The End

This post is long over due. But do not fret because here it is.

Sorry it took so long - I had a 6lb 7oz distraction.

My last week in Switzerland was a good week. Louise, Andrea, and I went to Liechtenstein. In case you don't know about this quaint little blip of a country, it is sandwiched between Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. It's known for it's postage stamps. You can walk across the country east to west in about 2 hours and north to south in less than a day. Gives some insight on how fascinating one would find this country. But we had to go! It was so close, and surely it would have some element of fascination. Right?

Well, let's just say, Vaduz, it's capital, was not the place to fascinate one such person. It was a dreary day weatherwise, and the city was...well...dead. There was NO ONE around. Given that it was not a tourist season, the deadness could be understood, but still, it was not a lively place. We had to force ourselves to take photos. I had a delicious sandwich. A chicken curry sandwich. And I got a really cute ornament that my mom told me I could get at Marshall's. But I did get a stamp in my passport and I did have lots of good laughs with Louise and Andrea. So it was worth it. I think...

This is the Center of Art, Music, and Communications .... I think. I just took the picture because I thought the artchitecture was really cool.

This is us in the happening city of Vaduz. This is the center of town. At lunch time. See how hopping it is? And up above us is the castle where the royal family lives. They have nice hair. For real - google "liechtenstein royal family" in images. Pay close attention to the mom's hair.

This is the famous Liechtenstein vineyards. We visited them out of season. But we did make it to the cellar to buy some wine!

Later that week we had our staff day out. Jennamari and Marjolein worked hard on a day full of fun and games for us. We started the day with an "American" breakfast - bacon and pancakes. No grits or eggs though. Maybe that's just a Waffle House breakfast I'm thinking of - well except waffles instead of pancakes. Did you know Waffle House doesn't sell pancakes but IHOP - International House of Pancakes - sells waffles? Hmmm....

After breakfast, and while waiting for them to open up the ice skating rink, we played in the snow.

And then, we went curling. And for those of you who don't take the sport seriously, just try to play it once. We started by getting our shoes and doing some stretches. While we were stretching, I was thinking - "This is stupid. There's no way we'll be doing enough physical stuff to need this." Boy was I wrong. I bet I used my groin muscle more in that two hour session than in my whole life. It was intense. And my knees were toast by the end of the game. But we had a GREAT time. Our instructor was the president of Adleboden's curling club. He had a great sense of humor and was a great sport being surrounded by a bunch of loud mouth women. And that's what we were. As part of the staff day out we had a mole. And that person was suppose to sabotage the entire day. Well guess who the mole was - yours truly.

And so I did my best to sabotage the curling game. And apparently I was so loud and obnoxious that just about everyone knew it was me. Spy I am not. But I gained a new respect for the sport and nice round bruises on each of my knees.

Then we had lunch. Which was great because it was on Our Chalet. Eating out is expensive in Switzerland. You can bet on spending at least 30 bucks, and that's just the food. And there are no free refills on drinks. I had duck for the first time. It was definitely different than any meat I had before. Once I got use to the taste, I liked it a lot. I got it in a salad, and I think Europeans really like doing the dishes because my salad came in this bowl and then they gave me a plate to eat it off of. As in, instead of out of the bowl. And they have a gazillion types of silverware. And they HAVE to eat their dessert in a separate dish with a separate eating utensil. This is only frustrating if you are working in a kitchen and washing the dishes - oh wait I was! :)

After lunch, we went sledging. Jennamari drove us up to the top of a slope and we all piled out to start our descent. On top of the slope, there was this huge water spout spraying water on the slope. Someone said it helped for skiing purposes and wouldn't mess up our sledging.

Kat sat on her sled first. But would not budge after looking at the slope from that perspective. I told her no to worry, the worst that could happen would be she'd fall off and just get back on and keep going. There was nothing to be chicken about.

A few others went first and then I was up. The others survived and stood up at the end smiling.

No worries. I got on my sled and pushed off. Before I could say shi...... I was hit in the face with small bullets of freezing water from the water spout. Which, immediately froze and blinded me. Then I could tell I was no longer on the course but off in the soft snow, which was flying in my face and sticking the the ice that had froze there. Not to mention that I was flying down the hill at about 100mph. Once at the bottom, I flipped a full two times, filling my collar, gloves, and socks with lots of snow. Nothing to be chicken about?

After I recovered, we walked a bit further to the second hill. This one seemed milder and had no water spout. So I pushed off. And this time I flew at roughly 150mph, almost hit Louise as she was snapping a picture of me, and then beelined to a tree. Luckily I had the good sense to put my feet down before impact. I walked down the rest of the slope to the van.

Once back in the van, Jennamari asked if we wanted to go again. Europeans, "YES." Americans, "HELL NO!" Kat and I stayed in the van. While waiting on the others, Jennamari asked us how it was. We were honest. Then Kat asked her what level the ski slope was. Jennamari said, "It's a black slope."

