Switzerland: Teil 2

I really have no words to describe my experience in Switzerland except to say 1) I now believe in love at first sight and 2) Je suis amoureuse de la Suisse.

Alexis and I started our day from his apartment: me, taking a while to wake up and feeling the fondue from the night before (being lactose intolerant and all). We got ready and left Chaux-de-Fond at 930ish, and got to Neuchatel to stop by his mom`s place for directions. After getting yelled at for blocking a truck on the itty-bitty streets of the town, we left for Bern.

The way to Bern was scenic to say the least, with lovely paysages and an efficient highway. The words "amazing", "insane" and "awesome" have been completely overused in my vocabulary: I feel like Tom Cruise describing my relationship with Katie. I can now relate to old Maverick - when something is so amazing (or fabricated, choose your battle), I am limited to how I can choose to describe it. Really, until I show you all pictures, or you all visit this gorgeous country, you will not understand my amazement. Bern itself was a small, touristy and quaint town, and although it is the capital, is really small and concentrated. The parliament building, the political center of Switzerland, has a HUGE banner stretched over the whole thing that says nothing but "Futball Reiglen", which translates to "Soccer Rules". How patriotic and fanatical! Ha, ha.

We had a coffee in the downtown area (which cost about 10 dollars), and then walked around a bunch while seeing the apartment where Einstein lived while creating the theory of relativity. We also trekked up the hill in our warm clothes (it was supposed to rain and be cold) and took some amazing pictures of the view. The Aare, the fast-moving river, is clear blue and makes the city look especially beautiful. We ended off eating a nice dinner in Bern, near the square and on the patio to enjoy the city before we left.

Lucerne was our next stop: the most unique part of the trip was visiting the bear pits. Yes, bear pits: bears are the city`s symbol, and they have 3 of them in these deep pits that are easily watched over from the sidewalk - they seemed perfectly happy laying around and showing us their bellies (bear equivalent of the finger? I wouldn`t be surprised...). We also did some nice window shopping (I stopped by a parfumerie) and had a drink of water at the local cafe. The view from Lucerne was even better than Bern, since it has a huge lake and a view of Mt. Pilatus (snow-capped mountain just behind the lake). We left Lucerne at 6 to make good time to Zurich for about 730.

Sigh, Zurich... I haven`t even seen the city yet but I am in love with it. Alexis`aunt and uncle live there with their 3 children (Xavier, Vincent et Diane). We drove through the non-moving traffic and for what it seemed like forever up a hill, until we reached their house. Keep in mind, mostly everyone here lives in apartments. The house, however, is an older, incredibly unique and spacious house in the north part of Zurich, and it overlooks the whole city and lake. Alexis`uncle is a director at a large bank Suisse (can`t remember which, there are too many here) and works in Geneva during the week while the family lives here. Alexis`aunt, Nicola, is possibly the best woman I have ever met in my life. She is the most welcoming and enthusiastic person, and made me feel like I belonged right away. She showed me my guest room (huge) and told me I could do whatever I wanted. I joined her and Alex quickly, and we drank white wine from their family vineyard while talking about how she met her husband and about Switzerland. The kids were home already, so we ate outside on the lawn, overlooking Zurich (and neighbouring HQ of FIFA, yes FIFA). A delicious light meal with more wine, and great conversation - thank God my French is decent, but I spent most of the time listening in fascination to the stories they told.

After dinner, Xavier (who is quintlingual) took us to the park nearby, where a bunch of FIFA players were having dinner at the restaurant, and we took pictures of the landscape and watched a thunderstorm approaching. We got back to the house, where Nicole served us with two different types of liqueur - one made from plums and another from cherries. By chance, we drink a very similar one in Poland called Sliwowica, and I downed the shot right away. They laughed their French butts off, because they were all sipping the damn thing (I showed my Polish side). The incredibly intelligent children went to bed without being told, gave me 3 kisses on the cheek, and promised to keep in touch. The rain ended our night of shots, tea and dessert, and we separated off into bed when I decided to actually book my hostel for Milan for the next 2 days.

My steadfast loyalty to Canada has wavered since being here for the past 36 hours. This country is truly amazing, and the different sights and cultures that you can experience by driving a few hours is unbelievable. De plus, Alexis and Nicola started telling me about regions they visited in Canada - apparently we have some sights to be seen in Quebec and Ontario too !! I think I will start to visit my own country before I decide to move, since there is so much I didn`t know about my own neighbourhood.

