Weekend Bliss

This past weekend was not only the perfect fall weekend, but also a refreshing and defining “Geneva weekend.”  Starting with an epic Muzy bonding night in the basement and continued at Java, our first Geneva club experience, and ending in the Lavaux vineyards today—this weekend couldn’t have been any better. 

After a completely lazy Saturday, which was much needed after an endless first week at our respective internships, Danny, Steph, Mags, Emma, and I hosted a scrumptious American-style brunch on Saturday morning.  We might as well have called it lunch seeing as we didn’t get started until noon.  Our first course was prepared by Steph and was the most delicious caramelized apple and Brie omelette.  Yum.  Next came the preparation of my contribution—Mom’s famous Blueberry Buckle.  Conversions were tricky and I definitely made up my own crumble recepie but it turned out divine.  The smell filled the kitchen and I felt like I was waking up the morning after Prom or some other high school event where everyone stayed over at our house afterwards.  The smell also made me nostalgic for May Birthdays and other family functions when Buckle and/or coffee cake is essentially a requirement.  While that was in the oven, Mags and Emma concocted delicious French toast on a fresh, French loaf of bread.  We even managed to scrounge up some maple syrup.  Yum again.  Finally the buckle was ready and we literally attacked the pan with our forks.  Community buckle for the win.  We devoured the whole thing, after having planned on sharing “leftovers” with late morning straglers.  So much for that plan!  Yum yet again.  By this time it was nearing 3pm.  Where had the day gone?!  We quickly dressed and met down to continue what will now be referred to as “Learning to Love Geneva Day.” 

Personally, I would reclassify this as a “re-learning” day for me, seeing as I have never doubted this city, but have also had the opportunity to explore a lot of the surrounding area due to art history.  Nonetheless, since the majority of our party (Steph, Mags, and Danny) classified Saturday as the above name, we’ll reference that title from here on out.  After a pit stop at our favorite little café around the corner from Muzy (to pick up coffee, NOT more pastries or other delicious food items that reside in the walls of this café), we hopped on the 8 bus and reached the end of Saturday’s line by Nations.  While we have inhabited Geneva for nearly 2 months now, we all loved playing tourist and snapping the UN flag, emblem, and broken chair pictures as we made our way down to the botanical gardens.  From there, we couldn’t get enough of the changing fall leaves that were everywhere to be seen.  We kicked, threw, and crunched our way all the way to the various green houses (note to self:  do not attempt to take pictures in the tropical fruit/climate green house…also, you will not last more than 2 minutes in that place, get out while you can!) and an “artery” park that is home to a party carousel and various exotic birds and foreign animals.  While we were looking/talking to a young fawn, the cutest grandparent couple approached with their blond haired granddaughter, who of course had the most adorable jacket and pink bow in her hair.  All in French of course, the grandmother described to her granddaughter why the fawn’s nose quiverd and why his ears perked up so quickly.  Definitely a touching moment that made me wish I was with my grandparents or had a little munchkin with me to explain the “little things” to about animals.  Adorable moment to add to the day.  By this point we were starting to fade and so was the sun.  We made our way across the stree to our final destination of the Garden Observatory down by the lake.  We “ooed” and “ahhhed” at the red and golden ivy-clad manor that overlooked the lake.  After  snapping what was probably our 100^th picture of the changing colored leaves, we finally made our way back to central Geneva where we picked up some apple juice that would quickly be heated up upon return to Muzy, poured in mugs, and carried down to the lake and sipped on as we watched another incredible sunset over the Jura mountains and Lac Leman.  When we were thinking our night couldn’t get much better, we came home and watched Crazy Stupid Love as a nightcap.  While this time we weren’t “oohing” and “ahhing” over the beautiful, Fall leaves we all definitely “oohed” and “ahhed” over Ryan Gosling!  The movie was entertaining and the perfect way to end a perfect, Autumn Saturday. 

