First Full Day At Silver Bay

The last time I wrote in, I was sitting in the lobby of The Inn reflecting on my first impressions, how yummy sushi was, and that I was about to attend "Orientation."

At 9:30, I went down to the boat house where I met Carolyn Close along with a few other supervisors and about 15 other new "EMP's". We all sat around and engaged in some small talk until the program started. 

We watched a couple video's about the YMCA's values, history and expectations. We played a couple of Ice Breaker games and then watched a very long (apparently abbreviated) power point on safety routines. I feel sorry for those who endured the 3-hour long safety instructions. There are a lot of different codes and proceeders that are in place in the event of an emergency. The one in response to a lost child (or person) seems pretty intense. Hope that doesn't happen, but if it does- we're ready!

That ended at about 11:30 and then we all went up to fill out paperwork and finish up some last-minute, important things.  I still have no shirt or name tag, but I will probably get them today.

12:30 was lunch, where I ate with some of the new people I met at the orientation. There is a French guy that is interesting- he said he would help me with my French- We'll see if there's a chance at improving it! 

After lunch, a couple of us went to Walmart. I needed totes for under my bed and also a shower-stuff-holder-thinggie. It was nice to get back and finally have a home for everything. I really hate when things don't have a "home".

The same people that went to Walmart decided that it was a perfect moment for a hike. We went on a short hike, but definitely made it back in time for dinner! The hike was nice , but it made me realize that I need to go on a lot more in order to get in shape. 

Dinner was yummy. Rosemary potatoes, chicken breasts, chocolate moose- yummmy! I ate with a very interesting older lady- Marianne. I think that she will be fun to see around campus- she's very spunky and has traveled all over the world. It was fun sharing stories with her.

After dinner, a few of us decided to go for a dip in the pond, even though it was freezing out. I was dressed in my Patagonia and fleece pants, but under it all was my swimming suit =) We quickly got undressed when we arrived at the beach- jumped in- and got right out! I threw on my Fleece gear and we hurriedly ran up to the dorm to hop in the communal shower. This is when we were unpleasantly surprised! 

Someone POOPED IN THE SHOWER! At first I thought it was poop, then came to the realization that no one in their right mind would poop in the shower... I got some paper towels and tried to clean up what I had decided was just mud. It wasn't. It smeared all over and smelled awful! Who would poop in the shower?! Disgusting.

After a 10-minute long freak out with the other girls that wanted to take a shower, we came up with an alternative method for showering and are still wondering how someone could do that. Now the whole dorm is on a search for the pooper! 

Later, I went to the Inn (one of the two places on campus that has WiFi) and Skyped Carsten and my mom and then Aaron for a moment- I was too tired to go on. It was great to see everyone =) 

I started the Book Angels and Deamons last night, so now I will go for a bike ride and find a good spot for reading. I don't have to be at the Front Desk unitil 12:00, so I have a bit of time to do nothing until then. 

Re-Cap

So, I haven't been updating since I met Carsten and left Europa, so here is a brief re-cap of just some of the events that went down over the past month. 

- I waved goodbye to DCT and Vitznau and flew into Providence- this took 22 hours when all was said and done

- I graduated college

- Had a "Buffalo"-themed graduation party in Providence

- I drove home with my Mom and Dad to begin preparation for my graduation party in Buffalo

- Carsten made a surprise visit!

- We put up the tent for the party, created a dance floor& bar, saw the falls (ours and America's)- the usual...

- Did quite a bit of R&R by Abbe's pool with Hannah, Abbe and Anne

- Went on many bike rides

- Went to Honey Harbour with Abbe, Anne and Ashleigh

- Went to some festivals

- Lost my job, got a new job, got a car

- Typical Buffalo things- dance parties and hanging out

Now here I sit in the Inn at Silver Bay with an amazing view of Lake George and the Adirondack mountains. Through a bit of confusion with the job in Honey Harbour as to whether-or-not I needed working papers, the job "didn't work out". So off I was in search for a new job that would be equally or even more, stimulating. 

Well, as I sit here in the lobby, and after having met the people that I did last night- I can see that God was indeed in the middle of the confusion. I am so grateful to be here.

The drive up took 6 hours (some of which it was a struggle to stay awake). After a few wrong turns and a long, windy road- I arrived at Silver Bay. I was given some vague instructions and was off to my dorm to unload the car. 

The dorm that I am living in is very neat. It is an older, semi-rustic, cabin. It smells like pine and looks like it is, and has been, loved. My room is on the second floor, 4 doors down. I share a room with a girl whom I have not met, but looks like she might be interesting. One downside of the room is that it is small and BRIGHT PINK! It is very very pink!!

The bathroom is down the hall and has 3 stalls, 3 sinks and two showers. It is perfect and it cleaned by housekeeping =)

Within minutes I was greeted by a fun girl named Franchesca. Soon thereafter, I was welcomed to SIlver Bay by her friends who also seem very nice. They invited me out for their friend, Jason's, birthday. After a brief tour given my them and a Skype chat with Carsten, I showered and was off to the Hibachi bar about 20 minutes away.

There were 6 full cars of people that participated in this "shindig", so it was a good way to meet people. Many of the "Emp's" (Employees) have come up here their whole lives. But there are also many new people. It was almost like the first day of camp.

I ordered 2 sushi rolls. I got a "Black Dragon" roll, which had avocado, cucumber, fish roe, wrapped in rice and rolled in Eel and Shrimp. It was so yummy! I also got a Shrimp Tempura roll that was shrimp tempura with fish roe- also quite lovely!