Tomorrow, visiting Zurich (up close) and then Milan in the evening... now to sleep off the wine and spirits...

Salut and Cheers!

Switzerland: Day 1

Dad, I can now see why you want to move here!! Or want me to move here, so that you can visit me... what a sneaky man you are.

I am officially conflicted as to what kind of "girl" I am: ever since I was little, I have had an internal conflict of whether I am a mountain or beach kind of person. Having just left B-town, and feeling extremely loyal to Spain in general, I would have said that I am a sand and water kind of gal had you asked me about 10 hours ago. Now that I`m in Switzerland, I can`t help but whistle a different French/German/Italian tune (national identity crisis - I will discuss later).

My day started off with waking up at 830 so that I could walk to the bus stop and make my final goodbye to Las Ramblas. I made it in great time, but so did about 50 other people, who were all waiting for the same bus. With a bit of luck, we all managed to make it onto the lovely Aeropuerto bus, and I checked into my flight to Geneva with no problems. (On a side note, the woman sitting next to me on the plane was a Cuban who worked for CNN, and who claimed to be best friends with Whitney Houston. Call me crazy or gullible, but I believed her!! She gave me some inside info into Whit`s life, I`ll share when I get back to TO.)

Alexis, being the darling he is, found out that I wanted to visit Geneva, so he drove for 2 HOURS to come pick me up at the airport. And I also realize how much he hates the traffic AND the people there, so I am truly grateful to him. He was right at the gate when I got out, took my stuff and my trip in Switzerland began.

Geneva was gorgeous of course, with Porsches, Beemers, Benz`s and Audis in high abundance. The only stores available to shop in were Chanel, Rolex, LV... you all get the point. I spent my time on the waterfront (huge lake shared with France), in the Vielle Ville and in the Parc eating sorbet with Alexis. At around 4, we drove to Lausanne, which is where Alexis went to university. Comparing Western with Lausanna was laughable - their campus is all natural and ultra-cool, and we grabbed coffees at the main student building while looking out from our patio at the forest, lake and Alps. I would have never left to come to boring, drab and gray London! My one moment of uncontrollable laughter was when I passed by the law building, and heard "baaing". That`s right, there was a herd of 40+ sheep on the lawn of the university, just grazing and eyeing me down. Too much!! I took a full minute video while gasping for air. I also saw his frat house, which is literally a small castle in the middle of downtown that they are renovating.

From Lausanne to Neuchatel, where we picked up Alexis` dad and went for dinner. We drove for a while, and entered onto a winding dirt road in the middle of a field. Alexis commented on how in Canada, the road would have been straight and covered in asphalt, but that the beauty of Switzerland is that they make you enjoy the sights by driving slowly on the curvy dirt road. There`s something so poetic about that...

Anyway, just as i was about to ask if we were lost, I saw the lake, and a mid-size hut by the water. Scuba divers were just coming out as we made our way to the restaurant. Our dinner was a huge pot of cheese, bread and pepper for spice - Fondue as it was intended. I ate and ate and enjoyed French conversation with Alexis et son papa. We ate for a while, and even ordered dessert (chocolate cake and cherry pie, homemade). We conversed with some local people, and I even overheard that the people at the next table were from Montreal. The whole time, I was facing the lake, which was surrounded by forest, cottages and the mountains behind. We drove home the "scenic" way, up 800 metres within a few minutes until my ears popped, and I felt like I was in a dream. I am now in Chaux-de-Fonds, after having taken a shower, watching Spain lose to France (boo) and pinching myself.

Surreal?!?! Yes!!! I still can`t believe I`m here...

Tomorrow: Bern, Lucern and Zurich - the German part of Switzerland.

