Swiss Chocolate, Swiss Trains, Swiss Hiking OH MY!

Bonjour (guess where I was this weekend?), 

Back from another weekend trip outside of Italy feelin happy and tired, accomplished and cultured (as is common after traveling). I should be studying for Theology but I think listening to music and blogging take #1 priority right now. 

Our long weekend trip spent in Switzerland ended with us not wanting to come back to Rome. Yes. Not. Wanting. To. Come. Back. To. Rome. I know that sounds really pathetic and bad, but our trip to Switz was perfect. It was perfect, it was much needed, and it was rejuvenating and we just knew that as soon as we were back in good ole Rome,  the wonderfully hectic Rome life would slap us in the face and wake us from our Swiss dreams....

(Disclaimer: We adore Rome of course but it takes a while to adjust back to a city like Rome after three days in the land of Switzerland) 

So on Friday morning I flew from Rome FCO to Geneva, Switzerland accompained by Colleen and two of our other friends whom Colleen and I have become close with while abroad (new friends are always great to travel with). We landed in Geneva and we were welcomed in by a family friend of Colleen's whose house we would be staying at. Little did we know that this lady, Mrs. Wulf, would be the most amazing hostess, incredible cook, generous and accommodating woman that we could have asked for. She took us to her cute apartment (it was basically a house) that was in Tannay, Switerland and we dropped our stuff off and had some tea and coffee. If I needed any reminder that I was in Switzerland all I had to do was consult the kitchen wall in the Wulf's house which had a HUGE Swiss clock ticking away. It was so very Swiss and so very perfect. 

Bundled in our NorthFace jackets, gloves, and boots we headed out the door for an afternoon of touring around downtown Geneva with Mrs. Wulf as our tour guide. The weather was rather chilly, very windy, and cloudy but it was refreshing. We weren't breathing in the smells of a large very compact city like Rome but instead were able to enjoy the brisk, clean air of Geneva. We went to the Flower Clock and climbed two towers from which we got to view Geneva and the surrounding areas.  For lunch Mrs. Wulf took us to a very well known French restaurant that served all you can eat steak with this incredible sauce, and french fries. We also had some very good red wine that comlemneted the red wine perfectly. Look at me, talking about what wines go with what food...Oh la la I feel so well versed. The meat was so perfectly cooked and the fries so tasteful and crunchy, I even had a couple bites of my first Creme Brulee for dessert. After our meal we walked around downtown Geneva some more, went into multiple chocolate shops, and marveled at the clothing and fancy designer shops that were everywhere along the streets and went into a cute little shop with little interior home decorations. We walked to a park where they had large chess games and an ice skating rink and saw the famous Founders wall. We impersonated them and I think we make some pretty good Founders if I do say so myself. Before we headed back to the house on the train we made a pit stop in a Starbucks. Oh my, I had mix feeling about stepping foot and encountering that long lost lover of mine. That oh so familiar smell of Starbucks coffee, but the knowledge that Starbucks coffee now has so much to meet as far as my European coffee standards go was very sad.... nevertheless I got a Cafe Mocha and they even spelled my name right....kinda...André is close enough, they even included the accent...but Andrée is a French name so it was kinda expected.

Rachel, me, Colleen and Clare at the flower clock

View of Geneva from the top of a tower we climbed

In the evening we all thoroughly enjoyed a famous Swiss meal that was home cooked by Mrs. Wulf. Melted cheese over potatoes, pickles and onions. Yes yum. Macaroons for dessert. More tasty than I imagined they would be with flavors like coffee, hazelnut, lemon, and raspberry. We also had some bubbly white wine at dinner, oh we were being treated so well. After dinner the four of us gravitated towards the living room with a huge comfy couch, pillows and a TV. Living in a hotel is very nice yes but I miss houses, especially couches and comfortable pillows. Also I miss the feeling of being able to just relax and recline while watching a movie with the family. So thats what we did while watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding. We were all on could nine.... 