After a complicated (overly-priced) paying ordeal and a group photo, we loaded up the cars and headed for Ben & Jerry's. 

After that, everyone went to the place where all the employees go (can't remember the name), but I was quite sleepy from my long day, so I called it a night and went to bed.

Up for breakfast at the cafeteria and will soon go to my training which begins in just a few minutes. I think this summer will be one to remember and I bet that I will learn a lot about the hospitality industry!

Munich and Salzburg With Carsten

So, Thursday morning at 11:30 I ventured off all by myself to Munich. I took various forms of Swiss transportation until I finally arrived, all in one piece, in Munich.

I waited at the train station for about 10 minutes and then finally heard Carsten calling my name. Apparently we just missed each other at the gate...I was so excited to see him =)

We went to eat at an authentic Bavarian restaurant that was amazing! It was a bit confusing, trying to de-code the menu, so I finally just asked the waitress for a recommendation. I had some pork-type thing with onions and some yummy sauce. After I ate about half of my plate and wasn't sure how I could possibly eat anymore, Carsten ordered panacotta that was delicious.

That night we laid about and did nothing. Though you do nothing on a train, they manage to make you very sleepy. I was too excited to see him that just being there was plenty enough to do.

The next morning, I made breakfast and we were off running errands! Our first stop was IKEA to get some more things for his new flat. I never knew what an experience IKEA is! It's absolutely huge and has everything you would ever need in a home- I was impressed. We even got Swedish meatballs on the way out =) The only thing that I have decided that I do not like about IKEA is the fact that you have to put together all of the furniatire yourself. It took me close to a half hour to put together a stupid metal garbage can. If I had smaller fingers, it would have taken 2 minutes.

We went to his place of work (where they had yummy cheese tasting for free), a bunch of random convinience stores, and then Aldi's to get food for dinner.

That night, Carsten made a delicious meal and then we decided that dancing would be a perfect treat. We got all ready and headed out into the city. We had plans to go to this bar but when we got there, we couldn't find any parking. He had another idea in mind, so we went to this other place that was more like a concert-hall-bar-thing. It was not too busy and the band that was playing was amazing. They played a wide assortment of songs that were all to my fancy! Carsten was being cute and fun and nice, as usual, and we had a great time.

On the way home, I really wanted a crispy chicken snack wrap from Mc.Donalds. Carsten, though not hungry, humored me and we went out in search for a Mc.Donalds that was open. We stumbled upon a very sketchy BK Lounge that I decieded to give a whirl. They had something simmilar to a Snack Wrap, so I got it. I took a bit and my mouth nearly burnt off! WOOF! Carsten ate it and we went on another search for a Mikky D's.

about 10 minutes later, we found one. The Mc.Donalds in Europe are quite impressive compared to those in the USA. They actually look semi-legitimate. They do not have the same menu, so I ordered the closest thing to a Snack Wrap. It was pretty good, but as soon as I finished, I felt like a fire-breathing dragon. I thought my esophogus was going to burn in a fiery like hell.

After a lot of water and a 20-minute ride, we finally arrived back at his flat. I sat upright on the couch and contemplated death a few times, but he was sweet and consoled me. I fell asleap after a while but woke up frequently and did not sleep very well.

I felt much better the next morning! I made breakfast (American-Style), Carsten and I got ready, and we were off to Salzburg for the day. The ride was beautiful and my Ipod offered us a few nice tunes.

Salzburg was about an hour away from Munich, and I think when we got there we spent another hour trying to find parking. We finally found parking inside the mountain and made way into the city.

I will continue this later.

Second last week of school

I will write about last week in a bit...stay posted

La Cote d'Azur - Nice

As usual, my trip began the eve before our actual departure to the French Riviera. Thursday night, a large number of us drank a bit of wine and went to Rigi for a dance party with some of the DCT students. There is a guy that looks very much like Tom Cruise (Top Gun era) who is from Brazil. We all call him "Tom" and he was there engaging in quite a serious d.p.

After about 3 hours of sleep, at 6:o3 AM Jeanne abruptly woke me up and told me that the bus was going to leave in 7 minutes. Of course, I did not pack the night before and had to throw whatever it was that I deemed necessary for a trip to la Cote d'Azur. Due to the fact that every weather report that we looked at had a different opinion as to what lay in the future in regards to sun or rain, I was even more flustered as to what I should throw in my bag.

Running to the bus, we all looked like that scene in Home Alone when "Run Run Rudolph" is playing in the background and they almost miss their flight... Well, we made it, just like in the movie.

From there, we had buses to trains to more buses to more trains. The train is strategically placed along the entire coastline and delivered amazing views of blue ocean and blue skies for the last 3 hours of the ride. I knew that two people brought their I Pod chargers, so I was blasting my music because I knew that I could re-fuel it for the beach and then again for the ride home =)

It was getting hot and we were all getting restless. How great it was going to be to lay on the beach! We arrived at the train station in Nice at about 4 pm, and, besides the man that told me I was being too loud, everyone seemed nice. (Nice people in Nice- Ironic!)

Our hostel was about a 7 minute walk from the train station, so we gathered our belongings and ventured out into the unknown city of Nice. After a few wrong turns, we arrived at the HI hostel of Nice.