Top 5 Things Learned in Spain

In retrospect, let me borrow from John Cusack and list my "Top 5 Things I Learned in Spain":
1) Spaniards like to party
2) Spaniards like to smoke
3) Spaniards like their dogs (everywhere and everyone)
4) All the hot men in Madrid/Barcelona are gay
5) Nothing is EVER on time in Spain

Numbers 1, 2 and 3 sound like stereotypes, which therefore makes them 100% true and self-explanatory. 4 is also true, and unfortunately I seem to gravitate to these unattainable men. Attempting to make them "switch teams" is totally unrealistic, and if I were a man in Spain, I am pretty sure I would be gay as well. Number 5 is simply a warning to anyone visiting Spain, and is true for every single aspect of life: tours, restaurants, stores, meetings, etc. The only consistent thing was the metro, and their love of life. But Europeans definitely take things the "chillin" way. I realize this sounds fairly obvious and redundant, but people, North Americans are WAY TOO STRESSED. Really. Getting coffee is not really getting coffee if you`re not sitting down and enjoying it. The whole idea of getting it "to go" is directly opposite to the way of life here. I know that we are an ambitious and greedy continent, but there are other perspectives on how to live your life. I feel totally at ease here, and it`s incredibly refreshing. Why rush the waiter and the bill if you can continue having great conversation with your friends? Listen carefully: patience is truly a virtue! 5 minutes will NOT make a difference in your day, but those attitudes of ours will lead to unhappy heart problems in the future. I am writing this message also for myself, to read it when I get back so that I can keep things in perspective.

Anyway, enough lecturing - onto Switzerland!

Barcelona and then some...

I am cheating since I am writing about my times in Barcelona now that it is officially over. But describing everything that happened there is highly necessary and amusing. In advance, I apologize for the length of the post, but I cut out as much as I could. And it begins...

Day 1
As mentioned, the day started off with the "prisoner in train" experience. After that, we basicallz made our way down to downtown Barcelona to claim the room that Nicki had booked. We decided I was going to sneak into here since her hostel was apartment style, and no one would be at reception there. After getting lost on horrible directions, we found the building where the owner of the business was staying - it took us at least 3 annoying buzzes (worst than the ones at my place on Barking Frog night Adam) to wake him up - at around 830am. We made our way with our bags once more to the apartments, and after feeling like my shoulders were going to fall off, we finally made it. Took a well-deserved nap until 1 pm, which was late since we were supposed to meet Nicki`s friend at 2 on Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is a 1km strip that leads from the center of downtown to the waterfront, and it constantly filled with tourists, vendors and action. Nicki`s friend didn`t make it,so we walked ourselves for a few hours, and stopped at tourist information to find out what exactly this "Saint Juan" night was all about. We decided to go back to the apartment, relax for a little and then go out for dinner on Las Ramblas before checking out the party.

St. John Night (deserves its own heading)
So NOTHING could have prepared us for this night. To give it proper credit, this night is so crazy that people travel to Barcelona ESPECIALLY for this night. We started off by walking on Las Ramblas again, and going for dinner in a nice restaurant with a second floor patio view onto the Ramblas. We finished off dinner with gelato, and I was actually starting to feel a little ill, but we decided to walk it off by following people down to the water. The whole time, there were children setting off fireworks and cherry bombs every second (literally). When we got to the waterfront, there were thousands of people there, of every age. We were shocked, since it was past midnight, but we kept walking to the actual sand. At this point, it was so crowded that you could barely walk: people were drinking, swimming, dancing, generally having the time of their lives. We walked in search of a bathroom, and eventually found a tiny restaurant with a line. We bought some wine in order to use the bathroom, and I started the long wait. While in line, some French guy (who heard me speak french) motioned me over and led me downstairs into the constuction part of the restaurant. In order to "be safe", I dragged a drunken girl with me. It turns out he was just trying to show me the secret, empty and CLEAN bathroom. Long story short, Sam was a painter from France who was especially talkative, and bought us wine and champagne. We celebrated the night with the owner, and left them around 230am. We kept walking to the end of the beach, taking pictures and basically commenting at amazement at our luck of being here.
We decided to walk home around 4, and on our way out, this group of people all dressed in matching shirts and started playing the drums in a small circle. I grabbed Nicki and we started dancing, along with about 200 other people for the next half hour. It was surreal. No other word to describe it! (I have it on video.) We got home after an exhausting experience on the metro, and fell asleep at 6ish.