For those of you who don't know - a black slope is the most difficult one.

"Oh, and I think it's one of the ones they use for the World Cup."

WHAT!?! No wonder I crapped my pants coming down. I was on a World Cup slope on the side of a big ass Alp going 100mph on a tiny wooden sled that's probably been used since the Chalet opened 75 years ago while my eyelids were frozen shut!

But it was fun.

After that, we had a scavenger hunt to find dinner. And by scavenger hunt, I mean a 3km walk in the freezing cold to the waterfall. We had stew and bread by the fire under an amazing star filled winter sky. It was cold, but absolutely beautiful.

Then we all went back to the Chalet to snuggle in bed and sleep off the chill. And to wake up in the morning to very, very purple knee caps.

Friday, Marjolein managed to schedule us a sauna night at Kandersteg. Kandersteg has a traditional Finnish sauna on site and we had been talking about going since it got cold. So we loaded up in the van Friday night and went. Now the trick to this sauna is to get really hot for about 20 minutes, then get freezing cold. You can do this several ways - swimming pool, cold shower, or rolling around in the snow. Guess what method we chose!

That's right - An American, a Norwegian, a Swede, a Fin, a Dutch, and 2 Danes are sitting in the sauna......

And then we got sweaty, and ran out and rolled in the snow. And let me tell you, there ain't nothing like feeling like your face is melting off then running outside, in your bathing suit mind you, and jumping head first into the snow. And the chorus of squeals had to be entertaining for anyone a mile away who happened to overhear.

It was great and I'd love to do it again. It's quite a rush.

Oh and don't think it was risk free. There's a series of two rooms before you get into the sauna room. And to get into each room there's a small step up. I know this because I found them. You see, the snow rolling puts you into quite a frenzy and you run back to the warmth of the sauna. And you don't really pay attention. And well, I ran into the cabin, and tripped. I stood up and ran into the changing room, and tripped, and then made it into the sauna. And when I say tripped I mean, fell face first and about slammed my two front teeth out. Both times. So those curling bruises - they got a little bigger. But I laughed the whole time. Pride - I had none by that point. And pain - I was numb by that point too. So it was all in good fun.

And then it was Monday. Leaving day. Louise and Andrea left first - really early. Then Anne Sophie and Sidsel. And then me. We had reached the point of exhaustion where you really don't grasp the present completely. And I know that I didn't realize what I was leaving until I had left. But isn't that how it always goes.

Now, I'm back in the US, living with the parents, and jobless. And sometimes I think that going to Switzerland was a mistake. Maybe I'd have my own place and a job and be a productive member to society right now if I hadn't gone. But then I get an e-mail from Louise, or Sidsel writes on my facebook wall, or I think about Anne Sophie and I giggling before bed, or Diane asks me about one of my trips mentioned in my blog, or I see a Mamma Mia commercial, or I happen to look through my camera at my pictures and I think, "No, I needed Switzerland." It's not often you get the opportunity to spend 3 months doing nothing but discovering yourself and being surrounded by people that help you do it.

Many people who read this blog have said they hate to see it go. I didn't think that there were that many people who cared enough to keep up with it. But I would like to keep writing, if for no one else but myself. I think there's still going to be lots of adventures for me. So keep your eyes peeled for the next one!

More Snow

We have snow again. And by snow I mean 2 1/2 feet of powdery wonderful. Last night I spent an hour sledding down a hill with the Juliette Low Seminar participants. Some of them had never seen snow before much less played in it. And I realized that although we spoke different languages and had completely different backgrounds, giggling is universal. And we did a lot of it.

Tonight I went to the local hockey game. It was outdoors and the snow was coming down so thick you could hardly see. And it was wonderful. I had a kaffee fertig (coffee finished or coffee with schnapps in it, which to the swiss means "it's done") and yelled along with the crowd. The only cheer I retained was "hopp Adelboden" which means go Adelboden. They had a band that consisted of giant cowbells and drums. And just because they had drums didn't mean they had rhythm. But it was a great time had by all. And Adelboden is magical in the snow. It's your ideally picturesque Christmas destination! I think I'll miss it when I'm gone. But what a wonderful reason to return one day.

OOO OOO I found pictures of the hockey game. Here they are :)!

Jungfraujoch: The Top of Europe (Although not really.)

I've been wanting to go to Jungfraujoch for a while now. It's said to be the "Top of Europe." It's not the tallest mountain by any means, but perhaps it's one of the tallest with a tourist trap on top?

It just so happened that Jen and Kat had the day off yesterday too, and Laura wanted to see Jungfraujoch before departing to the US, so we all went as a group to see the "Top of Europe" (you have to say it loud and pretend there's an echo).

