(no subject)
A little Switzerland recap...
I flew into Zurich, Switzerland on May 16th. Laura, Melanie, and her twin sister Aline were waiting for me at the airport. Oh back to the plane, I flew British Airways so 1. I love the accents! and 2. they offered me WINE on the plane! They asked me what kind of wine I wanted with my dinner. I wasn't sure my choices so in order to avoid sounding like an idiot I said no thanks. haha. Laura, Mel, Aline, and I took the train back to their house. Then Laura and I crashed.
The next morning we went to the top of the Alps!!!! It took about 4 hours to get there, by train of course. I didn't mind at all though, the scenery was GORGEOUS! Absolutely incredible. It was pretty cold at the top, but I didn't care. We walked out to the TOP OF EUROPE! Ah it was incredible. The place where we could go outside was really slippery. There was a slight incline but at the top of the little hill was a Swiss flag. Somehow we made it up there without falling. I felt like a mountain climber haha. We went into an ice palace where everything floor to ceiling was made of ice. That was pretty cool. Then we went back to Mel's house. I learned quickly that I would be spending lots of time on trains. Luckily we had Mel with us to help us figure out which ones to get on...or else we would have been very lost.
On Thursday we went to Italy! We went to a little city right over the Swiss boarder called Domodossola. We didn't stay for long, just long enough to eat a real Italian lunch! I ordered pizza, thinking I would get a slice or two. Nope, they brought me the entire pizza, and I was expected to eat the whole thing! I did my best, but didn't make it too far. After Italy we went to Locarno, which is in the south of Switzerland. There were palm trees everywhere. I loved it!! We bought Gelati - they sold it on every corner, and we shopped around! It was beautiful. In each city we went to the buildings were so beautiful. Each place was a little bit different, but so unique and cute. I loved it. A total of 11 hours were spent on the train on this day.
Friday was the day that I decided that I want to live in a castle! We went to Montreux and visited the castle of Chillon!! It was incredible! The castle was built in the 1200s. We walked all around in it and took lots of pictures. It's positioned right on the water, looking out to the mountains and the Alps if it's a clear day. It was spectacular. That night we ate dinner(I had wine with dinner!) with my grandma's best friend's daughter. Her family lives in Nyon. We had a lot of fun talking with them. They have 3 younger kids. I've only met the family once (when I was 2) so it was nice to see them.
Saturday we went into Bern which is the capital of Switzerland. First we walked around the market. Every Saturday in Bern there is a market where people sell fruits, cheese, meats, etc. Then we took a tour of their parliament building. They have a system very similar to ours. The tour was given in German though so Mel's dad had to translate. haha. (I did learn several Swiss-German phrases though!) Saturday night we went out with some of Melanie's friends. They were all very nice and almost everyone there speaks English (well, actually almost everyone there speaks about 5 languages). First we sat in the park and they drank beer. I don't like the taste of beer, so Laura and I had some sort of wine cooler thing...which I didn't even like that too much either. (don't worry the drinking age is 16 there! haha). Drinking is so different over there. Kids don't drink to get drunk. It's a normal, social, every day part of their lives, nothing rebellious or special about it. Then we went into a restaurant and ordered some other drink. Didn't feel a thing from it, can't say I'm sad that the drinking age in America is 21...haha It was an experience.
On Sunday Laura left. Laura's my friend from FL. Some of you met her on Big Break. Her dad is a pilot with Delta so she flew over to Europe for free. Her and Mel got along great and I'm SO glad she was there!!! We dropped her off at the airport and then toured Zurich. Went in an old, beautiful church and did some other tourist things.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Mel, Aline, and I toured a few more cities. Saw the oldest bride in Europe, went to a cheese factory, did lots of shopping. On Wednesday evening Mel and I rode bikes to her friends house and rode horses. I haven't been on either in forever! (a bike or a horse) Let's just say I was a little bit sore the next day on the plane...haha. It was a lot of fun though. I got the horse that didn't want to keep up with the other two horses, so my horse and I were normally about 20 feet behind Mel and her friend. My horse definitely wasn't a race horse. haha. Riding in the Swiss country was beautiful though.
The trip was a once in a lifetime trip. It was awesome. I loved learning about the cultures there and it was certainly an experience to be the foreigner. Laura and I kept joking whenever we would do something that labeled us as a tourist that the Swiss would be thinking "stupid Americans." haha America is certainly much different, and in many ways I think that Europeans are a lot smarter than us, but God Bless the USA! :) The trip was incredible but I was excited to get back to the good ole USA. I was ready for some good American food ( I didn't eat much more than bread while I was there) and I was excited to have ICE!!! They don't use ice much there. All in all, the trip was great!
