(Again... sorry for the annoying fonts and formatting! My computer hates me...)
So what started out as a weekly blog has now become more of a monthly thing. Which is unfortunate because I am traveling somewhere almost every weekend. Well, I guess I will have to update you on my last 4 weeks of travel. And since I haven’t even posted any of these photos yet, it will be new to everyone!
Engelberg
A bunch of my friends were going skiing in the Swiss Alps near a town called Engelberg. Even though I am from Calgary I am not a skier myself, and for fear of being left alone on the mountain top I decided to go hiking instead.
The view from the top was definitely worth it. Although quite foggy with low visibility in the town of Engelberg, as we approached the peak of Titlis (yes, all you immature people are giggling at the name…) we went above the clouds and got to enjoy the amazing view of the Swiss Alps poking out over a sea of clouds. I spent my entire morning hiking around the top of Titlis, enjoying the views and exploring one of the ice caves (more a very touristy thing, but still cool).
AMAZING views from on top of Titlis!
Ice Caves!! :)
I had taken it easy in the morning, so come afternoon I wanted to do a real hike. I headed back down a little bit, unfortunately entering into the clouds in order to find a hiking train. If you read my prior blogs you know that in the summer they have yellow signs to mark the paths. Well in the winter they have PURPLE signs! :) They also have poles that line the side of the path. I soon learned what these poles were for.
As I followed the hiking path, distancing myself from the crowds of skiers and snowboarders, I began to feel more and more like I was in the middle of nowhere. I could no longer hear rumbling of the chair lift of the joyous voices of people coming down the hill. I could hear nothing. But worst of all, I could see nothing. The fog was so dense that I could not see anything around me. The poles which lined my path were a life savior, however sometimes as I reached one pole I had to take a few steps into the whiteness before I could see the next pole. It was quite a terrifying experience.
The fact that the snow covered land around me blended in with the clouds was not any help at all. I tried to see what was beside me, however I could rarely distinguish whether it was a wall of snow, or a steep drop on the edge of the mountain. Terrified, I stayed to the middle of the path as best as possible. Although easier said than done, considering I could only see the path about 2-3 meters in front of me to begin with.
Lost in the wilderness - surrounded by nothing but pure whiteness!
The shining light (though I couldn't see this for most of the hike)
Eventually I reached my destination, a chair lift! I met two snowshoe-ers here, although unfortunately they didn’t speak English. After taking the chairlift down though I was glad to have these two in front of me to follow. It at least allowed me to have two figures in the distance to know that I wasn’t about to walk off the mountain.
Although a little terrifying, and perhaps silly to have gone hiking alone, it still made for a great day. Which was finished off by a great night of enjoying some Après-Ski Glügg and playing Settler’s of Catan with some friends.
Alicante, Spain
I booked the trip to Spain because there was a seat sale and the return plane tickets cost me only 15 EUR return to Spain. Unfortunately none of my friends were interested, so it would be a solo trip. But I thought it would be a great time to go during the winter, to get some sun and enjoy the beach a little.
I had a lot on my mind going into this weekend, so it was honestly just good to have three days to myself to lie on the beach and enjoy some sun. Cause in Switzerland we don’t get sun. And I don’t mean it’s cold all the time, I mean we literally don’t get sun. There are ALWAYS clouds. So the Vitamin D intake was highly needed.
So, Spain was definitely one of my most relaxing weekends. I literally did nothing but sit on the beach and read a book. I also walked up to the castle a couple times and found a nice place to read up there. The weather was beautiful, I spent most of the weekend in shorts and a T-shirt… though most of the locals had their toques and mittens out in the 20 degree weather :P.
A nice spot to read on the ledge of the castle, overlooking the sea. :)
I got a few funny looks for this outfit. Ah well.
And I wonder why I get funny looks... especially since my camera was sitting on a ledge for this for. So random passerbys didn't even realize a photo was being taken..
Watching the sunset while doing some German homework up at the castle.
Prague and Kutna Hora
The following weekend I took my first trip towards Eastern Europe, to Prague, Czech Republic. I was excited for this trip because I felt the culture would be the most different from everything I had experienced so far. I went with my friend Nadia, and it was my first time flying on a non-discount airline. I had forgotten that they actually offer you drinks and food on normal airplanes!! Crazy!! And it was with “Swiss” so after the last garbage pickup they even came around and gave us some chocolate.