Sunday was yet another magical day in Switzerland.  We had an early morning that started off with a brisk walk to the train station followed by an hour train ride into the Vaud region, more specifically the Lavaux vineyard region.  We had been told to prepare for  a 20-30 minute walk to the Daley vineyard after disembarking the train but let me tell you—none of us were prepared for the hike UPHILL that seemed like we were climbing Everest.  The vineyards of Lavaux have been there since the 13^th Century and literally cover any and all ground in the surrounding area, regardless of how steep they are.  We definitely experienced this first hand.  However, none of us were complaining when we were greeted by Jean-Christophe Piccard, our host and resident winemaker, and his adorable dog Dartagnan.  We wandered the vineyards as JC made final preparations for our tasting.  After a tour of , we were all cozied up in the cellar area of JC’s home where we sat on wooden stools around three wooden tables.  In total throughout the day, we sampled 6 varieties of wine all from the Piccard vineyards—a vineyard that is currently in its 4^th Generation within the family.  Our sampling menu in order of consumption:

(1) Unfiltered, 3 week old Chasselas--for the upcoming line of production

(2) 2010 Lavaux Grand Cru, Dalley Villette, Chasselas

(3) 2009 Charmillon - Pinot Noir, Gamay and Garanoir blend

(4) 2009 Alunisense Plant-Robert

(5) 2009 Trait D'Union

(6) Fantasie d'Automne

We were all feel pretty good after these generous "samples" and the snacks were much appreciated!  We all left in the cheeriest moods and in love with the Daley vineyards.  To bring an end to our day, we spent an hour and a half walking along the lake back to Lausanne where we boarded the train back to Geneva.  All in all, this has been one of the most laid back, cultural, and best all around weekends abroad.  Getting to spend time with the majority of our group and enjoying the incredibly lucky fall weather we have been enjoying was priceless.  Everyone bonded on a whole other level and conversations were had with people I haven't gotten the chance to have "real talks" with.  Definitely a win of a weekend, and the wine wasn't half bad either :) 

1 Down 7 to Go

WOW.  As much as I do not like to face the reality that this is the truth, we have 7 weeks left and I can say without a doubt they are going to fly.  While this past week was challenging in terms of getting into the swing of an internship work week, getting up early and wanting to go to bed early too, finding time to visit with people after work, etc.  it truly did fly by.  Friday was definitely an epiphany kind of day--I attended a work meeting where I could understand the witty yet scholarly "work" jokes, I was assigned my first "big" project along with another intern during a meeting with one of my supervisors, and all that was asked of me truly made sense and I felt like I had a purpose and could finally meaningfully contribute to office affairs.  The assignment I will be working on all next week includes performing a systematic review of adolescent friendly health services and compiling information into a document that will be sent to the Regional Office in Bangkok and used as a scholarly article.  WOW again.  I think it finally sank in that a lot of the work that will be asked of me does play a part, however large or small, to the WHO and to addressing the needs of adolescent health.  Who would of thought I would have such an incredible opportunity at the ripe old age of 20?!  All in all, week 1=success.  Definitely getting into the groove of office life and starting to see where I will truly be contributing.

