Rome

Sometimes I still can't believe that I've been to some of the places that I've traveled to. Rome is certainly one of those places. I traveled to and from solo but while in Rome I was with my good friend Rebecca from college! I haven't seen her since graduation day so I had been looking forward to this trip since I found out she was living in Naples. We met at the train station and went to our small hostel. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of it but it was similar to my Milan hostel, on one floor of a residential building. It was almost like an apartment that they converted into a hostel; very strange. Actually, Italy itself is a little strange. It's not really like the rest of Europe. They're aren't any Sandleman's Free Tours, Starbucks or Chain Hostels. Some people might like that it's resisted globalization in this way but it makes me a bit wary to travel there. Alas, Rome was much better than my first trip to Milan.
As soon as we dropped our things off at the hostel we walked to see the most known of all Roman tourist attractions, the colosseum. We were too late to go inside but got some really beautiful pictures! Next we decided to track down some of the places from Angels and Demons! I had recently finished the book and re-watched the movie so I was a bit of a Dan Brown buff for this trip, much to the baffled amusement of Rebecca who hasn't read the book or seen the movie.
We were able to go to 3 of the 5 places from the book. The Piazza di Navona, The Castle Sant'Angelo and Saint Peter's Square. Everything from the book and movie was described exactly how it is! I was more or less amazed! Seriously, I think I must have said "This is awesome" at least 10 times (Also, I'm sure American's are the only English speaking country who uses the word awesome as frequently as we do). Then we went on a walk next to the river to see the Island in the middle of the river. Then we got there, took some pictures and proceeded to go on a search for food. Unfortunately, I was very unimpressed with the food we had. I had lasagna one night and pizza the next and both were disappointing. I'm sure there's good food in Rome, obviously, but not where we went. The cappuccino on the other hand was awesome, hah. Seriously though, I have never had such a delicious cappuccino in all my life. So frothy, creamy, delicious... I would go back just for cappuccino...
The next day we went to St. Peter's Basilica where we were escorted past the line and given a sweet tour by our very knowledgeable tour guide. I really find the history of Christianity to be fascinating and loved adding to my weak knowledge of Catholicism. After the Basilica we went to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. I even sneaked in a couple pictures (Bottom left) the Sistine Chapel is truly amazing and full of life and detail. I wish I would have had more time to read about it and look at it.
The next day we went to the Roman Forum which is basically just ruins from Ancient Rome. Pretty neat and very impressive to see what was possible in that time. Then I departed back to Geneva and the start of a weeklong snow storm. This was a fantastic trip and one I would certainly recommend!

Next up: Paris and London Part Deux with my Sister!!!

- B

P.S. Sorry this post is so lame, my motivation for anything today is pretty weak.

Berlin

I would first like to pose a forewarning that aside from my usual travel blog this particular post will hold a deeper more self discovered section. I will put this section at the end for anyone who would like to resign from that kind of material. However, I feel like with travel there comes a certain obligation to find yourself. The quote "I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself." - James Baldwin; specifically seems to capture my thoughts of the subject. However, more on that later.

Berlin!

I found Berlin to be fascinating! On my first day I went on one of the free tours provided by Sandeman's New European Tours. It was full of history and amusing stories that not only stick with the listener but give them a duty to share the story to others (as I did upon my return). I find it remarkable that only 21 years ago, if I were to have gone to Berlin I would have had to go through a military checkpoint (lower right picture) and would have had to have the correct paperwork to get in and out, that there were people who were prisoners in their own city and that Germany was two separate countries. For the most part, Berlin is rebuilt and has recovered beautifully from that time. My hostel was in East Berlin and at first I was confused because I thought that East Berlin had been the communist part and probably wouldn't look very nice and would be scary to walk around. I even started to think that maybe it was West Berlin that had been the communist part. You really can't tell a difference between the sides now.
After my tour I went to meet up with a girl who I had gone to college with. She showed me around Berlin at night and we saw the festival of lights. Many of the buildings were lit up with pictures or different colors. It was really neat! The next day we met up in the afternoon and did some more sightseeing. She took me to the East Side Gallery, which is the longest standing part of the wall that is covered in political murals (lower left picture). There are so many reminders around the city of everything that has happened in the past. I really feel like this is something every city should have. Reminders that may help us not to repeat the past and to treat everyone the same.