Deirdre, Jeanne and I were to share a room while the other girls had the room next door (our balconies were attached). We were all so excited to get out into the city after having re-applied deodorant and the parts of our faces that melted off on the train.

As usual, we found a place to eat and indulged in a scrumptious meal before all of us got "edgy". I had a really good salad with melted goat cheese on top and the others had either the burger or a panini.

We bought some wine after dinner and headed to the beach. A cute guy from Chicago took our photo and Christina and I fought over who he loved at first sight for the duration of the trip. He loved me..I could tell by the way he carefully took the photo with my camera.

All joking aside, it was absolutely beautiful! We sat for a while until the sun went down before we headed home to nap and get ready for a night out in Nice. This was the night that Ashley were to hand over the crown of 21st birthday girls. The crown has now gone from Dee to Jeanne to Ashley, and now, to Linda.

We were all pretty tired, so we didn't go wild. They each bought a mojito that cost 11 Euro! I didn't feel like spending any money, so I didn't drink. One thing that I have found interesting about traveling is that, no matter where we go, there are people from New Jersey. I can't escape them! As we were singing Happy Birthday at the turn of the hour, a Jersey boy decided that it was a good idea to take his shirt off (Not a good idea- he had weird texture) and dance for Linda.

We walked around for a bit and decided that the next night, we would be more wild and that we were all tired. When we got back to our room, there was a strange hippie lady in our extra bed. She took up the whole sink and the entire closet.

In the morning when we got up, she was still sleeping. We got dressed quickly and headed for free breakfast (not very elaborate, but good) and then to the beach. It was 8 am but we were amped and ready for some sun!!

The first ones at the beach, we had the option of any space that we wanted. We each bought a beach mat (the beach is made of rocks), put in our Ipods just low enough so we could hear the crashing waves, applied our sunblock, and basked in the sun.

After about 2 hours of basking, Dee, Jeanne, Ashley and I wanted to rent Kayaks. It was 10 € for an hour which wasn't a bad deal for the fun we had. One thing that we did not know about the beaches in France is that you don't need a top on. We obviously took full advantage and went nudie kayaking. I fell in 2 times and it was absolutely freezing, but equally as refreshing.

We continued our nudie bathing when we returned to the beach- it was very liberating! It was also very neat to see every shape and size of people at the beach strutting their stuff like they were super models. Everyone was comfortable and there was none of the covering-up stuff that goes on in America when people feel as if they don't look good enough to be un-clothed. It was great!

Lunch consisted of a panini and an ice cold water. There was this man that walked by about every 15 minutes with a funny french accent yelling " hallo hallo wata hieneken col beea" - He was so funny and ridiculous.

Christina and Linda and I left the beach at 3 and found the grocery store where we could buy food and wine for much cheaper than it would cost to go out to eat. A good bottle of wine was only 3.45 €!

Since we had a kitchen at our hostel, we could prepare anything we wanted. Dee brought pasta from Vitznau, so we had that accompanied with a colorful salad. The water took about 3 years to boil, so by the time it was "done" it was quite el dante. I thought it was a good idea to rinse the pasta before putting it in the water. Not a good idea! Randomly throughout the pasta there would appear a broom-like clump of pasta that was not cooked at all.The pesto we added to it was even more disgusting. I attempted to add onions and goat cheese, but there was no hope- It was all lost. The faces that Christina and Deirdre were making made me nearly pee my pants as they attempted to enjoy the 3€ dinner that we created.

On to new things, we showered and got ready for Linda's 21st birthday!! A bunch of us heard word that Waynes club was a fun place to go, so we found that. They were right! It was a jam-packed bar with live cover music and people going wild. The second room in the bar was all tables and it is common place to dance on them because the floor is only used for walking. We were so sweaty and disgusting, but having the time of our lives. We didn't even have to spend any money! I found a boy that had the same oxford as me, so clearly that intrigued me! We danced all night and we ended up sitting on the beach with Dee and her lovebird until the early hours of the morning. He was hot and he walked me back to the hostel, which at that point, I had only a vague idea of where it was.

Again, we woke up early for breakfast and went to the beach. It was a bit windy which made all of us a bit nervous for what was to lie ahead. Thankfully, about an hour later, the sun was blazing and it was even warmer than it was the previous day. A bunch of the girls went para sailing, but I got bored the last time I did that, so I didn't want to spend the money. They had a great time.

At 4, Christina and I decided that our skin was telling us to leave, so we took a few photos around the city and went in search for a grocery market. We should have known better- Everything was closed! How were we going to have a 3€ dinner again?! Stressing, we headed back to the beach to tell the girls. We saw them on our way back, and the whole way home, we were stressing.

Linda, who had left the beach earlier than us to do some shopping, happened to find a market that had everything that we needed in order to make an adequate dinner. Jeanne and I made a salad with goat cheese, corn, cucumbers, carrots, and blue crumbles. It was very colorful and pretty tasty as well.

That night, Ashley, Dee, Christina and I went out in search of nightlife. Surprise! There was none. We found "Gillato square", indulged in a scoop of coconut and went back to the hostel. On our way home, we were verbally assaulted by quite a few disgusting Parisians that we all could have done without. I feel as if they Google "gross things to say to American Girls" and then yell them at every girl that has legs. Not cool, but we're over it.

The next morning, we had a quick breakfast and were on our way back to Switzerland. For some reason, the train ride home felt longer than any other, though it was one of the shortest that we have had thus far. I could not get comfortable and it just wasn't a very pleasurable experience.

