Luzern- fail.

My friend Mel and I left school Friday afternoon with our little bags packed ready for the relatively short train ride to Boniswil, a small town about 40 minutes outside of Luzern, Switzerland. We were on our way to April's house, Mel's friend from forever ago who now lives, works, and has a family in Switzerland. She moved over here 10 years ago when she was 23 for an awesome job opportunity, fell in love, and never moved back home. What a story. Anyways, the sun was shining, though it was cold. There was nothing that would have made us think this weekend wasn't going to go as planned. April and her family welcomed us with open arms, cooked us a fabulous dinner and let us watch their movies in English. SCORE.

Saturday morning we woke up around 9. Ready to let some sunlight in, I opened the blinds.

"WHAT THE @#($*!?" The ground was covered in snow, the wind was howling, and there was no sign that the weather was going to improve anytime soon. We went upstairs and April told us to have breakfast and then see if it was going to let up with time. Wrong. We couldn't even see fifty yards out the window. I felt like I was in the lodge at the top of the lift at Mt. Bachelor. Not really the weather we were hoping (or packed) for to go wandering around Luzern for the day.

In the end, we hung out with the family for the rest of the day and didn't end up getting into Luzern. We ate a lot of great food/snacks, then had some steaks for dinner. The steaks were fine, but definitely overcooked... nothing beats a steak cooked by my dad. I guess I'll have to wait until May to fulfill that craving haha. All in all, it was GREAT hanging out and having an "american" weekend.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Lugano with the program. We're there until Thursday, then off to Venice (on my own expense... ha) Friday morning. I can't wait!

Crossing the border

Last week I was in Paris from Monday until Thursday morning. The trip was with my program so they arranged hotel for us, and most of the time spent there was in lectures at Medecines du Monde (Doctors of the World). However, after taking the four hour TGV (train a grande vitesse!) ride, we had the rest of the afternoon free to explore the city. After getting lunch at a small cafe, a bunch of us decided to walk over to the Louvre. The weather seemed to be working out for us sooo we ended up walking through the Jardin des Tuileries, up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.. then UP the Arc de Triomphe. The decision to go up to the top was probably the best decision of the whole trip. Although it was a little (but actually REALLY REALLY) windy, we got some great pictures of Paris with the sun shining.

Now.. let me just tell you about the hotel we stayed in: the room was so tiny that there was almost no floor showing. We basically had to scale the wall to get there. Then when we decided we should probably take showers, we proceeded to flood the bathroom because the door on the shower would swing open. HA. Ok, enough complaining. Overall the beds were great, the toilets flushed, and the water was hot (well, warm... but you can't have everything haha). Over the next couple days, Mel and I were able to find the best bakery EVER. It was a five minute walk from our hotel, so convenience was not a problem. In Paris, they're into this formula menu trend... so we got a drink (orangina of course), a HUGE baguette sandwich or a slice of fantastic quiche, AND a dessert for about 7 euros. Life really doesn't get any better. That being said...we went back twice.

Moving on. Ok, so some of my really good friends are in Paris this semester. I was lucky enough to be able to see all of them. Monday night I went to dinner with two of my roommates from last semester, Bri and Ari. Ari was able to pick out a fantastic french restaurant (in a sketchy area, but if the food is tasty, who cares?). Since she made our reservation through a website we got half off (!!!!) of the formula menu. So, with some wine included, it turned out to be about 15 euros each. AMAZING. (thank you ari and bri). Then, after minorly freaking out that I wasn't going to be able to see her, Ellie got ahold of me on Wednesday. We met up at the Louvre and walked around for a couple of hours, mostly talking and not admiring the art... haha. We also ended up finding a Starbucks inside the Louvre, and had to take a picture. This is our place. It was a sign. So obviously we got a snack and sat for 10 minutes. Great stuff. Later, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and were then blown over by the wind and rain.... It was a quick visit to the famous site, but I mean, we were cold and wet. Give us a break. All in all, I can't tell you how great it was to see these friendly faces from home and school.

The next morning we were off the Barcelona (not with the program, but about 10 of us went). I can't tell you how excited we were to go somewhere with sun and warmth! For a little while we were scared that our flight wasn't going to get out because obviously on the day of our departure the Paris air traffic controllers decided to go on strike. haha GREAT timing. No worries though, our flight was only 30 minutes late and we made it to Barcelona while the sun was still shining on Thursday. Once we arrived, Mel and I split off from the group to go meet my uncle Kevin. He's been living and working there for almost 2 years now. He was nice enough to let us stay in his apartment for the weekend. Ok... so talk about a more than great city. I can't rave enough about Barcelona. It is really a beautiful place and has waaay too much to offer for just the two days we were there. With that in mind, we took my uncle's advice and took one of the double-decker, open-air tour buses that takes you to pretty much every big thing in the city. We basically saw everything Gaudi (an out of this world architect), and other great parts of Barcelona. My favorite place was Parque Guell. Probably the coolest park I've ever been to...

My uncle was great to us. Not only did he let us stay with him, but he also took us around the city and bought us dinner at these amazing restaurants. The tapas were out of this world. Well... basically everything I ate was delicious. You couldn't go wrong. Finally, on the last night, we were able to get nosebleed tickets to the FC Barcelona game with the other kids who came from my program. Ok, the Portland Timbers are great and all, but nothing compares to going to a soccer game in Spain and watching one of the top teams in Europe. I had to buy a scarf. Memorabilia.. of course.

Summary: really crazy week, but worth every penny.

Now I'm back in Switzerland. I got home Sunday night and was welcomed with a big hug from Renate. This weekend I'm going to Luzern, Switzerland. Then, Monday we leave with the program for Lugano. This city is in the south of Switzerland where everything is in Italian. Yikes... should be interesting. From there, a couple of us are moving along to Venice for a couple days. Wish me luck/send me energy. Whichever you prefer. Be back soon. :)