The work week couldn't have ended more beautifully.  My supervisor (who is the best!) sent us home early to enjoy the amazing fall weather we were treated to yesterday.  I somehow rangled up enough motivation to go for a run--something that is hard to do when it is as brisk as it has been, but totally necessary when pastries have been consumed at work every day this week.  While it was freezing outside, I loved every second of my run.  The sun was beginning to set, the air was crisp, and the leaves crunched beneath my feet as I purposefully crunched on as many of them as possible as I ran down by the lake.  Anyone paying any attention to me as I ran must of thought my stutter steps or extended strides looked ridiculous as I made sure to crunch on the crunchiest looking leaves:)  As I turned back by Geneve Plage, I had decided it was necessary to turn back a little earlier than I would have liked seeing as I couldn't feel my rear end, bottom lip, or hands, the trees were beginning to turn dark as the sky became brilliant with light.  The mountains were sillhouted in the pink/orange glow of sunset.  The Jet d'Eau's water glistened as it came cascading down and the 6 visible airplane's jetstreams looked like shooting stars in the sky--taking off and landing at the Geneva Airport.  It was one of those "movie moments" when an amazing song blared on my iPod and I soaked in the true beauty of where I am living.  I couldn't help but smile as I made my way back home, following the lakeside path on a gorgeous Friday night.  I remember thinking in my head "pourquoi pas" or "why not" as I purposefully went out of my way to crunch leaves, take another glimpse of the sunset reflecting on the lake, and reflected on my first week at the WHO.  Maybe it was in this beautiful moment that these revelations came to mind but I seriously couldn't think of a better way to approach these last 7 weeks abroad.  Why not?  Why not go out tonight and explore Geneva's nightlife even if I'm tired from a long week at work? Why not go to the vineyards Sunday even if I have a write-up to do and an article to read?  Why not give my internship tasks my all?  Etc. etc. etc.  Hopefully I can maintain this attitude, especially in terms of motivating myself in the work place!, and carry it back home with me in December:)  I don't know if any of that made sense to anyone else but me, nonetheless wanted to share...even if it sounds kind of dorky!  Why not, right? :)

"Real People" Living

Monday was Day 1 of my internship at the WHO!  I was a combination of nervous/anxious/excited to get the first day under my belt and I survived!  My supervisor, who is such a nice man, just got back from Thailand and had a lot of personal affairs to attend to so I spent a lot of yesterday independently reading, discussing what I read with him briefly, and heading back to the library to continue reading articles published by our department.  We are still finalizing what my project for the next 2 months will be so I am eager to get going on that, whatever it may be!  I was able to sit in on a department meeting, which was fascinating but there are a lot of terminology I found myself jotting down to look up later.  Everyone I met in the department, including other interns, is incredibly friendly and I look forward to getting to know them on a better level in the weeks to come!

Today was our first day of our Controversies in International Health course.  Essentially, this week is “syllabus week” all around.  I look forward to next week’s class, which will hopefully be more interactive and engaging.  But all the “firsts” of the second half of the semester are over (at least in terms of course work)!  Our professor brought in pastries so I have a feeling this class is going to be a good one :) We have class for 3 hours in the morning, an hour off for lunch, then a site visit in the afternoon.   Today, we visited the UN--something I knew was bound to happen at some point this semester.  We had a guided tour of the complex and visited 3 conference rooms both in the Old and New wings.  My favorite room we saw was the room in the Palais de Nations with the incredibly brightly colored ceiling done by Spanish artist Miguel Barcelo.  The UN is filled with awe-inspiring art work and   

Fall Break Pt. 2

We had another early morning flight to Morocco and found ourselves acting like locals and navigating the Metro in a more efficient manner than upon arrival.  We all could not believe we were not only country hopping but continent hopping instead!  I was eager to be back in Africa and explore a country on the complete opposite end of the continent to Namibia!  We quickly found ourselves experiencing the greatest culture shock of our entire abroad experience thus far.  On our way to our hostel alone we thought we were going to hit other cars, donkey carts, people, etc at least 20 times.  Everything was fast paced like Madrid but poverty was definitely evident as well.  

We quickly found ourselves checking into our hostel, Mama Marrakech.  Owned by a Moroccan/American couple Mama opened on August 1^st of this year.  The hostel is completely homey as soon as you walk in the doors!  Mama, aka Crystal, welcomed us with open arms and sat us down for 45 minutes and gave us suggestions, mapped out the city for us, and locked away our valuables in her personal safe.  

Roof top terrace at Mama's!