Trains to buses to more trains and we were back in Vitznau just in time for dinner.

An amazing weekend it was indeed!!

Class trip to the Emmentaler Cheese factory and Bern

This was the sunset the last night- totally beautiful


Today, as with all of our class trips, we got up at 6 am to eat breakfast and make it to the ferry to Lucerne. As usual, I was a bit tired from the night before, so I was a bit lethargic. It has also been cold and rainy the past few days, making us even more tired.

The boat to a train to another train to a bus and we arrived in the middle of nowhere, Switzerland. We were going to take a tour of the Emmentaler cheese factory which is the typical "Swiss Cheese" (the one with the holes).

Our tour guide was very funny, however, I don't think she intended to be. Her English was severely lacking and so she repeated herself a lot and quite often didn't make any sense. It didn't matter though, we got the general idea. Did you know that the enzyme that curdles the cheese comes from the inner-lining of a cows stomach? Wild.

After the tour, we all ate our bagged lunches and then Dee, Jules and I went to look at the cows that were grazing on the field. There was one specific cow that I felt attached to...we'll call her betsy(original, I know). She looked me right in the eyes and I felt that we had a connection. Then, a moment later she lifted her tail and took the biggest dump that I have ever seen while she was looking me in the eyes! No shame what so ever! I couldn't believe it...I now know where the term "Cow Pie" comes from- this thing was HUGE!

Anyways, enough about poop. We went to the gift shop and I tried a sausage that was absolutely amazing. After I bought it, I was informed that it was made of horse. Oh well, it's still really good and now nobody will want to share it with me. I also bought a slice of cheese that I like the best. It turns out that that type of cheese is the one that is hand-made by the little cheese-man that works in the hut that was on the tour. He still does it the old-fashioned way to show the guests how it's really done. It is really yummy.

After that, we got back on the bus to the train and headed for Bern, Switzerland's capital city. We were all very tired and not really feeling the weather, but we still had to journey on the scheduled, 2-hour walking tour of the city.

It actually is a cool city, and the sun came out for a bit, though it was still freezing. My rain slicker wasn't getting the job done of keeping me warm. Our tour guide also had the volume of a mouse, so that made things a bit difficult.

Fun Facts learned on the tour:
-Bern is German for Bear, which is what the city is known for because the people that first went there said that they would name it after the first animal they saw. Apparently that was a bear.
-Bern is a small city and is surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped river as to prevent attacks during the middle ages.
-Bern, like Geneva, played a large role in the Protestant reformation. There is a main cathedral that, during the reformation, was changed into a protestant church.
-There is an astronomical clock in Bern, simmilar to that of Prague. It's show which happens on the hour, every hour, is quite intense (even moreso than Prague).

We had about 30 minutes to ourselves and then we were back on a train that took us right to Lucerne (Where we, of course, caught the ferry :) )..I could tell that I was really tired because I fell asleep on the train without any pillow or head rest.

Though the weather has been crummy, it has still been a great past few days. I am still awaiting a response from The Delawana Inn Resort and Spa in regards to employment...My computer is officially broken, so I will not be able to check it unless the computer lab is open.

Goodnight=)

A class trip to Geneva, Lausanne and a few other places in Switzerland

My trip really began on the Tuesday evening before my class departed from Vitznau. A few my peers are excellent dancers and have started teaching classes to those of us that aren't on Tuesday nights. They are teaching Salsa and belly dancing. A few of us decided to indulge in a few glasses of wine before class got started, so that made class a little bit more interesting.

When we arrived, we were flabbergasted by the turnout! Mostly all JWU kids, but still exciting nonetheless. We danced the salsa for about a half hour and then we divulged in belly dancing. This is much harder than it looks! It's quite an ab work-out. We learned the "Nile", the "pop", and a few other snazzy moves before we all just let loose and had a serious dance-off. We had the Congo line going, bumpin' and grindin'- It was crazy.

After class, we were all very sweaty and rather disgusting-looking. I wanted to continue drinking, so I bribed my roommate into going to Rigi (one of the 2 local bars) with me for 1 drink.

4 drinks and a shot of tequila later, we were still there! At around 2 I came to the realization that I had to be packed, rested, and ready to go on the excursion at 6 in the morning.

Up at 6 am to make an attempt at packing and be at breakfast (in business attire) at 6:30. Boy was that a joke! Much to my surprise, I remembered most everything except flip flops which would have been very nice to have, but oh well.

So, after a quick breakfast all 35 of us walked to the ferry to Luzerne. The boat ride went fairly quickly- I was in a very silly mood which probably had something to due with the fact that my hangover had yet to set in.

From Luzerne, the group of us took a train to a place where we were supposed to catch a bus. We went out onto the street to catch the bus until we realized that we were in the wrong place. This is when my hangover kicked in...

We finally found the bus stop that we were supposed to take and thank God, we had 15 minutes to wait, so I ran to the store and bought a hard-boiled egg ( I have been LOVING those lately- I think they infuse them with crack here).

The wait consisted of Spanish dance parties and persistent joking. When the bus finally arrived, the mirror hit my friend Emily on the head. We were ready to board when the man told us that our Eurrail passes did not work for the bus ride. Flustered, Professor Silva got on her phone and tried to figure out how we were all to get on this bus. We only had 5 minutes before its departure and we had to get on that bus in order to make it to the chocolate factory.

5 tense minutes and $450 later, we were on the bus. Thanks JWU for picking up that tab!

