Visitors and More!

So the last time I wrote here I was supposed to be off to Poland. Unfortunately that didn't happen. There was this volcano in Iceland called Eyjafjallajökull which decided to explode and put a small damper on my travel plans. The funny thing is, I was supposed to fly to Poland at noon on Friday. When I bought the ticket I was debating between the 7am ticket and the noon ticket. I decided I may as well put a half day of work in so I went with the one at noon. The 7am flight left that day. The noon flight didn't. If I had decided differently, then I would be having a whole lot more of an interesting story to tell because I would have ended up stuck in Poland. Though, I think I would have preferred that option to not going at all.

April 24-25: IAESTE Appenzell Weekend
IAESTE is the organization through which I am doing my exchange to Switzerland. They organize a lot of weekends around Switzerland to ensure that trainees get the best experience possible. Since I travel outside of Switzerland so often I don't often participate in these weekends, but I have a couple times here and there.

A couple of IAESTE people with an IAESTE flag after our short hike.

The region of Appenzell in Switzerland is well known because they are very traditional. It is a very small canton (province) on the East side of Switzerland with very old fashioned views. They were the last area in Switzerland to give women the right to vote, and that was not even 20 years ago. But voting... that is what they are most well know for. They vote during the “Landsgemeinde” every year, which is a public voting forum.

Traditional Appenzell-style decorated house.

I got to witness this event, where all the citizens of Appenzell gathered in the town square, the men with their swords (no kidding) to vote on the mayor and certain laws and issues. The vote was cast by simply raising one's hand and the majority wins. Of course when staring out at a crowd of people raising their hands, how is it possible to know what the majority is? It's called guestimation. :P But, if there is ever a doubt they do go through and count the votes by filing the people out of the main square and back in. Unfortunately I didn't get to witness this, but apparently it did happen a couple years ago.

Citizens of Appenzell voting.

April 30: Amsterdam!!!
“What happens in Amsterdam, stays in Amsterdam”

That is about all I have to say about this trip. ;)

Amsterdam's symbol: xxx

But really, it was a great trip. The red light district was quite a fascinating area to walk around. At first, I didn't think very highly of it... I wasn't against it, but I just felt sorry for the girls in the windows being gawked at by men, selling their bodies. But as I learned more about it, and as I began to understand the principles behind the red light windows, I began to appreciate them more. The women in the windows were doing this by choice. That is how Amsterdam works, frothals and such are still illegal. The women rent the windows (plus rooms obviously) for 8 hour shifts. They pay rent to a landlord, and whatever they do in those windows is their business. So it is really a choice of theirs... I choice to earn money by selling their body, giving sex. I could never do such a thing myself, but I respect the women for it. I no longer think quite so poorly about it.
May 8-10: Nice and Monaco with the parents
MY PARENTS came to Europe!! I had planned this trip to Nice, France quite a few months in advance, and it was good that it worked out I could meet up with my parents there while on their journey up to Switzerland.

The area of Nice, “Cote d'Azur” is an absolutely gorgeous area and it impressed me the most of any place I have been in France. Over this year I have done a lot of travelling, seeing cities, climbing mountains, going to festivals. But I think I have decided my favourite type of travelling is that which involves the wilderness. I absolutely love it. And Cote d'Azur is a place I would like to return to, so I want wander along the coastlines a little bit more, see the beauty and appreciate it.

A little love for my parents

Monaco was also interesting to visit as we were there a couple days before the Formula 1 race. It is quite a unique country, because it is so small and so rich. Just walking around the streets, seeing the types of cars you know that it is wealthy. They also have some famous casinos there, but of course we didn't venture inside those. I don't think I could quite afford it. ;)

Enjoying some crepes in Monaco.

May 13-16: Showing my parents around Switzerland
So I had three days to spend with my parents in Switzerland and I wanted to make sure I showed them the glory that is was! Although the weather wasn't great, we made the most of it and travelled around as much as possible. It was fun showing them the place I have been living this past year, taking them to different places around Switzerland I have enjoyed myself and even exploring a couple new ones.