Before long, we had a 2 day, 1 night camel tour booked in the Sahara and were on our way to get lost in the endless Marrakech Souks.  Before losing ourselves in the souks we treated ourselves to a traditional Moroccan meal of tagines and couscous—definitely our cheapest and one of our most delicious meals since we have been on the continent!  We quickly immersed ourselves in the fast paced, bartering maddess that is Marrakech's souks.  We haggled prices in French and English, made incredible deals, and came out weighed down with bags of goodies.  There was definitely a time or two we felt harassed and sped out down another alley way away from a shopkeeper.  However, we somehow managed NOT to get lost like everyone said we would!  

Souk Bargains

We came home, showered up, and relaxed on our beautiful terrace and talked with some of the other hostel stayers.  I soon discovered one of the guys was from Seattle and lives on Capitol Hill!  The world continues to amaze me in it's small size and endless connections.  It was fun having a bit of home in Morocco--never can get too far away:)  We called it an early night since we had a 7am departure for the Sahara the next morning.  In the morning, Mama provided us with a delicious breakfast of sweet, crunchy crepes, warm pita-like bread, eggs, and heart-warming coffee!!  We boarded our bus and began our epic 8 hour excursion to the desert.  With multiple stops, some of the most dangerous, twisty roads known to man kind, and a pit stop in the town where movies like Gladiator, Prince of Persia, and Indiana Jones 3 were filmed we finally made it to the edge of the Little Sahara at sunset.  We wrapped up in headscarfs and saddled up on our CAMELS!!!  We rode off to camp as the sun was setting and the moon was rising.  What a memorable experience.

Camels at Sunset

We then were treated to a traditional tagine dinner, Berber tribal games around a campfire, and mint tea before bed.  We couldn't help but walk out to a near by sand dune, bury our feet in the desert sand and bask in the glow of the full moon above us.  Morning came quickly and we were soon back on top of our camels.  Our lead guy had fun with the four of us and made the camels run a little--not the most comfortable but nonetheless a humorous experience.  

We LOVE the Sahara

Chamoux with camp ground in the background

We were so thrilled to be welcomed back to Mama's with a warm shower before heading back to the market square for a quick night out on the town.  The city's square comes to life at night--from snake charmers to food and fresh orange juice stalls, we could have spent all night exploring if we hadn't been so tired.  Seeing as it was our last night we wanted to make the most of it.  We sampled food from the stalls the locals were going to which was a major win.    I think I had my favorite meal that night--fresh OJ, pita stuffed with hard boiled egg, cream cheese, potatoes, and hot sauce...sounds weird but it was incredible!  We then had big, steaming glasses of mint tea and Lauren and Mags picked up a delicious baklava like pastry that was divine!!  We quickly faded and found ourselves regrettably making our way back to the hostel.  We had a big day ahead of us and before we knew it we were packing up and saying goodbye to wonderful Morocco.  

We arrived back in Madrid around 8pm and long story short we locked our bags away at the airport, met up with friends at a club, danced the night away until 4am, and made our way back to the airport for early flights back to Geneva (for Lauren and me) and Barcelona (for Mags and Steph).  I will spare you the details of how we managed to survive this epic/only would happen in Madrid while abroad experience but it was an incredibly entertaining evening.  From sipping on coffee while everyone else around us was slamming back beers, to singing Beyonce with Case, to being in a room that instantaneously filled with fog from a fog machine (I literally thought I was dying...finally caught my breath then it happened again--when is my inhaler when I need it?!)--one of the most epic nights ever!  We finally made it safely back to Geneva after what was the longest day of my life.  The weather definitely has transitioned to brisk, fall temperatures and I couldn't be happier.  I haven't had a real fall for two years now so I felt at home on so many levels after a memorable week abroad.

Tagline for the week:  3 countries, 2 continents, 5 languages, 48 hours.  

Fall Break Pt. 1

Fall break has come and gone and it will be a quick snap back into reality!  I couldn’t have asked for a better fall break—from seeing friends from Santa Clara, to spending an epic week with new friends, memories were made in 3 countries, 2 continents, 5 languages.  Our break started out with a complicated navigation from Muzy to the airport.  Thank goodness we left ourselves plenty of time is all I can say to that!  We eagerly boarded our early morning flight to Madrid on Saturday and all were in awe the day had finally come and we were embarking on our Fall Break adventure! 