The next day I went to the Pergamon Museum and saw very interesting items from Greek, Islamic or Turkish history. It was very interesting to me and I really wish I knew more about world history. I think it's something I lacked or showed little interest in during grade school. I wish I had explored it more. Actually traveling has really opened my eyes to so much history and I wish I could delve into it all in more detail.

- Self Discovery Corner

Alright, so for those who wish to continue this is now the "Self-Discovery" section of this blog.

One of the nice things about traveling by yourself is that you don't act any different because of the people you're around. If we are all honest with ourselves we can admit that no matter who we are with (except perhaps family) we act a little different due to our surroundings and who's in them. For example, I act very different when I'm teaching or around kids then I do when I'm with a group of friends. Or even when we're in church or when we're at a pub. What surrounds us has a large part of the decisions we make or what we think we want out of life. However when I went on this trip I was surrounded by places I was unfamiliar with, transportation I needed to figure out and an overwhelming ability to do whatever I'd like with them. This realization made me think about who I really am and what I really like to do.

I discovered that since coming to Switzerland I have changed a great deal, certainly more than in years past. A big part of this is because I've found myself spiritually. Switzerland is beautiful and I am constantly surrounded by God's creation. It's so easy to feel his presence and to see his blessings in my life. I've found a great church family and mentors that have helped my faith grow. Many of my friends here are also believers which plays a big role in my own beliefs as well. I feel that I've grown to care more about people. I've become less selfish and have started to think about others at times before myself. When I look at who I used to be or things I used to think about other people I'm repulsed. I could have made stronger friendships or gotten to know more people if only I hadn't been so shallow and selfish before.

Also, I feel like I'm turning into my parents more each day, and I'm not opposed to the idea. I think most people, especially between the ages of 13 and 22 would say that their biggest fear would be to turn into their parents. I noticed yesterday while I was cooking dinner for the family (something I've grown to like a lot) that Felix seemed bored and I almost suggested he go and practice his guitar or piano. This is something my parents would have done with me. Anytime that we seemed bored they'd suggest something more productive that we could do, usually in the form of homework, practicing an instrument, cleaning our rooms, helping with dinner, ect. This made us retreat to our rooms in hopes of not having other things "recommended" for us to do. I now understand why they did that! Now though I think that if I were bored and went to my parents it would be because I'd want to spend time with them. It's actually something that I really enjoy doing and miss a lot. I could spend all morning talking to my parents on skype if they'd let me. I feel so much closer to them even though I'm so far away. Actually I think we probably talk more now than we did when I lived at home. That's just something I took for granted. I'm so glad that I've gotten to know my parents a little more because of this year away and I'm ok with the idea of turning into them :-)

Another thing I realized is how much I enjoy spending time with myself. I certainly have times when I'm craving social contact or a need to speak to someone who speaks English like I do, but honestly I'm fine spending a few days solo with a book, some tea and time to think. I've never appreciated how thought provoking a walk can be, or how nice it is to have time where I'm not moving a mile a minute. I also realized that I'm not as big a party girl as I thought I was. There are so many things I'd rather do then go clubbing or get trashed in a bar. I could stay home and watch a movie, read a book, go to get coffee, write, make food, play a game, go shopping, ect. All of these I'd rather do, or even stay in and have wine while talking about life. (I've also become a huge fan of wine... who knew?)

So, that's pretty much the culmination of my self discovery thus far. I've only been here for half a year and I feel like a new person. I'm renewed, I have purpose and I feel alive. I have 5 more months exactly today to learn more about myself and life. I'm excited to make new discoveries and to strengthen these ones. I'll keep you informed!

- B

Copenhagen

Copenhagen was one of those places that I had seen a picture of on a poster advertising a hostel and decided I had to go. It was another city with Canals and water with beautiful buildings and parks. This all proved to be true. It’s also where Hans Christian Anderson lived and wrote and where the famous “Little Mermaid” statue is. Unfortunately, she took a year-long vacation to China so I just got to see a screen with a picture on it of her. Oh well.

