Solothurn

For the first weekend of travel in the semester we were given the offer to tag along with a friend and stay at a family’s home in a place called Solothurn, Switzerland. Our friend Mariesa is new this semester and was studying abroad in London last semester. Since we met we got along really well and she felt comfortable inviting me and Alex with her to Solothurn for the first weekend. She knows a family that lives there through their daughter, Maddy, who was an exchange student with Mariesa’s family back in the States. Maddy invited 6 of us to stay at her house for the weekend and offered to take us all on a ski trip. We got to the house and the family was absolutely amazing. The dad and the kids spoke English, but the mom only spoke German so it was a little hard to communicate with her but the kids and dad did a great job of translating and making sure that she was involved in all of our conversations. When we first got there we walked around the small town, the city itself is very small and quaint. Afterwards we went to Maddy’s house where her parents had set up a full Raclette meal for us. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. For the entire time that we were there they fed us three full meals a day and all of them were so amazing! They made the beds with new sheets and comforters and were one of the most hospitable people ever. On Saturday Maddy woke us all up and we ventured out to a mountain called Wengen (pronounced Vayn-gen) where we rented skis and proceeded up the mountain for my first time skiing ever on the Swiss Alps (let alone my first time skiing ever). Not paying attention we had been taken on a lift that took us to the top of a black diamond ski run. We stood at the top of the mountain in disbelief that we were about to attempt to go down. Long story short, it was the scariest thing of my life and I petrified. I literally thought I was going to go off the cliff and die. Luckily a local man found me on my butt on the side of the mountain crying after having just taken a spill. He picked up my poles for me and helped me up and stayed with me the entire way down the mountain while linking arms with me on the steep parts so I wouldn’t fall. He was an angel in disguise. 4 hours later we made it to the bottom. Needless to say I turned my skis in and never want to go again! But it was a cool experience and I’m glad I can say I’ve skied on the Alps.