London!

It was such an unfortunate time when we realized we had forgotten our eye patches, large ear rings, and pet parrots for our trip to London because our lovely couch surfing host Leigh had forgotten to mention that the "Boat party" he was taking us to was a PIRATE BOAT PARTY on the Thames, with a DJ, alcohol and a bunch of Australians!!! See one of the things I am beginning to realize is that Europeans (or Aussies hah) know how to have a party. Even through my time here I've been to a party in the woods, party in the streets, party on the lake, party in a bar, party in an alley, ect... and London was not an exception.
We met SO many new and exciting people! Most of whom were in their pirate best! This is the thing I like best about couch surfing, you get to do things you wouldn't have known about as a tourist. We also got to stay in Wimbledon which if we stayed in a hostel we wouldn't have seen. Although, it really isn't as posh as we would have thought being the site of the Tennis World Matches and whatnot. I was able to get so many great pictures on the boat cruise because we were able to see things like the Tower Bridge, London Eye, Parliament and the Clock Tower from the middle of the river instead of some road in London. This party started the first of many sleepless nights due to late nights and early mornings.
The next day we went on a tour of London and saw great things such as • Hyde Park Corner • Buckingham Palace • The Changing of the Guard (most days)* • Churchill’s War Cabinet Bunker • The Houses of Parliament • St. Martin-in-the-Fields • Westminster Abbey • Trafalgar Square • Nelson’s Column • Wellington Arch • St. James’s Park • 10 Downing St. • Horseguards • Whitehall • Big Ben There are just so many stories from London and so much that we did although it did seem like most of our travels in London were spent on the Tube.
We also saw the Old City (the actual city of London). It's the only place in London that the Queen can not go without permission of the Mayor of the City of London. Then there's this big ceremony where he passes her a big golden stick and then will wait for her to finish her time in the city and then get the stick back from her. London is full of very strange rules, laws or traditions. Quite strange hah.
London was great to visit but I think Chelsie and I both agreed that it was not how we imagined it would be (although it was very nice) and we wouldn't want to live there. Although speaking of places I'd like to live, my next blog is some place I am seriously considering moving. :-)

-B

Fondue

If only to say that I did it here is a blog about Swiss Fondue...

On the eve of my departure to London a few friends of mine and I went out to consume some of the delicacies of Switzerland, namely Fondue. We ordered 2 Fondues and 3 Raclettes (Fondue is melted cheese with wine, and other things added, Raclette is cheese that has been cooked by fire or something and is then pealed off) I choose to have the Fondue. It did have a pretty terrible smell but tasted delicious.

During our dinner we made a discovery! The pizza at the table next to us had been abandoned. So like any pizza loving family we adopted it and gave it a new home... our bellies. Some of you might think this was a terrible idea because 1. The people could have returned and been pretty surprised to see a plate of empty pizza or 2. The waitress could have been confused to see we had a pizza now and she should bill us for it as well. Fortunately none of that happened and the waitress laughed about it as well.

Thus, I have now had a swiss cheese fondue... :-)

A Birthday of Epic Proportions!

So the week leading up to my birthday I went to a HUGE free viewing area for the Spain / Germany football game. It was super crowded and we had a very difficult time trying to locate most of my friends. Before we arrived at the game we were trying to find my friend Nicola and I was calling him on my phone. I was looking towards the direction that I had thought I'd seen him when some guy on a bike flew past Anna and I. He looked around and I guess that he thought we were looking at him because he turned around and came to talk to us. This was an awkward surprise and we chatted in Franglish for a bit thinking he'd probably leave. Well... we were wrong. He became our new friend and came with us to watch the game! A fun time was had by all! I'm going to count this as "Going to see a football game" because it was just as exciting and crowded haha. Next up was my BIRTHDAY!!!! Or "C'est mon Anniversaire" as I told people throughout the entire day! First I met about 9 or 10 or my friends at the lake for some paddle boating and swimming in the lake! It was quite a great time and the lake was so warm :-) I seriously don't know what I'd do if I didn't live by some body of water!
The water is also VERY clear and beautiful! J'adore Lac Lehman!
Following the lake party we had a picnic in the park! It was a very successful picnic as everyone brought food and drinks. My new friend Nicola even brought two HUGE tubs of delicious pasta! I love how easy it is to make friends here! Everyone is almost in the same boat (pun intended) trying to meet new people and make friends!
Coincidentally there was the Lake Parade on my birthday! It's sorta like a pride parade where there are multiple floats that have DJ's and you find music you like and go dance around the float! There were a ton of people there all dressed up and dancing! It was just a fun time! The streets were pretty trashed after it but everything was cleaned up directly after the parade. Another reason to love Switzerland!