Day 2
Our morning (much needed) beauty sleep was interrupted at 945, since we had to move rooms. Sleeping after that was impossible, since we had to meet Nicki`s friend at noon. Tina was a 26 year old from Australia, and I could have listened to her talk all day. We walked a bit on Las Ramblas (yes, again) and then made our way waaaaay up north in Barcelona to Park Guell, a huge park designed by Gaudi. Of course it was beautiful, and the uppermost point had a view of al of Barcelona, and I of course took tons of pictures. The magic of the day was when the 3 of us, exhausted and on no sleep, made our way back down away from the crowd. People, people may be sheep, but even sheep know where to go. We got lost, and exited at the bottom of the park from greenery and isolation into a ghetto of run-down apartments. After using my knowledge of 5 words in Catalan, I understood we had to make "two rights" to get back. Long story short, we finally did, took some more pictures and made our way back home. Tina, showing her true Australian (Austraylan) spirit, climbed several walls to try and find other signs of life while we were lost.
We spent that night inside, and went to bed early, since Nicki had to catch an 845 train to Nice and I decided to join an old people tour to the surrounding area of Barcelona.

Day 3
I started my day carrying my backpack downtown, and saying bye to Nicki, and got on my bus to leave at 9. I was still extremely tired, and slept on most of the bus ride. We visited a winery, the oldest in Catalunya, and it was great, but it did NOT help with my tiredness. Our next stop was in Montserrat, which is an ancient Basilica built high up in the mountains about 50km from Barcelona. Although I doubted yet another church making an impact on me, I was truly impressed by the views and the architecture of Montserrat. I walked around inside, admired the landscape, waited in line to see the miraculous Madonna. I spent the rest of time eating crackers and olves (by choice) on the roof of the cafeteria and planning the rest of my Europe trip. It was the perfect quiet break to a chaotic previous days. From there, we went to Sitges, which was a much smaller and cleaner beach town on the coast, and I went in the water for a bit while people-watching. It`s amazing how comfortable Spanish women are with their bodies. I am not even talking about bathing topless, which they did, but they seemed to show off their imperfect (read: un-Hollywood) bodies without any trouble. It was inspiring to me, but I was obviously not ready to go there myself. I remained a clothed admirer. =)

Day 4
I can say with pride that I decided to sleep in on Day 4 until noon thirty. I took my time, got ready, and went on a mission for shopping and a conclusion to my Spanish trip. The day was exactly what I asked for: I started off at Sagrada Familia, which is a huge church in the middle of Barcelona. It has been in construction for dozens of years, and will be done in about 30 years. It`s a sight to see, but I wasn`t about to pay to go inside a building where all you see is rocks falling overhead. I sat in the park nearby, and ate the fresh and juicy cherries that I had bought in the fruit market on my way over. I then took the metro to the aquarium, which is the biggest in Europe. I know it sounds childlike, but I really wanted to see the sharks, penguins and seahorses up close and personal. Guess what?? It was totally worth it. I walked underneath the tank, and had sharks swim above me. Finally, I did some shopping, which added up to a travel bag.
My last night in Barcelona, I decided to spoil myself and go out to dinner in a square right by my hostel. The host saw that I was alone, and put me at the best table, and basically took care of dinner for me. I ate fresh fish from the ocean, got 1/2 litre of wine (no, Mom and Dad, I didn`t drink it all) and got creme brulee for dessert. It was the perfect night!

All in all, Spain made up the first week of my trip - even though I`ve been to Europe about 15 times, I never visited Spain or traveled alone. It was the perfect place to start, and I met a ton of interesting, friendly, and incredibly adventurous people. There`s so much more I wish I could see, but it will have to wait for another time - adios chicos y chicas.

Barcelona

Hey all!
My money is quickly running out, but all I can say is that I just had one of the best dinners ever. I decided to celebrate myself and eat out at a great local restaurant - it was the most food I´ve ever eaten, and rivals my Marche nights (sorry Adam and Szabos, but it´s true). Anyway, my head is light from the free wine that the host gave me, and I still have to pack for Geneva tomorrow!!

Needless to say, I will be writing more when I get free internet in Switzerland. Why did the damn Swiss have to lose tonight? I hope my reception in the country isn´t worse cause they couldn´t kick the damn ball...

Madrid con´t

So I didn´t mention all the amazing sights in Madrid when I was there! Our hostel was rated the best hostel in Europe and was in the middle of everything. Madrid is a very ¨walkable¨ city, so I visited the city using those untrained two feet of mine and walking an average of 6 kms a day. Madrid is really a city where the designers paid attention to every detail - even the modern apartments have ornate balconies that make it look a hundred times better.