We were non-stop from the time we touched down in Madrid until I returned back home in Geneva Friday afternoon.  Our first day in Madrid consisted of a half hour purchase period of metro tickets,where Lauren really got to test her Spanish skills,  an overwhelming welcome to the city center at Puerto de Sol (essentially the downtown area of Madrid where our hostel was located), and the most epic reunion with Casey and Liz inside our hostel.  And this was all before 2pm!  We did Rick Steves’ walking tour of the city, guided by Liz, and went to Retiro park where we met up with my friend Eloise from SCU!  Next, we visited the Royal Palace, Almudena Cathedral, and Reina Sofia museum before making our way back to Sol before a wild night experiencing the essence of Madrid nightlife. 

Reunited!

After a shower and siesta, we met up with Case by the fountain in Sol before heading out to a delicious tapas restaurant where we indulged on two rounds of chorizo, corquettes, and potatoes with more chorizo!  What a fabulous introduction to Spanish cuisine.  We then met up with some of Casey’s friends from her program before heading to a club called Pacha where we were treated to the crazy nightlife and music Madrid has to offer!  After a late night, morning came early and we couldn’t wait to sip on some Spanish coffee!  Liz was conviently staying at our same hostel so along with my friends from the BU program, the 5 of us navigated our way to the Rastra, which is Madrid’s famous Sunday flea market.  There were so many things to see, so many people to be aware of, and endless market stalls lining the streets!  I quickly found myself overwhelmed by the immense amount of people who were literally everywhere you looked.  Definitely a lot busier than our quaint and orderly Geneva!  We found ourselves losing steam quickly and Liz and I had plans to meet up with Casey later in the afternoon so we walked back to Sol to recuperate a bit before our mid-afternoon rendezvous.   I absolutely loved spending the afternoon with Case and Liz eating kebabs and churros con chocolate outside in Casey’s home stay neighborhood.  We all caught up and quickly found ourselves falling back into our usual rhythm of telling stories, offering advice, and reminiscing about life back at Santa Clara.  We didn’t realize just how much we have missed each other’s presence until we were teased with spending a weekend together.  Nonetheless, it was a magical weekend that I know we all feel incredibly lucky to have shared together.  Definitely made memories none of us will ever forget.  

Later that night, after a sad goodbye with the girls, Mags, Steph, Lauren, and I  met up at the Prado museum where we saw Picasso's Acrobat on a Ball, Goya's infamous political paintings, and other various incredible works of arts.  As we left the museum, we were greeted by a huge Latin American Pride parade that featured a ridiculous party bus equipped with a  band on top that was followed by various dance troups and flag bearers singing and dancing along to the music.  We felt like we truly got to experience the wild madness of Madrid the entire weekend and were loving the polar opposite change of pace compared to our orderly, clockwork lives in Geneva!  Later that night we treated ourselves to a delicious 12 course tapas meal, pitcher of Sangria, and churros (round 2 for me…) outside the Plaza Mayor.  I don’t think I have enjoyed churros and chocolate more in my entire life, but let me tell you my body was not pleased for the next 24 hours.  When in Madrid?

Tapas!

Churros con Chocolate Round 2

to be continued...

Finals in October? It's Official, I'm a Junior.

There is no denying it anymore, I am a Junior in college.  This week completed the first part of my abroad experience, which is hard to believe in itself.  I cannot believe we have been in Geneva for nearly 6 weeks.  Time continues to soar which is absolutely terrifying.  At the same time, I have acclimated to the Genevois lifestyle so easily I think everything has passed more quickly than I had anticipated simply because of how comfortable I feel here.  