I flew into Zurich, Switzerland on May 16th. Laura, Melanie, and her twin sister Aline were waiting for me at the airport. Oh back to the plane, I flew British Airways so 1. I love the accents! and 2. they offered me WINE on the plane! They asked me what kind of wine I wanted with my dinner. I wasn't sure my choices so in order to avoid sounding like an idiot I said no thanks. haha. Laura, Mel, Aline, and I took the train back to their house. Then Laura and I crashed.
The next morning we went to the top of the Alps!!!! It took about 4 hours to get there, by train of course. I didn't mind at all though, the scenery was GORGEOUS! Absolutely incredible. It was pretty cold at the top, but I didn't care. We walked out to the TOP OF EUROPE! Ah it was incredible. The place where we could go outside was really slippery. There was a slight incline but at the top of the little hill was a Swiss flag. Somehow we made it up there without falling. I felt like a mountain climber haha. We went into an ice palace where everything floor to ceiling was made of ice. That was pretty cool. Then we went back to Mel's house. I learned quickly that I would be spending lots of time on trains. Luckily we had Mel with us to help us figure out which ones to get on...or else we would have been very lost.
On Thursday we went to Italy! We went to a little city right over the Swiss boarder called Domodossola. We didn't stay for long, just long enough to eat a real Italian lunch! I ordered pizza, thinking I would get a slice or two. Nope, they brought me the entire pizza, and I was expected to eat the whole thing! I did my best, but didn't make it too far. After Italy we went to Locarno, which is in the south of Switzerland. There were palm trees everywhere. I loved it!! We bought Gelati - they sold it on every corner, and we shopped around! It was beautiful. In each city we went to the buildings were so beautiful. Each place was a little bit different, but so unique and cute. I loved it. A total of 11 hours were spent on the train on this day.
Friday was the day that I decided that I want to live in a castle! We went to Montreux and visited the castle of Chillon!! It was incredible! The castle was built in the 1200s. We walked all around in it and took lots of pictures. It's positioned right on the water, looking out to the mountains and the Alps if it's a clear day. It was spectacular. That night we ate dinner(I had wine with dinner!) with my grandma's best friend's daughter. Her family lives in Nyon. We had a lot of fun talking with them. They have 3 younger kids. I've only met the family once (when I was 2) so it was nice to see them.
Saturday we went into Bern which is the capital of Switzerland. First we walked around the market. Every Saturday in Bern there is a market where people sell fruits, cheese, meats, etc. Then we took a tour of their parliament building. They have a system very similar to ours. The tour was given in German though so Mel's dad had to translate. haha. (I did learn several Swiss-German phrases though!) Saturday night we went out with some of Melanie's friends. They were all very nice and almost everyone there speaks English (well, actually almost everyone there speaks about 5 languages). First we sat in the park and they drank beer. I don't like the taste of beer, so Laura and I had some sort of wine cooler thing...which I didn't even like that too much either. (don't worry the drinking age is 16 there! haha). Drinking is so different over there. Kids don't drink to get drunk. It's a normal, social, every day part of their lives, nothing rebellious or special about it. Then we went into a restaurant and ordered some other drink. Didn't feel a thing from it, can't say I'm sad that the drinking age in America is 21...haha It was an experience.
On Sunday Laura left. Laura's my friend from FL. Some of you met her on Big Break. Her dad is a pilot with Delta so she flew over to Europe for free. Her and Mel got along great and I'm SO glad she was there!!! We dropped her off at the airport and then toured Zurich. Went in an old, beautiful church and did some other tourist things.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Mel, Aline, and I toured a few more cities. Saw the oldest bride in Europe, went to a cheese factory, did lots of shopping. On Wednesday evening Mel and I rode bikes to her friends house and rode horses. I haven't been on either in forever! (a bike or a horse) Let's just say I was a little bit sore the next day on the plane...haha. It was a lot of fun though. I got the horse that didn't want to keep up with the other two horses, so my horse and I were normally about 20 feet behind Mel and her friend. My horse definitely wasn't a race horse. haha. Riding in the Swiss country was beautiful though.
The trip was a once in a lifetime trip. It was awesome. I loved learning about the cultures there and it was certainly an experience to be the foreigner. Laura and I kept joking whenever we would do something that labeled us as a tourist that the Swiss would be thinking "stupid Americans." haha America is certainly much different, and in many ways I think that Europeans are a lot smarter than us, but God Bless the USA! :) The trip was incredible but I was excited to get back to the good ole USA. I was ready for some good American food ( I didn't eat much more than bread while I was there) and I was excited to have ICE!!! They don't use ice much there. All in all, the trip was great!