Although I said I would be going to Toledo, I didn't actually make it there. I decided that it would be better to see more of Madrid, so Jen and I went on a walk to see the whole east side of Madrid (having seen the west the day before). We walked around, and had a break in the huge park of Madrid called Buen Retiro. It's amazing how although Europe is packed, they still make it a priority to maintain "greenery" in their cities - everywhere you go, there are parks and places to rest. We ate some tapas (local food) and our waiter couldn't speak in English, but kept singing American songs like Sinatra or the Beatles. We kept walking on and visited 2 museums. I always claimed not to be a museum-lover, but there was a large display of Picasso's work, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I can't say I understand what he was going for at times, but he was a fascinating artist.

We chilled in the internet cafe that evening, and I said goodbye to everyone, and made my way to the train station with Nicki. It was my first time on a train, and I wasn't sure what to expect. We got a couchette, which are sleeping bunks as opposed to seats, and cost 5 times the normal price. I was expecting something spacy and luxurious, and entered into a tiny, tiny HOT room with 6 bunks. Of course, Nicki and I were on top, where it was unbearably hot, so we decided to go get drinks in the food area instead. (There was a family with a very spoiled and screaming child on the bottom bunks.) While we chilled with everyone else escaping the heat, the Montreal man and his buddies appeared - turns out they were taking the same overnight train to Barcelona! After showing him embarassing photos of himself posing, we talked for a while and returned back to our cart. The train ticket guy took our tickets, and told us he was going to come wake us up at 630 to get ready to get off the train at 7. We slept for a few hours, with me curled up until a fetal position for most of the night (no space). The train man came to get us late, right at 7am. Imagine his (and our!!) surprise when he couldn´t get the door open. Turns out the lock jammed, and Nicki and I were stuck in this tiny room on our tiny beds, wondering if they were going to take us across the rest of Spain. Half an hour later, the train man and his 2 backup men were power drilling at the door/lock to get us out. After panicking, laughing, and then silent observation, we were finally out. This is the random and amazing intro to Barcelona for us, and is only appropriate as the rest of the trip was more random and amazing.

I will leave details of Barcelona for another post, or even a few, since it has been the craziest 4 days of my life!! Let me give you a preview: dancing to a drumming group on the beach at 430am, getting free drinks from a 60+ French man who designs clubs for a living and getting lost in northern Barcelona ghetto... I love it.

I know, I know...

Hey my peeps...
I apologize for not posting anything in 5 days, but it will have to be yet another without a real post.
I have been super busy and I am choosing sleep over a long post. However, your patience will be very well rewarded since I have some AMAZING stories to tell!
I have only been in Europe for a week, but I feel like it´s been forever (in a good way). I am taking the day off tomorrow to hit the beach and to go shopping, and will also make a much needed stop in the internet cafe to post about Madrid and Barcelona.
Keep sending me your comments!! Although it is great here, I am really appreciating (and missing) Canada and my friends...
Mon

Madrid

Hola amigos!
I am just returning from an early night out in Madrid - early although we left at 1am and got back at 3 (the parties here are INCREDIBLE).

It´s been day 2 of my trip, and also my second day in Madrid. I got my room, and passed out as planned for a while. When I got up, I went to the internet cafe which also doubles as a lounge/cafe. While I was surfing the net, this group of people starting improvising on guitar and drums, and all of a sudden a gorgeous flamenco dancer started dancing for the next hour. That´s when I realized I actually was in Spain!!

That night, I met some amazing new people - mostly Americans, but I met a girl from BC who I am traveling to Barcelona with tomorrow on an overnight train. Everyone has great stories to tell, and I am getting so much advice on where to go I have added two more stops to my trip: Budapest and Innsbruck. It´s going to be a lot, but I want to see as much as possible.

Today I met one of my new roomies. Jen (also known as Genia) is from LA, more specifically from Santa Barbra. Her and I took a long walk on the east side of Madrid, and tomorrow I have to fit in the west side as well as Toledo, which looks fascinating judging by the pictures.