At the famous lion statue in Luzern, Central Switzerland.

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At the top of the rock in Rhein falls, Schauffhausen (Northern Switzerland)

While they were here to save some money they slept on a mattress on my floor. Who ever thought my parents would be camping out on my floor? :P I had fun with it, and even with their old age... ;) ....they managed well on an air mattress for 4 nights.

My favourite trip that I did with my parents was down to Scuol, which is in the Romansch area of Switzerland. There are 4 official languages in Switzerland: German (where I live), French (on the West), Italian (in the South) and Romansch. Only a very small percentage speak Romansch (less than 1%) and I believe that it is a dying language. It is really neat to visit the area as it makes you feel like you are in a very remote part of the world, travelled by few tourists, mainly frequented only by the locals. We also went to a thermal bath in Scuol so that was of course very nice to enjoy, surrounded by the beautiful mountain scenery.

Enjoying the thermal baths in Scuol, surrounded by beautiful mountains.

May 20-24: Showing Chelsea around Switzerland
May was full of visitors for me! After my parents left, Chelsea came, and I got a chance to show her the wonderful world in Switzerland! She went most of the typical tourist places, but Monika and I also showed her a couple unique aspects of Switzerland.

Firstly, we went to this competition called “Schwingfest”. I was informed about it from some friends, and really unsure what we were getting into but we still wanted to go and see what it was all about. Little did we know we were in for a great treat. Schwing-ing is a sport similar to wrestling, but much much better. The competitors wear these funny shorts with a belt that allow them to have the ultimate grip on their opponent. The goal is to get your opponent to touch their butt to the ground. Of course the thing which makes it awesome is that they are wrestling in saw dust. Quite entertaining.

A little confused at Schwingfest...

Action shot of some Schwing competitors!

Another highlight of Chelsea's visit was SUSHI!! Although this is technically in Germany... so last year a couple of the interns found an all-you-can-eat sushi place on the border of Switzerland (ie. cheap!). We went and checked it out, only to discover how absolutely awesome it is. Of course we therefore brought Chelsea and since she is a lover of food she greatly enjoyed it. The thing which makes it great is that the food goes by on a running belt, so you don't order food... you just takes what looks good. Meaning you always take WAY too much... but that's all the fun in it. :P

Table full of food!!

Lastly, we took Chelsea hiking. Monika and I were nervous about this because we know that Chelsea is not an avid hiker... but I think she enjoyed it overall (hopefully!). Since the hiking season is still a bit early, we couldn't up too high (still too much snow) so we went to Doldenhornhütte at 1900m. It was absolutely spectacular views, so even if Chelsea didn't enjoy the hiking hopefully she at least enjoyed the sight at the top. This hike also reminded me how much I love hiking. I am a little sad that I didn't get the opportunity to do more of it while in Switzerland, but alas all good things must come to an end.

Finally made it to the hut!

Overall, it was great to see Chelsea and to have her over visiting. Although I am sad to leave, I am definitely looking forward to coming home and seeing all my friends and family. Which is quite soon! Ah! :)

Two-Month Update

So the last time I wrote in this was Belgium. Haha. Whoops. Okay, I am going to write a quick paragraph or two about each of my last trips. The memories which I remember most. They might not be the most “famous” things of the place, but they are just the things that I took out of it. =)

(okay, this ended up being way longer than I anticipated, so get ready for a novel…)

Warsaw, Poland
Perogies. Mmmmm, perogies. That is the first thing that comes to mind for Poland. =P

Mmmmm.... so delicious. Not quite as good as grandma's though ;)