While this week was definitely the most stressful week so far here, I have so much to look forward to in the  weeks to come!  Monday was my last public health lecture which came to an end with an incredible lecturer who spoke to our class about TB.  Our professor had already covered half the lecture a couple of weeks ago so we were able to have more of an open discussion with her.  I have absolutely loved my health class and all the opportunities made available for discussion with important people in the public health world.  All our discussions, papers, etc. have made public health a lot more real and tangible future for me which has been an incredibly exciting feeling!  I am really looking forward to my "Controversies in International Health" course starting after break.  Art History has been a very "up and down" experience for me.  I have loved all the site visits and the knowledge I have gained about Geneva and Switzerland in general, but there have certainly been some speed bumps along the way.  Tuesday, we spent our final class at the Phillipe-Patek museum.  We had one of the sassiest people I have ever encountered as a tour guide, which was amusing, but all of us were on edge about the finals we had to study for after 5 hours of class.  Overall the museum was fascinating and I learned a lot more about watches and mechanisms than I ever thought possible.  I am overall happy that I decided to take this class because I will greatly attribute my level of comfort in Geneva to the multiple visits to the History of Art and History, Old Town, and various cities and chateaus across the country.  Nonetheless, I felt completely liberated as of 12:30 today when I proudly turned in my final exam.   

And now, off to Madrid and Marrakech!  Steph, Lauren, Mags, and I embark on our adventure tomorrow morning.  With a 6:30 wake-up call, I better call it a night!  Hoping Andrew "breaks some major leg" this weekend with his magic performance at the Broadway Center in Tacoma!  It was great seeing him on Skype, even if it was brief, and I cannot wait to hear about yet another successful performance!  

Sidenotes and Shoutouts:

An early birthday shootout to one of the sweetest girls I have ever met.  To my darling little one, Hilary Blackstone...welcome to your 20's babe!  I am so lucky to have met you and you mean the world to me. I hope you have the best birthday ever filled with celebrations galore and lots of love.  I am sending all my love and birthday wishes across the Atlantic directly to you on the 11th! Wish I could be there but I know you will live it up!! Miss you Hil!! xx

Also, my inner sorority girl is about to come out so bear with me...

I wanted to extend a warm welcome to the Epsilon Class!!  I cannot wait to meet all 59 of you klassy ladies in January!! L&L.

A Food Filled Weekend!