The bus ride was about 30 minutes long. Everywhere you looked, there was a beautiful view of a mountain and/or a cow with a cute little bell on. I had a mix of Marvin Gaye, The Temptations andStevie Wonder blasting in my ear- I was quite content.

We got to our stop and then had to wait 20 minutes (because we were late) for our train which would conveniently take us through a beautiful countryside (also speckled with cows) to a little town named Brot, where the Callier chocolate factory resides.

Becuase we were late, our tour of the factory was cut a bit short, but we were still able to have an adequate tasting of the many types of chocolate that they offer. I prefer my Ghirradelli any day, but it was alright.

After a bagged lunch and a brief sun bath, we were back on the public transport of Switzerland to take 2 more trains to Lausanne. Lausanne is in the French-speaking part of Switzernald and absolutely breath-taking. All of us stored our luggage in the lockers in the train station and hopped on the trolley to go to the end of Laussane where our hotel tour was to be in a few hours.

We were right on the harbour that was loaded with sail boats, fun-looking people, sunshine, and a nice warm breeze. Sadly, I was wearing wool pants and a winter-weight blazer, so my time spent there was not 100% amazing, but sans the outfut- I was in paradise.


Christina, Ashley, Tom and I walked around, took photos and admired the view as well as the million flowers that were beautifully speckling the landscape.

After an hour of that, we made our way to the hotel Beau Rivage that we were to tour that afternoon. It was an amazing hotel!! It is where Phil Collins had his wedding! My favorite room cost 7,000 Swiss Franks per night. Needless to say, that is not where we rested our little heads that night.

Two or three more trains and we were at our final destination: Geneva. By the time we arrived, we were all exhausted and in need of a serious foot rub (after a meal, of course).

Our hotel was, well, interesting. It was more of a hostel than a hotel due to the fact that we had a bunk bed, no bathroom, no hair dryer, no iron and a minuscule television. Though we were all tired and smelly, we were very hungry, so decided to go across the street to the "mall" and grab a bite to eat.

Geneva is expensive!! Nothing at the mall cost less than 15 dollars. We weren't sure if that was simply because we were in a mall, so our next collective decision was to take a bus into the city center and look for a cheaper meal. After about an hour of looking, we came to the realization that Geneva was just expensive and filled with every type of creepy man imaginable. We settled for a Gyro (typical) restaurant that ended up being 20 dollars anyways.

On the way home, we had to wait at a bus stop that smelled like every citizen in Geneva had at one point relieved their bladders there. Behind Jeanne was a black man that was chewing on his gums who was next to a man of a questionable ethnicity that was sticking his tongue in and out of the area where he should have had a front tooth.

Eventually the bus came and luckily, I got a seat! Almost home, Ashley was approached by a long-haired man with a big beer that asked her why she didn't sit with him when he motioned earlier for her to do so. She said she was fine with her friends. The assaulting continued and then the man proceeded to tap Megan. She yelled at him and this is when he got defensive and rude. He made a number of rude comments and it was a bit ridiculous. It's amazing how quickly moods can turn sour- we all wanted to hit him but we refrained.

Back to the "hotel" and we were all ready for a shower and bed. Ashley and I shared the bottom bunk because neither of us were interested in the top bunk.

We were to be up at 8 for breakfast, dressed and ready to go. Breakfast was a typical European cuisine, so I ate bread with honey, as usual.

Off we were to a tour of the United Nations. It was a bit of a hassle getting into the UN with the security and everything. My back hurt the whole time, so I didn't really gather anything that the tour guide was saying because I was in the back attempting to stretch it out.

At one point, we got to sit down in this big room and Linda fell asleep in a funny way so Dee took a picture. About 5 minutes later in the presentation, Dee fell asleep and Linda took a photo. It doesn't sound very funny, but after a 2-hour tour of the UN, most anything is funny.

Finally, the tour ended and we were given a 20 Swiss Frank stipend for lunch. We weren't expecting much, but the cafeteria was awesome! It was huge and there was quite a marvelous selection. They had cottage cheese, so I had a lot of that and a strawberry cake tart thing.

Though I was exhausted and hot in my wool suite, we had to go on a tour of the city. Dreadingly, we all took the million degree bus ride to where our tour was to commence.

We were split into two groups and we were off. Our tour lady was in her 70s but was a real spit-fire! She was a petit little woman with some very nice jewelry on but was oh so funny! One of, if not the best, tour that I have ever been on. She read her audience very well and made us all forget, at least for a little bit, that our feet were pounding and that we were sweating profusely.

Among other things that I learned, I learned that Geneva played very important role in the Protestant reformation. Martin Luther and John Calvin both spent a lot of time in Geneva, especially John Calvin. Until followers of Calvinism realized that they were predestined to either heaven or hell and that there was little -to-nothing that they could do about it, Geneva was primarily Calvinist.

We went through Old Town and our ideas of what Geneva was (from the night before), changed. It actually is a very beautiful city. Small and expensive, but pretty. Our lady left us off on one of the most expensive shopping street in the world. We didn't spend any time there because, besides the fact that none of us could afford that, we were all exhausted, hot, and tired.

On our way home we stopped at a grocery store, picked up some food for dinner as to not have a repeat of the previous evening, and went to our hotel. We got the sheets from the bunk that we weren't using and took them outside for our picnic and lounge-time.