Our arrival into Czech was uneventful, other than the ambitious bus drive that forced us to hold on with two hands at all times. A friend I had met in Finland, Anna, had returned from her exchange to Prague so Nadia and I would be staying with her for the weekend. We quickly headed up to her place to drop off our stuff and then we hit the town, immediately awed by the beauty of Prague. The first time we saw the city was at night and we both agreed that Prague was had given us the best first impression. Anna took us up to a fortress that had a nice viewpoint of the entire city. She told us a story that many years ago, the “Princess” (she didn’t know the proper translation) of the area stood where we were standing and she had a vision. She had a vision of the beautiful city of Prague in front of her. And this is how the city was built, based on the Princess’s vision.
View from where the Princess stood as she envisioned Prague.
The next day, Nadia and I headed to town by ourselves to do a free walking tour. It’s a great way to see a city because it allows you to learn as you walk around enjoying the beauty that surrounds you. Although the tour was wonderful, it was INCREDIBLY cold!! We didn’t understand how us Canadians had become such wimps in the cold! Apparently Switzerland has broken down our defenses. Luckily there was a break midway through at a place called Bohemian Bagel. Now, when you go abroad it is surprising what you miss about home. And one of the things both Nadia and I had been missing was BAGELS! They are not available in Switzerland, so we just about died as we took our order of 4 bagels each.
Mmmmmmmmm...... BAGELS!!
That evening we had bought tickets to a black light show, which although a very touristy event was quite incredible!! The performers wore suits that had only partial areas which lit up from the black light and the rest was dark. It allowed for some incredible optical illusions to be created. And the show was great because it even added an audience participation aspect: we got rained on, got to play with large balloons and got attacked by a herd of spiders!! It was quite a spectacular show, that definitely left us saying, “WOW.”
On Sunday, we decided to take a day trip outside of Prague to experience a small Czech city. We went to a town called Kutna Hora. The main attraction of this city was a church full of human bones. Literally. Difficult to describe so here are some photos to give you an idea.
Worn down Kutna Hora sign. Very Czech-like. :)
All made from bones. Crazy.
After enjoying that unique experience we walked around the town a little. It was a Sunday so the streets were fairly deserted (and still very cold), but we enjoyed the deserted feeling of the town. It seemed so… Czech. :) We stopped by a restaurant and were dazzled by the food! Mainly because since meat is so expensive in Switzerland, our diets have been quite lacking in protein. In Czech, it seemed that 50% of the plate was full of meat! Sooo sooo good!
SO MUCH MEAT!!!!
We couldn’t miss the Prague castle while there, so after picking up a dozen bagels each (yup, we did that) we headed up to the castle. And just like the rest of Prague, we were awed. Completely awed by the beauty. A great way to finish a great trip. :)
At the beautiful St. Vitus cathedral in the Prague Castle.
THEY LOCKED US IN!! =P
Interlaken
Last one I promise! My first time SKIING! Well, I went last year once with friends but I wasn’t confident enough to tackle the Alps by myself so I did a skiing lesson in Interlaken. Last year when Amin was teaching me, he took me down the bunny hill about 3 times and then said I was ready so he took me to the top. This time I stayed on the bunny hill (and a larger hill-type-mountain) for the entire day. It was really good to learn, and I am glad I took the lesson, however it was definitely way too easy for me. Either I am a really good skier (doubtful) or all the others in my group, mostly Americans, were not so good skiers (the more probable =P). However, now I have skied, so I am ready for a bigger challenge: time to hit the real ALPS! Hopefully next weekend I’ll get to go somewhere fantastic… I just hope I don’t ski right off the edge :S:S.
Look at me! I can ski!
Beautiful lake!!
So I am off to Brussels this weekend. Shall be great times.
Tchüss!!!
ps. I bet if you read my first blog post and then my more recent ones you will notice a decrease in language proficiency. That’s what happens when you’re around people who speak English as a second language 24/7.
how are you jumping so high?
ReplyDeleteI'm just that super fantastic. =P No... I jumped off the ledge.
ReplyDelete