After the parade we went to my friend Mattie's house to have dinner and get ready to go out! We went to The Fisherman's which is probably my favorite Pub! I was given a birthday drink and didn't have to pay for a drink all night! Birthdays are the best!!! Then we went back to Mattie's and more craziness ensued until we all went to bed!
Absolutely a FANTASTIC time that I will always remember!!!

On another note, I am leaving for London (ect.) tomorrow morning!!! So by the time ya'll in the US wake up I will already be there have had tea and could quite possibly be shaking hands with the Queen, you never know! I'm pretty excited to be in an English speaking country the next two weeks (minus Milan but that's ok).

More on that later,

Cheers,

B

Happy Independence Day!

It was another wonderful weekend in Geneva / Nyon! It started off with a party in the Parc with some pretty awesome girls which didn't end until 5:30 am... This is highly unusual for me but not for Geneva night apparently. Saturday I was supposed to have my "date" with my French friend but unfortunately it didn't happen. More on that if you'd like to ask me. Although I must say, it is certainly for the best!

Sunday was super fun! I went into Nyon with my friends Jenn, Chelsie, and our new friend Bastien who's from the Basel area of Switzerland. He was a pretty great guy and we were able to show him a bit of our Nyon. We started off at the Fish where we met another American (this was very exciting for me since it was the 4th of July) an English guy and a Scotish guy. They were pretty cool. Anyway, it started to rain so we stayed and grabbed a drink to wait it out. Also, Bastien thinks I look Irish / Scotish (sweet, and quite accurate since I'm scotch-irish and like everything else but still)

Then we headed into Nyon to walk around. We ended up grabbing some food then renting a paddle boat on the lake. I seriously love the lake! I wish we had thought to go out earlier in the day and bring out suits because we could have jumped into the water. We then decided to rent a boat and go into the lake next Sat for my birthday!
After some quality lake time we headed to the Roman Ruins of Nyon! It was so beautiful and we got to feel as if we were in Rome without really leaving home! Always a good thing :-) We began to talk about all the other things we need to do this summer and even though it's only just started we feel like it'll be over before we know it!
I almost feel as though aupairs or people who are living somewhere for only a year or so get more out of it then the people who live there all the time. It's like you know you're pressed for time and want to experience so much before you have to leave that you do everything! If you're here for a longer time you don't feel so rushed and then push things off or not do them at all. I don't know. Maybe I just feel so rushed to see the world and wish I could postpone the rest of my professional life a bit longer. Although, I guess I could if I wanted to.
So the rest of the summer I would like to do the following (including the things I've already planned to do):

Rent a motor boat on the lake

Go swimming in the lake

Camping (probably Oktoberfest)

Boat trip to Yvoire in France

Visit Bastien near Basel

Lake Parade in Geneve

Rent a bike in Geneve

Salsa dance in Barcelona

Have a Guinness in Ireland

:-) Should be a good time if I can accomplish even half of that list! Next up: Birthday on the lake and then dancing in the streets!!!

C'est la vie,

B

Zurich!!! "Party in the Woods"

My friend Maggie and I decided to embark on a weekend trip to Zurich (top middle part of Switzerland). We left on the train Saturday afternoon and were in Zurich by 5pm. We had both decided to try couch surfing so that we could save money and experience a bit of a local aspect of the city. Well, we were certainly in a bit over our heads!

Our host was Jonas, a Swiss local who goes to school in Zurich and had a spare room since one of his roommates was out of the country. He was really chill! He took us to this hippie, organic outdoor bar where we were entertained by pharmacist musicians and the US - Ghana Football Match. On our way to the bar we were greeted by a French Condomman. We stopped and talked with him a bit since he spoke French. I wish I had taken a picture though he was seriously dressed as well... Condomman. He gave us candy, it was quite yummy actually :-)

Once we got to the bar we watched the game and drank some organic beer! Unfortunately Ghana won. (Maggie and I were the only two cheering for the US... even though she wore a Ghana jersey - that confused many). Our host is in the yellow shirt and his friend Mitch is beside him. We are sitting on some sweet big bean bag type chairs.

The bathroom at the bar was pretty awesome! It was all neon and black lights with graffiti. Very punk rock grunge (which seems to be the style of choice for Swiss-Germans).

Next Jonas told us that there was "A party in the woods" (This became our phrase of choice for the trip). We told him we didn't really care what we did as long as it was fun! Well... off we hiked through some woods up a hill and all in flip flops! We came to literally a party in the woods. There was a DJ, lights and bar all set up in well... the woods! Oh.. and no bathrooms,... we got to experience some girls scout camping 101. The party was pretty lame when we got there so Maggie and I decided to show the Swiss how us Philly girls like to dance. They didn't really get the hint until a little later. Swiss techno rave dancing was a bit like a middle school dance though. Boys were together and girls were separate, just side-stepping to the music and talking, drinking and smoking. Probably fun if you were on drugs (which I'm sure some were) but for Maggie and I it was probably only fun for about an hour. Then we just found a nice spot to sit and chat or danced some more. It was a pretty cool experience though.