At the grocery store I bought a paddle ball game, so I had an enjoyable time with that all evening. After about 3 hours of that, we went back to the hotel, all sat in my bed and laughed at each other for about an hour or so. Ash and Linda went to the movies (for 18 dollars!) and I showered and went to bed.

The next morning we had to be up bright and early to catch some more of Switzerland's fine transportation. A few busses to a few trains and we landed back in Lausanne to store our luggage. That morning we had a hotel tour scheduled in Montreaux, which is also located in the French part of Switzerland.

We were to tour a 5-star Fairmont property. It was absolutely gorgeous. I feel as if all of these tours are not making me want to work in properties like them, but are simply raising the bar of what I expect out of a hotel. We were split into 3 groups and were given a very in-depth tour of the back and the front of the house. Their breakfast buffet looked phenomenal. I was very sad that we could not indulge...they even had French Toast and scrambled eggs- a far cry from the cheese and bread we had at our "hotel".

After the tour, we had an hour for lunch. Ashley, Deirdre, Linda and I went to a restaurant close by where I had salmon and rice with shrimp cocktail. It was very yummy and was the first meal that I didn't feel as if I got ripped-off.

Back to the train station we went to catch the train to Rivaz, where our wine tour was to be. Our train was scheduled to arrive in Rivaz at 13:46, but little did we know, the train changed it schedule and decided not to stop there.

After much confusion, we arrived at the winery a bit late, but we arrived. The vineyard was unique because it was on a mountain side along the coast-breath-taking view! We were at the Chateau De Glerolles. After an abbreviated explanation of the vineyard in French, we went on to the tasting. We tasted 4 different wines which were accompanied with Gruyere cheese and pepperoni. I liked the Planete, St-Saphorine the best...It was a semi-dry, white wine..I bought 2 bottles =)

Our tasting came to an abrupt end when our professor mentioned that our train left in 10 minutes. We all quickly put in our orders and the "Men In Black" (what we look like in our suits when we are all together walking- like the Men In Black gang) squad was off again, running to catch our Swiss transport.

Our train arrived in Lucern a few hours later and we had to high tail it to the ferry. The train station was packed, so we were all jumping over people, zig-zagging our way through the station to the ferry.

When we arrived at the ferry, we had few minutes to spare. Due to the fact that there was a dinner going on, we all were forced to sit outside. All of us were exhausted from the weekend, but, as usual, our group caused some ruckus. Someone started the wave, and in just a few minutes, our entire group was doing the wave in different manners. We are all pretty ridiculous but all have a sense of humor, so it works out.

Overall it was a very hectic, but memorable weekend!

4/20

Though today is a wonderful holiday, I did not celebrate like most people I know most likely did.

last night was movie night at DCT. We watched A Beautiful Mind starring Russel Crowe in the student lounge and then I proceeded to fall asleep at a normal hour.

I woke up at around 10 AM and went to the drug store to get some medicine for my back- it was hurting all night...The lady at the drug store didn't speak much English and kept making motions with her hand as if I had diarrhea. I was rubbing my back, and then she proceeded to say "urine?". Finally, she came to the conclusion that it was indeed my back that was causing me troubles, and gave me some pills that should help.

On the way home from the drug store, I bought some deviled eggs for Jeanne and I that were dyed in a really pretty orange and yellow that just happened to match our apartment walls. She and I shared an egg, and we patiently waited for lunch time.

Lunch consisted of last nights chicken- it was still good. The sweet and sour chile sauce that they have in the cafeteria can make most everything taste good!

Jeanne, Dee and I took a trip to Weggis to fix the train reservations for Nice.

Dee and I attempted a Turbo Jam session, but came to the realization that it was sunny out and that a walk would be much more pleasurable than Turbo Jamming with the blinds closed. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

The walk was beautiful, as usual. There was some construction on the side of the mountain, so we had to wait at a few point, but the walk was basically un-interrupted and great. We try to go on one every day for a few reasons: 1. It's beautiful, 2. It kills mad time, 3. We don't want to gain 500 lbs while in der Schwies!

Off for a shower, a brief game of BananaGrams on the roof and dinner, and the night is almost over. Dinner was poached eggs with spinach and cheese =)


After dinner, Dee, Jeanne, Hugo, Raph and I played pool in the student lounge and that leads me to where I am now; in the computer lab because my computer is being ridiculous.

P.S. today I applied for a job at the Delawana Inn in Honey Harbour and I already received a response! This would be an amazing way to spend the next few months!!

Heaven or Hell

Yesterday I woke up and for the first time in the entire trip, I felt hungover. For some reason Vitznau is a bigger party than all of the places we visited. The night before, Dee and I drank a lot of wine and had some serious DP's (Dance Parties) throughout Vitznau and the school. We even got Gary Anderson (Head of housing and life) to come out on his balcony in his robe to tell us in his fierce British accent that we needed to be quiet.

So, not feeling so hot, I kind of moseyed around all day until lunch. Dee, Hugo and I had signed up for "Service" the night before, so we had to sit in the designated area and get served to by one of the students. It was the girls first time ever doing it so it was extremely slow! I was so hungry that I ended up just eating a ton of bread. To add to the humor of the situation, the food was terrible.

About 2 hours later, Dee, Jeanne and I took the ferry to Luzerne. My lab top battery mysteriously broke when I was away in Amsterdam, so my computer only works when it is plugged in the wall. The cord is also broken, so any slight movement un-plugs the darn thing.