When I got to Copenhagen I checked into my hostel and then went exploring. I walked through a park and saw some of the city. Then I didn’t know what else to do. I was meeting a friend later in the day but didn’t know what to do with the time so I did the ultimate touristy thing... got on one of the “Hop on Hop off” buses. Eventually I got to a stop that my friend and I had planned to meet so I hoped off. This was the “postcard” perfect place that I had been looking for. It’s funny whenever I go to a new place I always have an idea of what it should look like or what I’ve seen of it before. I then try to find that place to get some pictures. Ex: Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, The corner Canal thing in Bruges, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Eiffel Tower in Paris ect.

After meeting with my friend we went to a museum. It was pretty neat but afterwards I decided to go back to my hostel and do some rather epic relaxing. The next day nothing special happened. I went on two more bus tours with the ticket I had purchased the previous day and then headed back to my hostel. I was really broke for this trip so I didn’t have much money to do well, anything. So I spent the rest of the evening in my hostel on my computer or reading. It was actually nice just to hang out and be by myself. I will say that this trip was really helping me become comfortable in my own skin.

- B

Belgium

Bruges / Brussels

I’m beginning to feel quite proud of my travel skills. Prior to this trip I was feeling the old pre-trip anxieties that used to have me second guess how important traveling is to me. Even this morning as I was walking to the train station, at 4:30am, I was still a little anxious. However, now that I’ve made it to the airport, in plenty of time and am now waiting for my flight to Copenhagen, I feel empowered. As lame as it sounds I almost feel like this trip is my “coming of age” trip. I’m learning how to travel by myself and am relying on any life skills I may have picked up along the way. So far it’s going quite well.

After leaving Geneva at 6:50am (I prefer to take really early flights so that I can sleep on the plane, get there when things are open and the sun is out), arriving in Brussels at 8am, taking a train to the city at 9:15, then taking a train to Bruges at 10:24 I finally arrived in Bruges at 11:30am. As most travelers will tell you, the thing that takes up the most time is traveling itself. I now had the rest of the day to discover the medieval city. After dropping my luggage off at my hostel I went to grab lunch. I found a cozy burger place and got a burger and fries. Belgium is actually where fries originated. They call them french fries because of the way they’re cut (same with french cut green beans). They were decent but I’ve had better.

After getting the key to my room I then spent the rest of the afternoon walking as much of the city as I could. I walked around most of the canals and the outskirts of the city. I got to see the canal that surrounds the city and some of the windmills that are next to it. I even walked down the main shopping street and didn’t buy anything! Huge success! I grabbed a tea and waffle for dinner at a cute tea room. Then I went back to my hostel and spent a lovely evening avec moi and went to bed early.

The next morning I woke up early and had breakfast at my hostel before returning to the train station to go to Brussels. I was fortunate enough to grab a train right when I got to the station! An hour later and I was back in the Capital of Europe. I went right to my hostel and once again dropped off my luggage. Then I commenced on the longest walking tour (and most painful) ever (well perhaps not ever, but it was long)!

The map I had had 3 different walking tours that locals recommended. I decided to combine all three plus take out or add to things I didn’t/wanted to see. I started off at the Botanical Gardens. Then I saw a church that could be pretty, so I walked about 10 minutes down to see it. It turned out to be quite small and not as nice as I thought so I took a photo and then turned around and walked back. Then I commenced down the street to find a monument of sorts, a farmer’s market (where I got a waffle for .50 Euro!), another church, European Parliament, Museums, a lot of parks, more fries, the Royal Palace, the Judicial Building, a great view, more tea, a very long road and more. It took me about 5 hours but I got to see quite a lot of the city. There was certainly more to be seen but I don’t think I would have wanted to stay more than a day. It’s definitely more of a business city then touristy. I actually didn’t see a single tourist shop all day and had to wait to buy my postcard (I buy one everywhere I go) at the airport.

Then I went back to my hostel, chilled out a little bit and then went to the train station to buy my ticket for this morning and check departure times.