This trip was interesting because it was organized by one of the Canadian interns, Arthur, who is Polish. Since everyone wanted to experience Poland 17 people ended up signing up for the trip! However, being the lazy interns we are, no one really planned anything and we all counted on Arthur to direct us. But Arthur was as much of a tourist as the rest of us, so it was a little bit of a huge dysfunctional group. =P Eventually we split up and each went our own way in smaller groups, which allowed for much more efficient travelling. Though it was funny that every time we got on a bus, went to a restaurant or rode the escalator we basically invaded the entire thing. =P

Since it was the middle of February when we went, the snow was melting. This caused for me to fear my life. See, in Poland the roofs are slanted. So when there is snow on the roofs, and it starts to melt, it starts to slip down. The colder temperatures in the evening cause the snow to also become very icy. In other words, when you are walking down the sidewalk, there are huge jagged icicles sliding off the roofs above you threatening your life at every step. We saw quite a few of them fall, and they definitely looked like they could have killed!

Polish flag! In a museum about the uprising...

Overall, Warsaw was a fun weekend trip. Ate lots of perogies, saw some famous buildings, learned a little about the Polish history, and had some fun times with friends (though I did drink a little too much one night… =P).

Peter’s Visit
At the end of February Peter came to visit Europe for 2 weeks. He spent a few days in Switzerland, the first of which being for the Basel Fasnacht Parade (Fasnacht = Carnival). And this was no ordinary parade – It happened at 4am in the morning! I literally landed from Poland and took the next train to Basel. It was quite a unique experience though. At 4am on the dot (the Swiss are efficient) all the lights of the city turned off and everyone one on the parade route (it wasn’t as much of a line as a continuous circle) turned on these lanterns they were wearing on their heads and they started playing music in unison. Most people were playing piccolos, and they were all dressed up in really funky costumes. It was so neat…. 4am, thousands of people lining the streets, no light but these small lanterns atop clown-like people and beautiful piccolo music playing throughout the entire city. Worth the lack of sleep. =P

Peter joined in the parade for a little :P

The next day Peter and I headed to Milano, Italy. Peter really wanted me to come along with him for his trip so I said that I would take one day off work to travel with him. We went to Milano because it was the closest city in Italy that was easily accessible in one day. Not the most impressive city I must say. But it was fun.

I then went back to work while Peter continued his Italian adventure. When he returned the next weekend, we went to Lucerne, which although I have already been many times, it was still just as beautiful. =) Peter had also brought this game called Dominion. It was a great new card game that he had discovered, and we had basically been playing it nonstop since he arrived. In Lucerne, there is this boat ride that you can take around the lake. Since both Peter and I had rail passes, the ride was free for us. We took advantage of this, and we sat on the boat for the 2 hour ride and played Dominion the entire time. It was quite fun though. Plus, whenever we looked up we had great scenery surrounding us. =)

Playing dominion on the train.

Though having Peter come visit did bring up some emotions in me. It reminded me a lot of home, and why I miss Calgary and all my friends there so much. After he left, I think those couple weeks were the most home sick that I had been in a while. I love life in Europe, don’t get me wrong – I am so lucky here to be able to travel almost every weekend, to see and experience so many different things. But really do miss the life back home. I miss the city, I miss the lifestyle (yes, even the stress of school) and I really miss the people. Luckily my parents and Chelsea are both coming to visit in a few weeks, so I will get to see another little bit of home. =)

Porto, Portugal
Next up, Portugal! This trip was with Arthur, Isabel and Mariela. An eclectic group of people, but that made it to be a great trip! What do I remember about Portugal?

1) At the restaurants, immediately when you sit down they bring you out these appetizers before you even ask for them. Of course they are these delicious looking things, and they hand them to you just when you’ve sat down, which obviously means that you are already hungry. It is so mean! The first time we ate them all unknowingly, and then of course got charge for them on the bill. After learning from that, for the rest of the weekend we still had to stare at these delicious appetizers while waiting for our real food to come.

2) Port! Porto is of course named for its wonderful port wine! We went wine tasting, which was really cool, and learned all about port and why it is different than normal wine (the fermented grapes are mixed with some sort of brandy instead of water… this makes it much sweeter, and also causes it to have a much higher alcohol content). It was really yummy though.