One of our missions in Luzerne was to take it to Data Quest, which has Mac specialists. Due to the fact that I don't have my receipt from when I purchased the battery, the man wouldn't give me a new one. The rest of our time in Luzerne was filled with 2 hours of accomplishing absolutely nothing. Dee forgot the train tickets, so we couldn't do that. There was a long line at H&M, so I couldn't buy pants for Geneva...kind of a big waste of time, but we had fun nonetheless. When the three of us are together, it's pretty much non-stop laughter.

When we got back, I took a nap and got up just in time for dinner. After dinner, Sonny, Dee, Jeanne, Hugo, and a bunch of other students met on the roof and played beer pong and flip cup. It was a bit make-shift, but very fun. We were up there until the sun set and it was too dark to see. It was a spectacular sun set once again!


Last night, DCT hosted a "Heaven or Hell" dance in which people were to dress up as devils or angels. Deirdre and Jeanne were devils, and we had a fun time making horns out of plastic bags, a staff out of a broom stick and a headband etc... I was an angel (I was the only one at the party)...I wore a pretty dress, made wings out of two hangers and some white tissue paper, a halo out of a hanger, tissue paper and a paperclip, and Paulina let me borrow her white boa.




I stayed up 'till 3:30 with Ros in the lobby of the school where he was playing me Russian music. I gave him a taste of country- my all time favorite, and that was the night.

I am very glad I stayed this weekend. It looks like it is going to be a sunny day and brunch is in 30 min =) Hope it's yummy!

April 14th and 15th

The past 2 days have been amazing!

75, sunny, no clouds! We have had midterms, also, so our classes are non-existent. I have been sun bathing for 2 days =)

A bunch of us have gone for walks/runs on a beautiful path through the mountains on a cliff by the lake.

We had a campfire last night that was really fun, too=)

Amsterdam and Brussels

We reserved the night train to Amsterdam for Wednesday night and decided to skip class on Thursday. Wednesday's pre-departure activities turned out a bit differently than I had originally expected:
12:30- Finished lunch and began working on my Marketing Feasability Study, knowing that it would take me no more than an hour.
3:45- FINALLY finished the project and could breath for a minute before I began packing.
4:00- Packed
6:30- Scarfed down mac and cheese and the rest of dinner in 12 minutes in order to make our bus at 6:45
6:46- Standing outside of DCT waiting for Deirdre and Ashley while we watch the bus go by
6:46 1/2- Running like bats out of hell to the bus stop where the bus driver kindly waited for us

Though that was a rough beginning to our trip, my journey to Holland was fairly seamless. We had a few connections that were not cumbersome by anz means which was followed by a night train. I think that this train trip seemed nicer than the average one because we were all together in one car. The lack of smelly men was truly a blessing!

Day 1

We arrived in Holland at 8:30 where we caught a bus to the square that our hotel was located. We had reservations for The Marriott Amsterdam. The only discrepancy was the minor detail that our reservation was for 4 and we happened to be 7. Again, a minor detail. We sketchily sneaked the extra people in through a side door and made our way to the room.

It was so nice to finally reside in a nice establishment! The next time I am in Europe I would like to omit any hostel visits, or at least keep them to a minimum.

After we all dropped our things off and changed our outfits we headed out into God knows what. Again, noone did much research on the place we were visiting. In our defense, there is only so much research that one can do...I feel as if traveling is about a vibe, a feeling, an energy. None of this can be obtained from a book, no matter how in-depth it is.

We stumbled upon The Bull Dog Cafe which is a very infamous "cafe", if you will, in Amsterdam. There we participated in a very fun, yet stereotypical part of most everyone that visits Amsterdam. We sat and laughed for a while and then made our was to the Van Gough Museum and the I AMSTERDAM sign.

At the Van Gough museum we all got headphones for the exhibit that is there about Van Gough's amazing use of light at night in his paintings. Stary night was even there! He had a fascination with painting peasant life at night..it was very cool.


After that, we were all fittingly very hungry. We stopped in a little market where I got a waffle that tasted like it was infused with crack. It was delicious!

We were fairly tired by then, so Jeanne and I went back to the hotel to take a nap in the bed alone becuase we knew that we were not going to have the chance to be in the bed alone all weekend. It felt amazing!

Everyone came back eventually, and we prepared ourselves for the evening festivities. It was Jeanne's birthday, and also the crowning ceremony from Dee to Jeanne. Dee's birthday was the previous day, so it was a very intense ceremony.

We all got fairly ridiculous and had a great time. It was nice knowing that our hotel was withing a stone's throw of the square that we fell in love with. The vibe of the city was contagious. Street vendors, musicians, dancers, performers, streets lined with cafe's and pubs...it was great!

We found an awful lot of clubs that played some really "groovy" music. They were all throw backs from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Jeanne seemed really happy, as did the rest of the group.

The night ended with a trip to the "Pancake House" where we all got crepes filled with, again, some form of crack-infused syrup. Of course I am kidding when I speak of the crack-infused food- That is just my way of saying that it is addicting, how good it is.

We headed home after that into our little room where we had three people in each bed, and one person on the floor. It was difficult to sleep, but amazing nonetheless.

DAY 2

I woke up at 8 am from a rather rough night of fighting for covers and space in the small bed the Julia, Ashley and me were "sharing". We all got ready and headed for the Anne Frank Museum/House as to avoid the long lines that we heard happened mid-day.

