berlingo, which it was in only for the reason that I had to fight with this disgruntled automated diesel fuelling station that wouldn't accept any American credit card nor give any cash change. Eh, I guess that's not the reason either. Anyway, maybe it's karmic payback from ditching a day of work to soak in the mediterranian another day, but the anxiety level reached dangerous heights. Fortunately, I had a solution in mind. Some driving lessons for Liz actually calmed me greatly, but then the real plan was this: to go jump off a bridge!

The therapy worked beautifully. Chan, Kenny, Shannon, and I headed down to central Geneva, to a place called Seujet and a road that translates to "Path of the Underworld" or something like that; we arrived at about seven in the evening when it's still sunny and warm. This place is right after some floodgates that control the flow leaving lake Geneva, and this bridge provides an excellent vantage from which one may leap into the current of the Rhone. It's neither as fast nor as cold as the river in Bern, but the bridge is higher and there's no hydroelectric plant downstream threatening to chop you into little pieces. We spent the evening jumping into the river and swimming in the current. It was beautiful — certainly one of the more spectacular activities here in Geneva. Now we threaten to float all the way back to the riviera.

Speaking of jumping off of bridges, I got a funny email from Matt:

PS. After talking to Matthias, I found out that we jumped off the wrong bridge in Bern! The bridge we were supposed to jump off was a footbridge, much further back than the swimming area...He thought we were nuts when he found out we jumped off Autobruck.