Port tasting in Porto! Mmmmm... tasty!

3) Chili pepper! Okay, well Portugal isn’t famous for their chili peppers but I ate one for the first time while I was there. While eating dinner one night (francesinos… delicious cheese and gravy dripping sandwiches) Arthur dared me to eat my chili pepper. I denied, but then he counter offered with he would eat all of his chili pepper if I ate three quarters of mine. I couldn’t refuse this offer so I did it. Oh goodness me. It was fun though. =P

Painful!

Oh, and the Portuguese party on the streets. We went out one night, and literally, everyone goes into the bar, they get given plastic cups full of their desired drink, and then they bring it out onto the street outside of the bar to drink and socialize. It makes for a really interesting party atmosphere though. We were there in early March, so it was a bit chilly, but I am sure it would be a great place to be in the summertime.

Ireland: St. Patty’s Day!
So I had already spent a week in Scotland, a week In England, it was now time for Ireland! Of course we planned this trip to overlap with St. Patrick’s day. However, being there for an entire week, we got to explore around the country a little bit during out trip. First we went to Kilkenny! My most memorable memories are definitely from these couple days. We were couch surfing and we stayed with a couple of Canadian girls! It was a flat with a girl from Toronto, a girl from Quebec and a girl from France! All of us got along so well, and we had so much fun going out and partying with them. I loved it. =)

And then it was off to Galway. The landscape here was beautiful. If you have ever watched the Princess Bride, then you probably saw the “Cliffs of Insanity”… well I went and saw those! Quite epic indeed. Another thing about the area around Galway – there are these rock walls EVERYWHERE. Literally, everywhere! It was crazy. We went on this tour and we learned, although a fair few of them were built to divide land, a lot of them were actually pointlessly built during the potato famine. Basically a sort of charity work that the English gave the Irish for pennies or food.

At the Cliffs of Moher in Galway. Just spectacular.

Next stop, Dublin for St. Patrick’s day! How to describe it? Well, there was lots of green everywhere. People partying everywhere. And a parade full of people NOT from Ireland. =P That just about sums it up. Yeah, I still must say… Kilkenny was my favourite place in Ireland. Mainly just for the people and experiences we had there. Though Dublin on St. Patty’s was definitely a worthwhile once in a lifetime experience.

Geared up for the St. Patty's parade!

Greece for Easter!
After Ireland in the North, we headed to the South! I went with Monika for a week in Greece over the Easter weekend. Originally we had planned to climb Mount Olympus while we were there, however unfortunately transportation to the mountain was not very convenient so it didn’t work out.

But that just meant more time for us to enjoy the sun! =) We went into this trip with very little planned – literally, the only thing we had booked was a hostel for the first night. Considering it was Greece, which is not necessarily the best place to go without a plan, we were a bit nervous, but luckily everything worked out.

The day after we arrived we headed out to the island of Serifos. We chose this island because it isn’t quite as touristy as the other islands, but it is still just as beautiful. We spent 2 days here, and it was so lovely and relaxing. Laying on the beach, climbing on the rocks, going for walks, hiking through the stairwells of the white-washed houses, and of course more laying on the beach. Perfectly picturesque. =)

Picturesque white-washed houses ofr Serifos.

After Serifos we spent two nights in Athens and half a day in Thessaloniki. Both cities were very interesting, with neat ruins (Parthenon of course, Temple of Zeus, etc, etc). The weather was beautiful, so we were able to walk around in just shorts and a t-shirt… though we did get a lot of crazy looks for it, since most people still had their winter jackets out. +20°C! Crazy people.

Outside the Temple fo Zeus with the Acropolis in the background.