Afterwards I went back and had another wonderful early evening curled in bed. I thought that it was pretty funny that there were people just getting to the hostel at 3am when I had to wake up at 4. I actually overheard someone saying to another person in the room they were from Pennsylvania at 3:30am so I asked where at in PA and she’s from Upper Dublin, about an hour from me. I never did meet her though since I had to leave in an hour. Small world.

• B

Zermatt

This past weekend I went on another trip with Link (the aupair connection group in Geneva). We traveled to Zermatt, the number one tourist attraction in Switzerland! At 7:30am all 45 of us hoped on the bus excited for a weekend of hiking, bonding and exploring the country we all live in. Once we got there we were all enamored by the natural beauty of the mountains. There is something so spiritual about the mountains that make me truly feel God's presence. Among other things, my own spiritual growth and development has really blossomed in Switzerland. I'm able to walk with God daily and learn more about him and myself while being surrounded by his beautiful creation. I have been so blessed to have this time to grow and explore this part of myself.

The first day we did a short hike to a small village called Zmutt. We all had apple strudel, although it was certainly not as good as the one in Munich. Then I went with two friends on a short hike back down to Zermatt. After a delicious dinner in the hostel we played some cards and then I decided to get a shower and hop into bed to work on my French homework. Most of the girls ended up going out to the clubs in the area but I was really glad to get some time to study and sleep before the next day. Call me lame, but perhaps I'm just maturing... oh dear...
The next day we took a train to the top of one of the mountains. We had an excellent view of the Matterhorn from there! We were around 10,000 feet, the highest I've ever been while remaining on land! The next 4 hours were spent hiking all the way back down to the town. We had a few short breaks but for the most part hiked the whole way down continuously. It was quite strenuous but I'm really glad that although I'm not in fantastic shape I can still push my body to achieve really great things. Our ride home was quite uneventful as we were all exhausted. It's been 3 days since the hike and it still hurts to walk down stairs or hills. It was still completely worth it and I'm so glad to have gone!

I have a lot planned for the upcoming months! In two weeks I will be going to Brussels, Bruges, Copenhagen and Berlin as a solo trip for a week! Then I'm planning a trip to either Rome or Prague in November and then in December I'm going back to Paris and meeting my sister for New Years! From there we will go to London to see Wicked. I'm a combination of excited and anxious for these trips! Can't wait to let you all know how they go!

- B

Oktoberfest

I believe that I've wanted to go to Oktoberfest ever since the first time I saw an "Oktoberfest" tent in the U.S. I remember my dad telling me about it in Germany. Finally on the weekend of September 24 - 26 I got my chance! I traveled with 5 girls first to Zurich to spend the night and then on to Munich early friday morning.

I was still tired and had planned to sleep for the 4 hour train ride to Munich but everyone else had a different plan... start drinking! Unfortunately, we had all booked our train tickets individually so I wasn't sitting near my friends, I was sitting near a group of rowdy French (or Swiss French) teenagers. It made for a rather unenjoyable train ride due to their drinking, yelling and general obnoxious behavior.

Eventually we arrived in Munich! The train station was full of what we would be surrounded by all weekend, beer, pretzels, chocolate, souvenirs, bread and other carb-filled goodies! And thus we started our quest to find our camp site. When we arrived we staked our claim on a spot to call home the next two nights. We were surrounded by tents, RV's caravans and other people there to party! We set up camp in the beautiful warm weather and then headed to the festival!

We were told to just "follow the crowd" and then we discovered why. There are millions of people at Oktoberfest, enough to have a constant mob going to and from the festival grounds. We were just in our jeans and T-shirts but that seemed out of place. Most people donned the traditional German lederhosen and dirndls. After purchasing our first Bratwurst we checked out the rides and got into the festive mood! No dark clouds looming in the distance could ruin our high spirits!

Unfortunately, a positive outlook does not an umbrella make and the rain and cold settled in on Oktoberfest... and us. A few of us got ponchos but others sported their wet clothes proudly. Eventually, we did go back to our tents to join in the festivities there.