We had 4 or 5 connections on the train ride there and it was a bit exhausting. Not to mention that we were all exhausted from the Juliette Low Seminar currently going on. 54 young ladies from 54 different countries with 3 meals, two breaks, and evening programs equals 13 nonstop hours per work day. Woo hoo!



We had a short wait in Spiez and this was the view. An absolutely beautiful day. Cold, but clear.


One train we caught had little compartments like the Harry Potter trains. So we played games and broke out in random British accents.



While we were at one of our stops this guy was standing on the side walk jumping. As in, he stood on the line, cigarette in mouth, took a deep breath, held his arms out, wiggled, then jumped as if he was attached to a parachute. He did it several times in a row. We were about to get off and jump with him because it seemed he was doing very important work and anything that important we should try, but the train started to leave. Oh well. I hope he makes whatever jump he was practicing for. Or maybe that was his jump and I personally think he was doing a stellar job.



Kat is very talented.


Atop Jungfraujoch, the view was phenomenal. However, the wind was howling. It was -9 degrees celsius, and bits of ice were flying through the air pelting us in the face. And it hurt. So we spent some time on the viewing platform, but not very long.





Here's me and Kat in the Ice Palace. It was this series of tunnels made of solid ice. And the best part is you can run and slide around on your belly. Much like a slip and slide except now you have parts that you didn't when you're 7 and it hurts a bit more. But we had a great time. This picture is a great representative of our kindergarten glee while we were in there.



There was also a lot of random ice sculptures. I took a picture of the fish to make Ed laugh. He'd appreciate that they had a sculpture of me, Sea Bass, in Switzerland.



Kat and Jen were obsessed with the cracks. Hmm....







This is what Kat refers to as glacier bacon. She insisted I take a photograph. Here Kat.



Swiss dogs are amazingly well behaved. This St. Bernard rode the train back with us. He apparently was as worn out as us. He spent the entire ride sprawled out on the floor. I had the urge to hug him, but didn't know the word for hug in German. And he might have bit my face off. He was a dog I did not know.

We had dinner in Spiez. It's along the Lake of Thun, and I finally had some fish from the area. It was very very good. We had dinner in Switzerland at an Italian restaurant and were waited on by a lovely Portuguese man. Gotta love it.

Over all it was a good day. I think I was too exhausted to completely enjoy it, but I'm glad I went. I liked my experience atop Niesen better, but now I can say I've been to the "TOP OF EUROPE."

Sion

I went to Sion yesterday with Andrea, Jennamari, and Marjolein. A Dutch, a Swede, a Fin, and an American are on a train.....

We planned to see the castles there and since Sion is the capital of Valais, which is filled to the brim with vineyards, we decided it most necessary to go to a wine tasting as well. And to kick things off, we had cheap wine in cheap plastic tea cups on the train ride there. It was a good morning.

We arrived and met a dragon. It seemed like a courtyard area where people could hang out and kids could play. But the green stuff on the ground...well that's broken bits of glass. Really? They want kids to play in broken glass? A little more relaxed about it than I would be.


Then we visited the Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Glacier. It was your standard small cathedral-the smell of incense, the dark quiet forboding type, but I was really impressed with their stained glass windows.


We walked around a bit and did some shopping. I bought myself one of the pashmina/scarves that are all the rave now. I can now be fashion chic. Well at least from my neck up. Well not even that much...just my neck. Maybe it will cover up the redness a bit. Well only if I keep my mouth shut.


Then on to the wine tasting. We went to the Robert Gillard vineyard/wine cellar. Our host/tour guide was a nice man who spoke a noticeable amount of English but I still had to help him with some words. He gave us a very thorough but scattered tour. It seemed that he didn't give tours often and was letting us stick our heads in tanks full of wine and such. We had a great time, but I'm sure he wasn't suppose to let us do some of the things we got to do. After that we tasted some wines. I'm glad I watched the movie Sideways before I went. I felt a little knowledgeable. Knowledgeable or not, I still came out of there with three bottles of wine.

Then we ventured out to the castles. The sun was fading and it was cloudy, so it got dark really fast. But the views were amazing. We saw Valere from a distance. It's now a history museum and was closed until the winter season.


Then we climbed up to Tourbillon. It's open now, but we were too late to get in. So we just walked around a bit. It was still amazing to be up there and absolutely beautiful.



We had dinner at an Italian restaurant. I had gnocchi and it kicked the Red Tomato's gnocchi's ass. It was an excellent dinner to end an excellent day.

I also had purchased some cheese, camembert, to try when I got back to the Chalet. Well, it wasn't the most pleasant smelling cheese and it provided lots of jokes for our entertainment on the train ride home.
We had a really good day, full of laughs, food, and fun. I reccommend Sion to anybody, just be sure to share it with someone who you can laugh with.

Oh and I threw the cheese away this morning. It might stink normally, but I'm almost positive it's not suppose to taste like the crack of your ass. Yea, the pashmina won't hide the red.