What else did I think of Greece? Okay, well two things to note. Monika and I both agreed that we definitely felt more like a piece of meat in this country. Many times we walked past guys we got looks, comments or gestures. And it wasn’t in a way that we took them as a compliment. We literally felt like they were just looking at us like a piece of meat. Perhaps “way out” is what was on their mind, or maybe as tourists we just looked like “easy” targets. Either way, Monika and I got sick of these comments very quickly, and felt quite uncomfortable with them.

Next observation about Greece. I would say that generally Monika and I are very cautious with our belongings. Even with all of our traveling this year, we haven’t encountered any troubles (knock on wood!). On the night we arrived in Greece, an Indian walked up to us and asked for change from a 2€. Being the nice people we are, we looked for the change for him. While Monika was searching in her wallet her said, “Oh, let me look” and tried to take her wallet. Obviously at this point we became a little sketched, so we quickly found the change and gave it to him. After leaving, we agreed the situation seemed sketch, but he also seemed liked he genuinely just wanted change, so we weren’t sure.

Then, on the last day as we were leaving the EXACT same scenario happened to us. The exact same sentences were used and everything. An Indian man coming up asking for change for a 2€. We were both very sketched out at this and much more cautious, but we still looked for the change for him. However, the second he said “Oh, let me look.” We said a firm no and walked away. We then watched him join up with a friend and go down the street for another 2 blocks without stopping to ask another single person for change. It was obviously some type of ruse which luckily Monika and I didn’t fall into.

Up Next
This weekend I am going to Poland. Due to the recent tragedy, I may get to see some interesting ceremonies, and perhaps even some important figure heads. Barack Obama, Stephen Harper and many more presidents are supposed to be present for the funeral ceremony. Although tragic, it will be interesting to see I think.

After Poland, I am going to Amsterdam for Queen’s day, and then after that I HAVE VISITORS!!

I will be meeting up with my parents in Nice on the 8th, and then travelling around Switzerland with them the following weekend. After that, Chelsea will be around and we will be doing some traveling as well for a weekend. =)

Finally, to conclude off my year, in June I have a trip to Norway planned and a trip to Stonehenge for the summer solstice. And then, I will be travelling with my friend Ali from high school for a month in July. I am really excited for this trip because I will get to see a lot of things I didn’t see this year: Budapest, Croatia, Rome and much more including another trip to the Tour de France! =)

Well that is all. Perhaps I will write again, hopefully without such a long gap this time. =P

Gaufres and Frites!

My most recent adventure: to the “Europe’s Capital,” that being Brussels. I didn’t know this but apparently it is in fact the capital of Europe, since it is home to most of the EU headquarters and such. Anyway, I only did a short 2 day trip to Belgium so this shall be a short one.

We arrived on Friday night and of course headed out to see the town. The life night of Brussels was very lively, the streets full of people partying (and quite a few drunken teenagers, even though it was only about 10pm). We found a nice little bar ourselves, and enjoyed a couple beers. We had quite the interesting chat with a Belgian man, who spent about 30 minutes describing the different beers of Belgium to us. He then proceeded to have a just as lengthy conversation about sex, where he then dragged his girlfriend off to somewhere to do I don’t want to know what.

First thing in the morning I headed to the train station to pick up my friend LINDA! She had done an exchange in Calgary last year, and now was studying in the Netherlands so I thought, why not!? It was a little random and spontaneous that both our schedules ended up working out to meet up in Brussels, but I was happy we were able to. =)

Once the group was all together, we were on a mission.

Mission: find WAFFLES!!
Steps taken: Two streets down and one left turn
Status: Mission complete!
Lessons learned: Belgian waffles are even better than expected! Steaming buttery batter, coated in some sugary goodness topped with melting creamy delight. Melt in your mouth deliciousness. This would not be the first for us to have throughout the weekend.