After a long, cold wet night, we woke up early and landed a spot in line for one of the famous beer tents! We were there by 8:30 and got a seat and beer by 9:30. I must say that first thing in the morning I was not feeling like a beer but eventually the peer pressure and general joviality encouraged us all to enjoy a beer or two. We met some wonderful new friends and had a fantastic time singing, dancing, walking on tables or benches and taking pictures!

The next day we checked out of our campsite and went into Munich to see some of the actual city. We found a cozy cafe (aka McDonald's) and had a delicious breakfast. Then we went to see some of the sites thankful that the rain had stopped. Tired and Sick we finally got on our train back home. 5 best friends, 4 new Facebook friends, 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 2 train changes and 1 Nicolas Sparks book later we were back in Geneva. The experiences and memories that we were all so fortunate to have discovered will last a lifetime!

For a video of our adventure click HERE. Chelsie was so kind to put our experience on youtube!

- B

Paris and Versailles

The greatest thing about my location here is how central I am to the rest of Europe. It gives me the opportunity to say, take a short train to Paris if I feel like it. So, that is what I did. On a Weds afternoon I hoped on a train for Paris to stay until Saturday evening. It was a wonderful amount of time to spend in what is now my favorite city.
When I arrived in Paris I went to my hostel and then to bed. My travel buddy, Annie, was coming the next afternoon so I was still on my own and exhausted. The next morning I made plans to go to the Louvre.

You'd think that seeing some of the world's most inspiring works of art would change your life in some way. Or perhaps allow you an intimate moment to look into the Mona Lisa's eyes and say "It's been so long" but you get there and it's crowded with people and that intimate moment you had hoped for turns into a crappy picture and a shove from the other people trying to get their own crappy pictures.

This seems to be a very recurring thought on many of my travels. That seeing the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, or other European culture trademarks will have a profound effect on one's life. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened (excluding the Cliffs of Moher) for me. Don't get me wrong it's really great to go and see such wonderful creations but you see them and although I did gasp at the Eiffel Tower, it didn't change my life in a profound way at all. You go, you see that it's real, perhaps have lunch in the view of it take a couple pictures (or more than a couple) and that's it, you return home and you can now say you've seen it but your life isn't any different because of it. I find your life is different because of the people you meet or the stories you can tell, not because of the objects themselves.

Annie came later that afternoon and we met up and went to the hostel. On the way to the hostel we discovered the bakery right at the metro station by the hostel. This bakery would be the reason I was able to save a lot of money on food this trip. I would recommend that if you are tight on cash and trying to save money food is the best way! I brought a bag of apples, bread, peanut butter and jelly and granola bars that lasted me the whole trip. We only grabbed lunch out once because we got caught in a rainstorm. I don't think I spent more than 20 Euro in the 3 days I was there on food. :-)

The next day I went on a day trip to Versailles to see where Louis 14th decided to set up shop. It was very impressive and remarkable (although not life changing) and I'm really glad I went. It was a beautiful day to go as well! The sky was a brilliant blue dotted with puffy clouds that made my pictures quite lovely. I learned a lot about the history of Versailles and the French monarchy. One of my favorite things about traveling is learning about these cities and European history. I feel like I'm in European History 301, "The experience" and the money I pay for these trips is merely tuition.
The next day was our last day so we went on the free tour. It was mostly things that we had already walked around to see but now were able to learn more about them. I felt that in the short time I was there I saw quite a lot of the city, from the Latin Quarter to Mont Martre and most in between. Paris is such a beautiful city and was my favorite so far because of how much space there is. There are also beautiful buildings around every corner and the view of the Eiffel Tower shooting above changing leaves is truly breath-taking. I'm so excited to go back for New Years and show the city to my sister and friend. It will be wonderful!

Next up is Oktoberfest! I'll be traveling there Sept. 24 - 26, then Zermatt October 2 and 3 and then a week long trip October 20 - 26 to go to Belgium (Brussels and Bruges), Copenhagen and Berlin. I'm pretty excited to see all of these places and learn about their cultures. This will be a solo trip so we will see how that goes! Probably many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches will be had :-)

- B