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!

April 6th and 7th

The past two days have been interesting...

I think that I got food poisoning when I was in Milan. All that I had to eat the short while that I was in Milan was a shell-fish pasta dish.

I felt sick from 8 o'clock on, but it felt like the normal acid reflux response to things, so I didn't pay it any attention. at 2AM on the 6th I woke up and was violently ill. I will leave the details to your imagination, but let's just say that the pasta dish tasted better on the way down...

I woke up every half hour feeling even worse than I did the previous time that I was awakened. I had aches and pains unlike any other. I was grateful when the sun came up so that I could actually feel like I wasn't waking everybody up.

This continued, so I made an appointment at the local doctor's office which is conveniently located right down the street. It was all I could do to mosey my way over there, so when I arrived and she told me that I needed my insurance card, it was all I could do to walk back to DCT to retrieve the card. I mustered up the energy and made my way back to DCT and then to the doctor's office.

I told him my symptoms and he gave me some interesting medicine that I would rather not go into detail about. He also attempted to jab me with a needle, but was unsuccessful like most doctors are when in search of my non-existent veins. I usually get the comment that I would be a bad drug addict, but the language barrier prevented him from making such a comment.

I watched movies for the rest of the day until I decided to change positions and lounge out on the balcony where the sun was beating down on me like I was the only person in sight. I put on a CD entitled "Nature's Healing" and took deep breaths of the fresh mountain air. I finally ate some bread around dinner time which was about all that my stomach could handle.

The sunset was beautiful. I took a photo-documentary for those of you who are interested...I will post them soon.

This morning I woke up and was feeling a little bit better, but not like myself. We had class and then a long break after lunch. I sun bathed with my roommates for three hours. It felt amazing, again, like I was the only one the sun was looking at! I got a pretty nice tan, too.

After our second class was dinner. That pretty much consisted of bread and tuna fish (like lunch). Following dinner, I took a walk to the beach which was beautiful! The sun setting in the mountain, the fresh mountain air, the smell of a nearby campfire...even the horse poop was a strange delight.

Dee's birthday is tomorrow, so we are all going to go to Rutli (the local Bar) but I am not going to drink for a while to see if my stomach feels any better, so I will bring Banana Grams, stay and celebrate until the smoke consumes my soul at which point I will have to excuse myself from the festivities.

=)

Venice and Milan

My trip to Venice was unique from all of the previous because it was a class trip. On Thursday morning, all 34 of my class members and I got up at 5:30 AM to eat a quick breakfast and head for the ferry to Lucerne. It was still dark out. 

Following the short ferry ride, all 35 of us got on a few trains which eventually led us to Venice. The train station was a beautiful structure that resembled a museum more than a train station. A much different initial vibe from that of Budapest!

We all waited around for the professor to buy us our "Venice Cards" for about 20 minutes, and then were off of the water taxi's which would bring us to our hotel. We were all a bit unnerved at the grunts that were coming from the boat that were accompanied by loud bangs and the like. Though I kept gasping, I soon realized that these noises were okay as I read the relaxed looks that the Venetians displayed. This gave me the idea that perhaps they were normal. 

After 20 0r so minutes of that, we reached our stop. We were all so excited to see the beautiful buildings and the gondola's! The 35 of us were split equally into two hotels that were 3 buildings apart. Both of them were located right on the water, 2 minutes from the oldest and most historic pat of Venice. I don't know how JWU managed that, but A+ to the hotel selection committee. 

My roommates were Christina, Elsa and Jeanne for the weekend. Somehow Jeanne and I lucked out again with the room selection. Our hotel was over-looking the harbor and was absolutely breath-taking. We quickly freshened up and headed out to map out the city. Again, we realized how close we are to everything. 

That night, almost the entire class went out to eat at a restaurant that  wasn't far from our hotels. It was a typical Italian joint. Pasta, Pizza...that's about it. Unfortunately, everything was sooo expensive! The cheapest pasta dish I could fund that sounded semi-appealing was 15 Euro- that's almost 20 USD! When we got our food, we all commented on the portion sizes. There wasn't even a lot of food, especially for that large of a price. I forged through it and about 10 minutes in, I started feeling sick. Later that night, we all had planned on going out, but I felt too sick, so i went to bed. 

          Bridge next to hotel

After a great night sleep I woke up bright and early at 7:30 to get ready for our tour of Venice. My first surprise of the hotel was the lovely shower. The water pressure was just marvelous and there were big towels that wrapped around me almost twice- a nice touch compared to the towel I have been carrying around on my other adventures. All 4 of us girls got ready and walked a few doors down to St.Marks Square. 

We learned a lot about Venice, a lot of information that I will not be dispensing in this blog. Some thing that I will tell you that I found particularly interesting are:

1. Venice floods about 1 foot almost 200 days out of the year due the the tide and the way the wind mixes with it. As a result of this, a large portion of the city has things that look like benches but are really to make boardwalks when there is a flood. 

2. The church (St.Marks) is actually where the remains of St.Mark reside. He was snuck onto the island amidst old beef and cabbage so when the people checking at their version of customs in those days didn't look too far into the chest that he was being transported in. This is depicted in a glass mosaic on the outside of the church.

3. Venice is built on trees. It is supposed to sink 1/2 an inch every 100 years. One year it accidentally sunk 12 inches!

4. There is not a single car on any of the islands. Everything is done with boats and old-fashioned pull-carts- even the garbage!

The canals of Venice are really only 2-5 feet deep and they don't need to be cleaned because the tide does most of it naturally. 

5. Everything was beautiful and picturesque

Our tour ended at the Charles Bridge where we were left to shop and galavant throughout Venice. I bought a pretty necklace and attempted to buy some food that wouldn't make me sick. The sun was shining and it was gorgeous! Christina, Tom and I decided that it was crucial that we head back to the hotel, put on our sun dresses and lounge along the sea side! We plopped ourselves strategically at the entrance to a major canal, the one in which the ambulance boats and taxi's went through. Some of them were quite attractive and charming. 

I am a little bit behind on the blogging, so I am going to just tell you that the rest of the trip was beautiful- 73 and sunny! 

A few highlights:

- The wine fountain (2 liters of wine for 4 Euro, bring your own bottle)

- Sitting around the streets of Venice with everyone because there is no such thing as a nightlife in Venice

-Being without a lover in a city devoted to lovers...that was a little depressing

-The tour we took of the Danielli (a beautiful, historic, very expensive hotel next to ours-the same view that I had from my hotel cost 2,300 Euro at this hotel!)

- The ghost tour we took on the last night- Venice is the most haunted city in Europe (so she said)

-When the the people in my train car all put in our ipods and synchronized our songs and danced while other people looked on with questioning gazes. 

-Sun bathing both days 

-Gondola Ride

Bridge of Sighs (with dumb advertisements on it!)

-Walking on the Bridge of Sighs 

-Gelatto