Delicious breakfast waffles with Linda. :)

Although Belgium is known for its cloudy skies we were lucky to have blue overhead for most of the day. We took it easy, walking around seeing the main sites, picking up waffles and fries along the way. In the afternoon, the rest of the group went to a brewery tour, while Linda and I headed to the Atomium! It was really neat. An atom magnified 168 billion times. We were able to walk from one sphere to another through escalators and stairs. Appealed nicely to my nerdy side =P

Atomium in Brussels

On Sunday we decided to experience a smaller Belgian town, so we took a train to the beautiful town of Gent. It was based more on the Flemish ancestry of Belgium… Belgium is bilingual; there is a Flemish (Dutch) area and then a Latin (French) area. Gent was a very beautiful little town to spend the day walking around and enjoying the buildings and cobblestone streets. We of course had some more waffles and fries throughout the day, never getting any less delicious.

Waffle display. Mmmmmmmm. Mouth watering-ly delicious.

After the quick, but pleasing trip to Belgium, we headed home late Sunday night. Arriving home at 1:30am was a bit torturous, because after having sent home the Chinese licensees last week, I had to be into work at 6am Monday morning to assist with a meeting with the Japanese licensees currently in town. With all these Asians to babysit, I’ve been working quite a few 11+ hour days recently. Keeps my job interesting though. =)

Snow, Sand, Bagels, Bones and more SNOW!

(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.

Beautiful view of Prague at night with me and Nadia.

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. :)

Bones, bones and more bones! A little creepy, but little cool.

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.

6 months down, 6 to go

So I am officially halfway done my internship in Europe. Hopefully this post is interesting for people to read, but I am going to go over what I have learned over the last 6 months and what I hope to accomplish in the upcoming 6 months.

The last 6 months... achievements and lessons learned

1) Family is important. I recently went to Bury St. Edmunds in the UK to spend Christmas with some of my distant family members. Beforehand, I didn't know anyone, however all 16 of them welcomed me with open arms. It was touching to see the kindness that comes with family, no matter how distantly related they are. At the same time, spending time with this family over Christmas made me realize how truly homesick I am. I miss knowing the people I spend time with, I miss being able to reminisce about good times shared together. Most of all though of course, I miss my puppy. Although I can barely call Tessa mine nowadays, I still do. And I miss her sooo much.

2) Friend are important. Both the old and the new. Old friends are important because they have been there to share memories with you. Whether you shared hard times together, or whether you shared laughs together it is important to keep in touch with your old friends. They are almost like family. You don't necessarily talk often, but when you do talk it's like you never left each other.

But the lesson that I have really learned this year is that new friends are important. Not just acquaintances at work, or passing friends, but friends that you can spend time with, that you can open up to. Friends that you aren't afraid to call up when you need a hug, or just when you need someone to relieve your boredom. I also learned how difficult it is to make friends in the real world. At school you are thrown into a situation where you are with a group of people your age with similar interests, and the likelihood you'll get along with the person sitting next to you is high. In the work world you have to make an effort. I came to Switzerland, moved to a city where I knew no one and I didn't speak the language. And it was hard. It is still hard. But I have learned a lot about myself through the process of adjusting. And I am thankful that I got to experience it.

3) Work. I have learned so much from my job. I lucked out and got a job that was perfect for me. I get to assist on such a wide variety of projects. From manufacturing engineering tasks, to administrative duties, to project management. Sure you might say, "it's an engineering internship, why are you doing admin and project management work?!" And maybe I shouldn't be, but at the same time those are two job paths that I had always considered doing so I am very happy that I am getting a small dose of them. I could ramble on and on as to what I have learned from work, but I am just going to sum it up with this: I have learned A LOT.

4) Canadians aren't that nice. I don't mean to bash my own country, but having grown up in Canada and not traveled around much I grew up under the impression that "Canadians are the nicest people on the planet" because that is what everyone told me. I agree, Canadians are nice, but in no way do I think we are the nicest people on the planet. While standing on the sidewalk attempting to read a map to figure out where I am, people have stopped to help me. While struggling to speak German with a cashier, the lady next to me in line has helped act as a translator. All around Europe I have experienced great kindness. And most of all, through couch surfing I have been invited into the home of perfect strangers and they have hosted me for multiple days, shown me the city, and welcomed me as if I were an old friend.

