Texas Meets Switzerland

Pedalo in Luzern.

Howdy! Last week, my best friend from TCU, Crystal, came to visit all the way from the Lone Star State. It was amazing to have a piece of home here and get to explore Switzerland with her. I got to show off the place I’ve come to love so much; I felt like a proud mama!

                I took a week of holiday, and the family I work for was generous enough to let us stay in their old house while we were in Zurich. The first day and a half we saw the sights of Zurich, and then we headed to Luzern, a gorgeous little city situated amongst mountains and of course a lovely lake. Luzern’s annual summer music festival just so happened to be taking place while we were there. All around the city, there were awesome musicians playing in the streets. The musicians were classically trained people from all over the world, from Cuba to Germany. Then we had the chance to see the Luzern School of Music orchestra perform for free.

Crystal falling in love with Switzerland on Kappelbrucke.

                Our favorite spot in Luzern was Kappelbrucke, or chapel bridge, a gorgeous wooden bridge with colorful flower boxes hanging on the sides. Then we discovered a Jesuit church that we dubbed the “cupcake church” because it was decked out in pastel pink and blue décor. Definitely the most feminine bridge I’ve ever laid my eyes on. We decided to take advantage of the lake and rented a pedalo. It was so great to admire the city from the water.

                From Luzern, we headed to Interlaken, a very touristy but incredibly beautiful place. Like the name suggests, the city is situated between two lakes, both perfection—of course it’s Switzerland! The train ride from Luzern to Interlaken was truly the most spectacular view I’ve ever had by a mode of transportation.

View from the train ride.

                The first day we decided to take of advantage of the jaw dropping scenery and go hiking. We took a train to Lauterbrunnen and hiked from there to Murren and then to Gimmelwald. The path was purely uphill for the first two and a half hours, but the crazy, amazing view of the Alps made it all worth it. I’ve never stopped so many times out of pure awe. Definitely a hike I’ll never forget, full of snowy mountains and picturesque waterfalls. After the five or six hour hike, we were exhausted but fully content.

                The next day we decided to take it easy at Lake Thun. It was the most beautiful lake scene with the clearest lake water I’ve ever laid eyes on. The water felt like pure ice, however. After staring at it for as long as possible, we finally mustered up the courage to jump in; it literally took my breath away. All in all it was refreshing in the end.

Pit stop on our hike.

                That evening, we headed back to Zurich to explore some city nightlife and had tons of fun dancing the night away. We spent our last day chilled out due to rain and made some nice cheese fondue—a must while in Switzerland. I was so sad to see Crystal go but so glad that I got to spend yet another week as roommates!

Lake Thun.

Transitions Abroad

Ok guys, sorry I’ve been such a horrible blogger. So here goes a recap of my life the last month and a half or so:

                Right before I got to Switzerland the family I’m working for, the Bodmers, decided they wanted to move. They found a nice flat in Stafa, and the move in date was set for August 10^th. Now the house in Zumikon is quite large, and the new place is about half that size, which meant basically throwing away/selling half of their stuff. I introduced them to garage selling, and the kids had great fun selling things and making some money of their own—my little businessmen!

                Mid-July the boys and Alessandra went on holiday for 2 weeks, and I stayed to pack and take an intensive German course. During the course, I was not highly motivated due to still being burnt out from college, but now I’m getting there.

                Robin, Alec, and Alessandra got back, and then 2 days later the boys left for a 2 week vacation with their dad—I guess the perks of having split up parents.  The next 2 weeks were full of packing, throwing things away, and finally moving. Moving a big house is definitely not one of my favorite past times, so it was nice for it to be finished.

                Our new home, Stafa, is directly on Zurichsee, Lake Zurich, so it is awesome to be able to just walk to the lake in 2 minutes. They boys have transitioned seamlessly and seem to really like the school and have both made friends. This town is much bigger than Zumikon, so I’m excited to explore.

                Last Tuesday, I began a new German class in Stafa that’s twice a week. I finally feel like I’m ready to crack down and learn some German.

Some highlights of late:

-Zurifascht: Weekend festival that occurs every 3 years in Zurich. Think fireworks, fair food, and music. Family friendly.

-Street Parade: Annual parade with elaborate floats blasting house and techno music. Lots of crazy outfits and interesting people. Thousands upon thousands of people flock to Zurich each year for this. Not so family friendly.

-Uetliburg: nice hike to the “Top of Zurich”

-New friends: Love meeting people from all over the world! Now I have friends from Estonia to England to Denmark.

-Dance classes: I had the chance to go to a day of free dance classes at a new studio last Saturday. My friend Mette and I got really ambitious and took Pilates, modern, raga, and a house class. Awesome and exhausting day!

-Enjoying every possible summer moment at the lake.