On the way back to the apartment Jonas and his friends stumbled on this Euro sign and decided to take it with them! It was really funny, I took pictures!

The next morning we were woken up by bells announcing the start of church... and then after trying to get back to sleep announcing the end of church. We ended up just crawling out of bed and going into town. We let Jonas sleep in since it was a bit of a late night.

We got into town and walked around most of the day! It was quite beautiful by the river and lake, although I still like Geneva more :-)

Finally we found a nice cozy plot of grass near the lake and laid down and relaxed. We were so lucky to have such nice weather! We then embarked on the trip to the train station to come back to Geneva.

Fortunately the fun didn't stop there! Towards the end of an exhausting train ride a guy asked us to wake up this guy who was asleep on the train. We had over heard them talking about a "Super Fete... Super Fete!!" They guy who was asleep had told us he was a little drunk. Well when it came time to wake him up Maggie tried to yell at him... kick his foot... poke his shoulder... everything to wake him up while onlookers laughed and motioned to just shake him awake. Once he woke up we're pretty sure he didn't know where he was. He jumped up and started looking for his daughter (we think)... he was telling some poor little girl they had to go "On y Va!!" On y va!" and she was just like "pas moi!" (It's not me!) haha. He got off the train and went over to the window of the girl he had thought was his daughter and just shrugged then went to the map of where he was... we really hope that he didn't have a daughter on the train... it was so funny though!

Anywho, Zurich was a success!!! ALSO, this weekend I have a date! :-) I probably won't go into details about that online but just want to mention it because it's on my to do list! :-) I will say that he's French and doesn't speak much English!

Next up: My big July trip in 2 and a half weeks! AND NEW I'm going to Barcelona Aug 20 - 23!!!!! HOORAY!!!!

Signing out,

B

Fête de la Musique

So I have discovered a fantastic program that makes picture collages! Get ready for loads more pictures in my blog!!! Here is an example of the pictures that I took at the Fete de la Musique in Geneva this past weekend!

Cute huh? I wish I had taken more, but alas I wasn't really in the picture taking mood since it was rainy and cold and I hadn't taken proper precautions when choosing my outfit that day. The past week the weather was very rainy and cold. So all of you in the states with gorgeous sunny and warm weather you may feel lucky now. Although today it is BEAUTIFUL! Unfortunately I'm babysitting until 2 so I won't get to go outside most of the day. Maybe I can convince the boys to play outside today.

On another note, the fete de la musique (Music Festival) was pretty cool! I only went on Saturday during the day since I was babysitting at night and Sunday morning. I was able to see a jazz band that was decent. Intonation wasn't very good but I'll just blame it on the weather. I also saw some African music which was really cool! I actually got to see some of the stuff I learned about in Methods (Music Methods in college)! AND I had the best crepe EVER!

I want to let everyone know that I am making a trip to Zurich this weekend so expect a big post come next week about that! I'll be leaving Saturday afternoon and coming back Sunday night. I'm pretty excited since the weather is looking nice!

Well, I'm off. Sorry this post was so lame. Better writing later, I promise :-)

B

P.S - 17 Days until my birthday and 24 days until my two week Europe trip!

Gruyeres: Cheese and Chocolate

This is Gruyeres, land of Cheese, Chocolate, Milk and anything to do with cow's milk. It is pure Switzerland and beautiful. The town was very charming and quaint composed of tiny shoppes and restaurants offering the best cheese and chocolate fondues. We decided to stick with the cheese and chocolate we'd be receiving on our tours for lunch. I did however buy a Swatch in town! It's beautiful silver band with a navy / blue face and rinestones of the 3 and 9. I LOVE it!

Here's a picture of me overlooking more of Gruyeres. It was a bit cloudy the day we went but still beautiful. It's so nice to see how low some clouds are when compared to the mountains.

After walking around Gruyeres we came to the cheese factory and took the tour. It was an interesting tour that described the process of making cheese which I probably could have lived without. It was seriously a vegans worst nightmare. We were able to taste 6, 8 and 10 month preserved cheese. I prefered the 6 month since I don't like strong cheese. Here is where the cheese sits:

After the cheese factory we went to the Calliers (pronounced Ki-yay) Chocolate Factory. This tour was AWESOME!!!!! It's a walking guided tour through rooms designed to show you the history of chocolate and the beginning of the factory. At the end of the tour there is an all you can eat buffet of chocolate!!!

That was my favorite part! I ate FAR to much but it was SO good! I am so going to miss Swiss Chocolate. It's a good thing that Neuchatel Chocolates is about a mile from my house when I get home. I will be making more frequent stops there. :-)

This trip was a great last minute idea and I am so glad I was able to go and experience some more of Swiss culture! I'm not sure where I'll be going next since I have to save some money for my big trip in a month but I'll be sure to post!

Ciao!

-B