Couch surfing has been such a fantastic experience. It has really shown me how kind and trusting the majority of the world is. Don't worry mom and dad, I am cautious, but at the same time we live in a society where we are protected from every possible thing that might possibly go wrong. Don't talk to strangers, don't pick up hitchhikers, don't walk in the dark by yourself. Don't, don't, don't. Why are we so untrusting of others? It is just as likely to be kidnapped in the dark at night as it would be to get in a car accident. So what, don't drive your car will be the next thing they are telling us? I guess couch surfing has just opened my eyes to the fact that the majority of people are kind and trustworthy people.

5) Perspectives on travel. Over the last 6 months I have traveled to 11 countries on many different trips and I have learned that traveling can be done in many ways. Mainly it can be summed up by the tourist traveler and the culture traveler. The first is where you go somewhere just to see the famous sites, without really interacting with the culture beyond trying the local cuisine. And then the latter is where you go somewhere and immerse yourself in the culture, really get to know the local traditions from local people. Most of my traveling has been the tourist traveler, but I would say that through couch surfing, especially my experience in Finland, I experienced a little bit of the culture traveler.

Although each have their advantages, I think in the long run I prefer the culture travel method. Sometimes, as a tourist traveler, when I go to see the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or Buckingham Palace, I feel like the only reason I am really going there is so that I can say "I've been to see the Queen"!! Yes it's cool, but at the same time, is it cool for me personally or is it just cool for me to brag about to others? I guess that's part of the difference. As a tourist traveler you are mainly traveling for others, to take the pictures as proof and do it for the "novelty" aspect. Whereas, when you are a culture traveler you are really doing that for yourself. It's about socializing and meeting others. As a tourist traveler your friends will be impressed by the pictures you've taken. As a culture traveler your friends will get bored to death while you share stories about your great memories and adventures. But it doesn't matter if they find it boring, because YOU were there and YOU had a great time.

I had a little mini rant there... but hopefully anyone who reads this blog understands what I am getting at. (I think there is a third type of traveling as well that I haven't experience much of and that is the group travel. Where in a way you are all there for the tourist traveler aspect, but the part you enjoy most is just being together with friends and having fun.)

The upcoming 6 months... goals and expectations

1) Keep in touch with family and friends more. I guess this comes from point 1 and 2 above. It's important to keep in touch with loved ones cause they are the ones that are always there for you.

2) Travel more. Hopefully make it to 20 countries this year (mainly just for the novelty aspect =P)

3) Continue learning lots at work. Be more motivated and independent.

4) Get involved more in Winterthur.

5) Be honest with myself, and change the things I am not happy about.

I guess that is all I have to say this time! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and Happy New Year to all!!

Oh, and I already have 9 trips booked over the next 6 months (with as least a couple more to be added)... so here are my upcoming plans:

Jan 16-19: Alicante, Spain
Jan 22-25: Prague, Czech
Feb 6-7: Brussels, Belgium
Feb 18-20: Warsaw, Poland
March 6-7: Porto, Portugal
March 11-18: Ireland! (St. Patty's day)
April 16-19: Krakow and Auschwitz, Poland
April 29-May 2: Amsterdam, Netherlands
May 8-10: Nice and Monacco
July - travel Europe more with Ali!! (mostly France and Italy)

And lastly, as a reward for reading the entire post, here are some photos from my British experience! To sum it up: wet and cold. Rain sucks. Cold rain sucks even more. And cold, windy rain is just plain miserable. But I still had great time. :-)

Me and my Great Uncle John at the Abbey Ruins in Bury St. Edmunds

Lara, my cutest little cousin (twice removed or something, I dunno the official terms)

Fries and mayonnaise in front of the Tower of London

Cold and windy day at Stonehenge, but worth it!

Enjoying a Roman Bath in Bath :)

A very wet and muddy walk in the English countryside