So happy and so comfy 

The next morning after a very hearty breakfast Colleen and I ventured out to the train station in the next town to take on a day of hiking though the vineyards of Switzerland! First things first. Swiss trains are amazing and Swiss train schedules are complicated as heck. If the schedule says 12:47 than you better bet that the train is leaving at 12:47:00 on the dot. And it will arrive in the next town at 12:53 ON THE DOT. I was just so amazed.... Rome has not left much faith in me as far as times for buses and trains. Its ok Rome, for what you lack in punctuality you make up for in other areas. Colleen and I made it to the town of Lutry where we began our hike. Our vineyard hike exceeded our expectations. It was a three hour hike of adventuresome exploring, rerouting, panting and climbing, photo ops, and lots of stopping and gazing in awe of the scene and land that stretched all around us. We walked up and down little paths, along streams up steep slopes around bends, through towns, in and out of vineyards and through tunnels. For most of the duration of the hike we were relying on small little yellow signs that pointed us in the direction of the next town or the next path we were supposed to take and that worked for about 2/3 of our hike. At about hour 2 and 15 minutes we kind of lost track of our yellow signs but we knew we were supposed to end up in a little town called Cully. Well a large sign pointed "up" to Cully but our little sheet of directions told us it was "down". I don't know why but we chose to follow the sign and headed up the hill.... at this point we were kinda close to giving up and saying "eh we got this far this is good enough right" but we ventured up a little further and boy am I glad we did so because I am pretty sure a little European angle was watching over us and decided to direct us up the hill to a happy little haven we found. A self serve wine shop. We had no idea what it was but at this point we knew we wanted wine and so we were going in. I was expecting somebody to come out and help us but nobody did. Instead we entered the little shop and discovered it was all do it your self. We were so excited. However Colleen and Andree do not have much wine experience and so we simply  chose a bottle of white wine that was 11,50 francs and went with it. It was perfect to us. We filled out our form, put it in the box and slipped our money in the money box. Happy hikers with a bottle of wine that we deserved. Thank you Europe for being so trust worthy of your inhabitants. If only you could teach America a little about this idea....

Colleen in the self serve wine shop

Ok so we were determined to make it to Cully and we finally did after we asked a women where exactly we were and she told us to go down through the vineyards to the small town of Cully. So that we did, we winded in and out of the rows of vineyards and made it to our destination! A thing about French people... they are very modest when it comes to admitting that they do in fact speak english. Multiple times Colleen and I had to ask people directions and we always ask if they speak english and their response is always "a little" to which they are then able to understand completely everything we ask and point us in the next direction. When I tell people I speak "a little" italian. I mean a little, un po, and you arnt gonna get much out of me except for a blank stare, maybe a couple words, if you start asking me questions so those French people are pretty modest if I do say so myself.... 

We walked down to the pier in Cully and found a bench that was right near the water. We opened our backpack and untwisted our screw top wine bottle (they were really thinking about hikers like us with the screw tops weren't they?), opened our goldfish, carmel corn and Swiss chocolate and we had a little picnic. It was pretty cold at this point and cloudy, (we definitely could not see the mountains) but we were in the best mood and ready to enjoy the next hour of wine drinking and munching. Another thing. Swiss chocolate. Oh my. Creamy, dense, rich, and perfectly soft with a taste that lingers in your mouth and a heavenly sensation when it fills your stomach. Swiss chocolate and Swiss wine on a pier in Cully Switz. TO LIFE!

Two happy girls hiking through vineyards in Switzerland

We walked up to the train station after about an hour, shivering but loving life and waited for the next train to take us back to Tannay. Our tickets technically only allowed us to go to Nyon but us being expert Swiss train riders and schedule readers by this point figured out if we took the train that came at 5:41 on platform 9 instead of the train that came at 5:33 from platform 8 we could get closer to our destination and we could walk home instead of having to be picked up. So we took the train from platform 9 and 30 minutes later we were walking up the street to the Wulf residence. A day of Swiss hiking, map reading, train schedule confusion, train hopping and eventual Swiss train system navigation and epiphany and then walking back through a town that we only saw once in the daylight and making it safely home by 6:30pm. A golden star day for the expert student travelers. 

Our faces at the sight of a Swiss train schedule...

After a wonderful Wulf meal of chicken, potatoes, corn, broccli, and bread with wine and ice cream for dessert I climbed into bed so so so happy and so utterly pleased with our successful adventures though Switzerland. 

Today we went to mass at a Catholic Church in Geneva and us four girls got to bring up the gifts at mass. Second time for Colleen and I. Once in Rome and once in Switzerland. Where will we be next? Another high five between Colleen and I after we sat back down in our seats. 2:00pm came all too quickly and we were dropped off at the "Kiss and Fly" section as it is so adorably called at the Geneva airport. We went through security and purchased the necessary bars of Swiss chocolate to take home with us. I bought 6 bars. We boarded our EasyJet flight and headed back home. 

Switzerland was a real treat. We were so warmly accepted into a home, taken care of, fed incredible meals, and we got to expereince so much Swiss culture in only two and a half days. And we loved it so much we didnt even want to come back to Rome?! That's a statement right there. I will return Switzerland no worries...

On our flight back Colleen and I mapped out the course of our post SMC graduation trip we are going to take through Europe. I love traveling now. Traveling is valuable in an infinite amount of ways as is evident through my blog posts and my travels will not stop after my abroad experience is over.

Four days of class this week and than hopefully a trip to Milan this upcoming weekend! So much Europe, so little time.... well that's all for now, I should probably sleep when I am given the opportunity :)

Hugs and happiness from the wanna-be Italian, wanna-be Swiss girl,

Andrée