While several people in the program spent their Revision Weekend traveling to Madrid, Paris, or London, we chose to take a domestic day trip instead.  Maggie, Steph, Lauren, Emma, and I packed our bags (of course it looked like I was carrying a small child on my back) and made our way to Gare Cornivan.  Friday night, after 7 of course, we were on board the first of three trains for the night.  Long travel story short, we had 6 hours of train rides in between us and our hostel in Lugano.  While some of the girls slept, I somehow managed to stay awake the entire train ride there.  I was so eager to be visiting a place that Bekah had lived in and gone to school for 2 years, Andrew had visited 5 years ago, and Dad had been to several years ago as well!  For whatever reason I felt like I was making a pilgrimage and joining a group of people I love in an unexplored place.  We literally traversed the entirety of Switzerland in 24 hours, 6 trains, and a total of 12 hours on the train.  It would have been a straight shot to Lugano if it wasn't for the Alps but alas, we literally either had to climb mountains or circumnavigate them--clearly, the latter was what we chose.  Anyways, we ended up making it to our hostel Saturday morning around 1:30 am.  We entered our room and couldn't help but laugh.  It literally looked as if we were staying in a spaceship--thank goodness we had a private room!  There were 3 mattresses, a little wooden wall, and an additional 3 mattresses all lined up and more or less, that was our room!  Definitely clocked in some cuddle/bonding time with the girls.  While we thought this was absolutely hysterical (aka foot wrestling over the wall) we all slept like logs.  The mattresses conformed to your body shape and nestled you right into them.  Morning came to quickly and we had a long day ahead of us!  Our primary reason for coming to Lugano this particular weekend was for their Autumn Festival that was taking place this weekend.  We started our day off in this incredible bakery that, as most bakeries do, smelled divine.  There were the most gigantic, crumbly topped muffins I have ever seen that were so tempting but somehow we managed to avoid them.  We quickly began our navigation of the festival and quickly learned that chestnuts and polenta are two of the big Autumn festival delicacies.  We decided to pick up some roasted chestnuts (how American Christmas of us!) and were expecting to bite into the delicious sweet smelling nuts we had smelled upon approaching the stand.  However, instead we cracked open the roasted shells and bit into a soft nut that tasted and had the texture of a slightly cooked potato.  Not the sweet taste we were expecting so unusual facial expression ensued.  Now, not only did we feel like we were locals but we also felt as if we had experienced an American tradition 2 months early!  We quickly decided we wanted something sweet to wash down our "delicacy" so we tried a local Ticino canton white wine!  Yum!  We wandered down to the lake front and basked in the sun before we were hungry.  Theme of the day...it was nearing lunch time so we decided to go for the much anticipated gnocchi!  Two plate fulls of delicious potato pasta covered in the most divine red sauce and topped with parmesan cheese later, we could have been rolled out of the tent!  We enjoyed our gnocchi to the sounds of a local band and our sense of being locals continued to grow.  Once again, we found ourselves wandering down by the lake.  We plopped ourselves down on a bench and shared stories for an hour or so while taking in the incredible views of the hillside contrasted against the glistening, blue, blue water.  We continued to explore the festival and tasted some of the fried fish we had seen so many people eating.  They were yummy, a little fishy, and in the end we couldn't bring ourselves to eating the larger fish whose tails were quite prominent and it felt as if the fish had just been plucked from the water.  Like with the chestnuts, we were glad we had tried them but were looking forward to the main event, polenta!  Before this could occur however, we tried Limoncello, ate some of the most delicious gelato I think I have ever had (I got noisette--or hazelnut...SO good!), and watched the preparation of the vats upon vats of what would be one of the fastest meals of my life.  We knew we wanted to catch the 7:12 train to Luzern but polenta wasn't served again until 6...we waited in line, tried to be aggressive in holding our stance as two lines merged into one, and somehow Emma managed to be one of the first people served!  We shared polenta with the most delicious meat sauce along with a polenta dish with two huge chunks of gorgonzola plopped on top!  This was what we had been waiting for all day, and believe me, it was worth the wait.  After scarfing down these two dishes (and a complimentary glass of red wine I had received from a friend in line behind me!) we made a rapid trek back to our hostel to fetch our bags and make our way to the train station.  We were all winded by the time we got to our platform and we still had a 20 minute wait before our train arrived.  Better to be early than late!  We were all exhausted and this time I definitely passed out on the train.  We were all eager to get back and fall asleep so finally when we arrived home I took a quick shower and was passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The next morning I woke up and found myself back at the train station.  I took a 15 minute train ride to Nyon--the town I am presenting on for Art History.  I made a wrong turn out of the train station, ambled around the outskirts of town for 45 minutes before properly orienting myself and making it into the Old Town area.  I explored the Chateau de Nyon and la Musee Romain--entrance was free since it was the first Sunday of the month!  Nyon was one of the first town founded after Caesar's arrival in 52 BC so obviously there is a large Roman influence.  I visited the Roman columns and enjoyed After 8 and dark chocolate gelato as I strolled by Lac Leman on an incredibly clear, sunny day in October!  I loved having some time just to myself: exploring a new town, getting lost and having to find my way, and enjoying what will probably be our last week of gorgeous SUNNY weather.  I am sure this week is about to get incredibly hectic so a little downtime, even if it will turn into a presentation, was a rejuvenating way to start my week.  Good food, good company, exploring and experiencing new things--even if I am already 4 weeks in to my program, I don't think it will ever get old :)

Lugano

Mags, Lauren, Emma, Me, and Steph

Polenta, Polenta, Polenta!

View from Chateau de Nyon

Musée Romain, Nyon