Well, we got there at about 10 and the line was already a bit ridiculous. Jeanne, Ashley and I snuck out of it in search of some cheap postcards while the others held our spot. Of course, knowing Jeanne and me, we found food. It was really a treat, though- we found a place that had EGG SANDWICHES! Really, an amazing concept.

We finally made it through the line and were let into the house where Anne, her family, and the others stayed for 2 years in hiding. It was very eerie to be in the house after having read the book. It was busy, but they made it so that the flow was smooth, so it didn's seem like we were too rushed or being pushed. This is a photo of the bookshelf that was the entrance to their hiding spot in the Annex.

After the museum we went to a grocery store that had really yummy and cheap salads. It was 4 Euro for a salad complete with pasta, my favorite kind of lettuce, walnuts, apples, goat cheese, and cucumbers. Jeanne bought a baguette, and we walked to the park that was right by our hotel to sunbathe, relax, and just enjoy the weather and celebrate Jeanne's birthday. It felt great to just relax!

We did that for about 3 hours and then went shopping for a bit. I got a really pretty grapefruit colored cardigan at H&M. We went back to the hotel for a short rest and then ventured out in search of the Red Light District.

We should have known from the gloomy skies and the weather report that the weather that evening wasn't going to be spectacular, but we ignored the signs and went anyways. We ran into trouble for the first time when we were in search for dinner. The rain started coming down, so I quickly bought a really ghetto "Holland" umbrella that had a really awkward handle and a tulip on it. Then we found a pizza joint that was less than appealing. The pizza tasted like cardboard. Actually, I take that back- I would prefer cardboard over the slice of whatever they gave me for my 5 Euro(50 cents more for barbecue sauce in an attempt to add some flavor).

The rain calmed and we ventured out in search of a stripper. It was pretty disgusting/disturbing to me. It is literally just a long street seperated by a canal, each side housing little rooms where these woman attempt to have eye sex with gross looking men in hopes that they will sleep with them. It seems so degrading, but I guess everyone has their own journey...

As we were discussing the logistics as to hoe to get one of these girls (because I am clueless on these matters), it started to POUR! "Cats and dogs" is a serious understatement for the storm that ensued during our walk. We ran to the nearest pub that didn't sketch us out and went in. We were serious hot commodities in this bar due to the fact that we were the only females in the entire establishment.

We got so bored there that we made a collaborative decision that it was a great idea to leave the red light district and go back the square that we all knew and loved. When we left the pub, the rain was still coming down, but not in the sheets that it was before. About a minute later, it started up again and we all were soaked. It got so bad that we all just took it with a grain of salt and accepted the fact that it was our destiny to get soaked. I seriously have not laughed that hard in a long time!

On the way home, Jeanne and I thought it was a grand idea to jump in a local fountain. We're so rebellious, I know. We went back to the hotel, changed into whatever we had that was dry, and went to the square looking like wet dogs and continued the party. I had a great night sans guy that wouldn't stop talking to me. I can't think of anything else that I could have done to make him think I was a weird-o. By the end of the night it was almost a game to see what I could do to make him not like me. That is him to the right of me in the photo.

Day3

That was my night to sleep on the floor. Terrible idea. My back has never hurt so badly in my life- I could barely move it. This aging stuff could at least wait a few more years before it starts crippling me.


Anyhow, I forged ahead, bought a heat pack, and we all rented bikes. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to get bikes because there were 7 of us and there was a long line...God was on our side and the bikes appeared.

Julia seemed to have forgotten how to ride a bike, so that caused a great deal of laughter on our little biking excursion. To add to the fact that she forgot how to ride a bike, her bike was too big for her, so it was a bit crazy.

Side note: Bikers in Amsterdam are NUTS! They will run you over if you are in their way. There are all these rules and regulations on how to ride bikes properly in Amsterdam. They have a path larger than that of the pedestrians and it's just ridiculous.

As usual, we found a supermarket, got some of the same salads that we had the previous day, and rode around for a few hours before we found a cool park where we could eat and relax. Having not biked in a while, my butt was feeling a bit sore.

It started to rain so we rode back to the place where we got the bikes which was near our favorite square and had some more R&R time.

After some relaxing, we got ready and went to dinner (guess where..) in the square! I had fish which was good, but Linda's salmon salad looked way better. The square is full of tables from the various restaurants and pubs. It is lively and great for people-watching.

Ashley and I are the only ones that wanted to go out, so we went out for a few drinks and ended up at The Bull Dog Cafe where the rest of the gang was.

Day 4:

Off to Brussels at 8am. The train ride was only about 3 hours and I slept most of the way. When we arrived in Brussels, I was very tired as was the majority of the group. We took our luggage to the hostel and walked around until 2 when we could check in.

We got a bite to eat in a new favourite square where there was an open-air Easter market.
We went to see the Manikin Pis which was pretty crazy! Not!...It really is only a foot in height. It's crazy how such a little statue has made its way to being the statue that an entire country is known for. That stupid little statue is EVERYWHERE! On chocolates, golf balld, lighters, scarves- everything!!

I was exhausted, so I went back with Jeanne to the hostel to take a nap. That evening, Jeanne and I got a gyro and mosied around the city.

Day 5:

Our train didn't leave until 1, so we saw a few more sights, got a bite to eat and hopped on our train. The first ride was 7 hours long and the latter was 4. The sun set on the way back was beautiful against the foreground of the French countryside! There were also a few bus rides involved in the journey home...I was so happy when I got into my bed!