Switzerland

The last few days of my trip I spent in Switzerland. It was truly an out of body experience, and hands down is the prettiest country I have ever been to. After traveling for a week straight, I had little energy and was so impressed to see that my hostel in Geneva was so clean and peaceful. It felt like a hotel room, and I ended up meeting two girls who are also in the USAC program that are studying in Alicante. They were so sweet and it was interesting to hear about the people they had met from the Bilbao program. We stayed up chatting and it made me feel very comfortable. I met my friend Mana when I arrived with only a few ideas of what to do, but ended up finding quite a bit to do.

I arrived on Saturday afternoon and immediately sat down on the hostel bed to rest my feet. My days of travel had started to catch up with me. I think that one thing that people who study abroad never mention is how there are days that you crave to be back in your bed in your host country, where things have begun to feel familiar. I had that overwhelming feeling the first day. This may have occurred because in Geneva they spoke Swiss German and French. I know less than 5 words of each and the language barrier was somewhat exhausting. Most everyone spoke English which was nice, but every-time someone would start to speak French to me I would always feel awkward cutting them off by saying "English?". Funny enough, every person that spoke to me did not immediately start out by talking in English. That honestly made me feel like less of a foreign, but also led to me naturally have a confused face. The first day mostly consisted of me relaxing my feet while I looked at plans for what to do. Since it was Easter weekend, I had to plan accordingly in order to make sure I was able to find places that were open.

Sunday was an absolute dream. There are no other words to describe it other than a dreamlike state. Mana and I took the train to Nyon, Lausanne and Montreux. Our first stop in Nyon was short and sweet, as we only had time to really get a cup of coffee before we had to move on to meet another USAC student in Lausanne. Nyon was quiet and peaceful, and most notably had a castle with a view looking over the water. One thing that I quickly realized was how expensive Switzerland is compared to Bilbao. To be fair, the minimum wage in Switzerland is above 20 CHF (around 22 dollars) per hour. For a coffee and muffin it was a whopping 13 CHF, compared to Bilbao it was 3 times the price. After Nyon we hopped on the train to Lausanne. Funny enough, having traveled every weekend, I have picked up a few tricks for traveling (sorry mom for the next few sentences). The first being that you can get away with not paying for a ticket if you keep an eye out for ticket collectors because they will not be on every train. Secondly, get on the trains that are busier if you are going a longer distance because there are usually too many people and so the workers are unable and unwillingly to check everyones ticket. Lastly, always get on the marked train that has a 2 and not a 1. A 1 usually means a first class train section, and they will check tickets to make sure people have paid for first class. A number 2 indicates second class, where people buy the standard tickets and the likelihood of your ticket being checked is very low. My guilty conscience was constantly on edge and I kept my eye out for the workers who wore the red scarves around their necks. However, I only bought maybe 1 ticket in total and probably saved over 100 CHF in transportation costs. Moving on, Lausanne was breathtaking, we walked to the water and immediately saw the Alps and a bright blue water. The water was so clear that I could see all the way across the lake and it made me want to dive straight in. Lausanne is also home to the Olympic Village museum, which I wasn't sure what to expect but it exceeded my expectations. The building had unique sculptures surrounding the outside, and there were tall white pillars that had the years and cities of all of the Olympics. In the middle, there was a fire bit that was lit like a torch. Near it was a huge sculpture of a woman holding the rings in her hand and they were made of glittering gold that shone brightly in the sunlight. I would absolutely love to live in Lausanne and would 100% go back again for a longer period of time.

Next, we took about a 45 minute train ride to Montreux, that is known for its Freddie Mercury statue and the lilies doting the walkways near the water. Queen wrote some of their last songs in Montreux and foreigners flocked to the statue to take pictures. Similar to Lausanne, the mountains loomed over the water and I watched as a swan swam up to the dock and stood in front of the lilies and lilacs. It was a moment I could not describe and will always be a moment in time that will stay still in my brain. We even managed to stumble upon a market with fresh food, local jewelry and small businesses. I so badly wanted to buy a ring, but of course the cheapest one I could find was 30 CHF. I will say that I mostly lived off of PB/J sandwiches for the duration of the trip.

In Geneva, I saw the botanical gardens, the catedral, the ferris wheel, fountain and old town. All of it was enjoyed in the sun, with a puffer coat to fight against the cold winds. I do think that it would have been a completely different trip if there had not been any sun. The sun really does make a difference when traveling!

Now I am finally back home in Bilbao after 10 amazing and long days of traveling. I am finally able to sleep in my own bed and have already started my 3rd load of laundry. I lived out of a small under the seat backpack for 10 days and I absolutely know that I did not smell the best during the trip.

Overall; Switzerland was a 10/10, everything was like a dream and took my breath away with every corner I turned. I think that when I am not a college student I definitely want to save up and go back to Switzerland and indulge in the food more. I did manage to get chocolate in the airport and it was FANTASTIC, the best chocolate I have ever had in my life. I even had the one that had no sugar added, so I can't even imagine how amazing the one with sugar in it would be! The only downfall I experienced was that Easter Monday meant that everything was closed and I struggled to find open cafes and restaurants. Regardless, the rest of the trip was amazing and I hope that I will have a chance to go back soon. Next time I want to hike in the Alps and go father away from the big cities.