Finally, tonight we went to a bar with a bunch of people from my hostel. The men are indeed aggressive, but definitely not as bad as people keep telling me. THe highlight of the night was when there was a ´hot boys´contest, and the boys were forced to strip for deisgner Corona t-shirts. The winner? A super hot Canadian boy - I´d like to think that he won due to my cheering of ¨"Ca-na-da!" Too bad he´s from Quebec...

Future plans- the Spaniards celebrate the summer solstice with style (in Barcelona)!

P.S. Shout to Jamie - who actually saved my ass with the bag and the rainjacket. I owe you!!

España

Of course, the first thing I am doing is posting - I am right now in a hostel called "Cat´s" which is described as an 18th century castle with technology. (Pretty cool!)

I landed in lovely Madrid just 3 hours ago, and I feel that I have already learned so much. Let me preface this post by saying that I am on NO sleep since Sunday night, and that this keyboard is not North American Approved (NAA).

I got on the plane in TO a little buzzed because a) I was excited and b) the airport bartender snuck me a double shot in my Ceasar. I was sitting right beside a girl and boy, 12 and 9 who were traveling alone to Spain. It immediately reminded me of the many trips where Adam and I would be sent off to Poland, alone and for the whole summer, so I started talking to them. I of course became the immediate surrogate mom, and therefore got no sleep (but no complaints, they were awesome).

As soon as I got into the airport I realized that 1) Spaniards are in fact a VERY relaxed people and 2) traveling alone really means ALONE. I got some help, but for the most part found my own way to the hostel. Also, the lack of A/C in any building (especially the subway) made me realize how spoilt we are in North America - the lack of ventilation would definitely NOT be NAA. Also learned that fans are not decorations, my friends - these are valuable ventilating devices that everyone owns. Anyway, I took my time, enjoyed the ride and showed off my Canadian flag proudly.

I am now awaiting my room at Cat´s , so that I can pass out for at least a few hours. For those that advised me to tough out the first day... well too bad. I´m not. This place is awesome though - foutain in the courtyeard, free internet and breakfast and an internal bar that is open late.

How much do I love Europe?!

P.S. Shout out to Jess who saved my ass again by lending me a jacket on my way to the airport ("Alps? I´m going to the Alps?")

Nachooooo

After much anticipation and laughing out loud during previews involving Jack Black flexing his ass, I saw Nacho Libre.
I won't ruin the magic of red and blue tights for you all, but I will say that this movie is a must-see for all of those that love Zoolander, Old School, High Fidelity (my Jack Black devirginzation flick) and such. I am a severe critic, but also a weird critic of movies, so don't email me complaining if you hate it - consider it a glimpse into my type of humour.
(P.S. If you don't laugh immediately when glancing at this picture of JB, it's a clue that maybe you are not part of the "target market" for Nachoooo.)

Anyway, I digress... the original purpose of my blog is to mention that tomorrow is, you know, THE DAY I leave for Europe!

Nervous? Yes. Scared? Yes. Nauseous? Yes. You probably have noticed that all these emotions/bodily functions are not positive ones. I think that most of my traveling friends have failed to mention that there is in fact a process called "The 5 stages of Females Traveling Alone in Europe with a Heavy Backpack Without Ever Doing Hard Labour" (a.k.a. 5FTAEHBWEDHL). And they forgot to mention that #1 on that list is nausea.

This blog helps me purge my negative emotions though, and I'm sure you'll all be relieved to hear that I am already feeling better. It still doesn't help when my parents are constantly either staring at me with a "Will I ever see you again?" look or making jokes about my lack of worldly knowledge. At this point, if anyone feels the urge to send me an email with positive and supportive comments, I would REALLY appreciate it.

All in all, as my wonderful lil bro would say, I am exaggerating. I have actually prepared myself more for this trip than my procrastinating ass has ever done before. I plan to make this the trip of a lifetime, and will bring back pictures to prove that I have actually gone on this trip.

I look forward to seeing you all when I return, and perhaps some of you IN Europe. Keep in touch!

And it begins...

This is my first official post on my own blog - a trend I swore I wouldn't follow, but look who's on the bandwagon. It's in preparation of the BIG and SOUL-SEARCHING Europe trip, which I have partnered with the purchase of a new digicam. Stay tuned for more pictures and a look into the fantastic "Summer of Mon".