Monday, February 15, 2010

Greece





















This semester for our Education Field Trip the entire group went to Greece for a week. We stayed on the mainland in Athens and took a boat out to some of the small islands on one of the days. Greece was so awesome and crazy and fun. I love traveling with the whole group because you really get to make some close friendships and strengthen the ones you already have. Last semester I saw it happen in Corsica and I had been looking forward to it in Greece. We left Monday morning and split the group in half on two flights going over. We arrived at our hotel, threw our luggage on the bed and opened our curtains only to see the Acropolis and Parthenon sitting atop the hill right outside our window. It was one of the coolest things to see. The first thing they gave us when we got there was 8 hours of free time to explore the city. I chose to go with my professor to Mars Hill, the place where Paul gave his famous speech to the Athenians. We walked up to this mound made out of marble that had a steep staircase to get to the top of, so we all climbed up while holding on because it was so slippery and when we got to the top it was such a beautiful view. One direction was a clear view of the Acropolis and Parthenon, the other was the Agoura and on the other side was a complete panoramic view of Athens, Greece. Of course we stood up there taking pictures for quite some time and then finally we took a moment to let it set in that we were sitting atop the very hill that Paul had once preached from. Being the Christian group that we are, my friend Amy had a bible in her backpack and we sat on the hill as she read the passage of Paul preaching on that same hill. That was such a cool experience, especially since we read the passage at dusk and got to see the view at sunset.
The next few days it decided to rain on us but luckily we were in the shelter of tour busses driving us around Greece. We went to ancient cities and ruins and ate the best food of our lives. On the third day we took a boat out to the islands of which I was really excited for. Turns out, it was a little bit of a let down. Since it was winter many of the shops and stands were closed and the weather wasn’t all that great. Also, I was expecting the white houses with the blue tops and the glistening blue water that I’ve always seen in pictures of the Greek Isles, that is not at all what we got. Things were definitely white with blue accents, but it looked nothing like I had seen in all the pictures. They were still really cute and pleasant islands though. I just wish we had been able to go to Santorini or Mykonos (the famous Greek Isles).
At the end of the trip we strolled the morning markets and bartered with people and bought fresh strawberries and eventually headed to the airport. There is so much more to say about the trip but I don’t want to drag it on. I think I got the general gist of it out though. The pictures will tell all.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Florence




Florence has always been a city that has been talked about highly and I knew I definitely wanted to visit Florence while I was in Europe. Pepperdine has an international program in Florence as well and if you travel there you are welcome to stay in their Villa for free if you can reserve a bed. So luckily we applied early enough so that we would get beds in the Villa and we didn’t have to pay for a hostel, which was so convenient. Also another perk was that we know a few of the kids in the program so they were more than willing to show us around the city all day and take us to the trendy dinner joints at night. Our suitemate Allie from last year lives in the Villa so it was really nice to be able to see her again. We arrived on Thursday night and stayed until Saturday at which point I went back to Lausanne by myself while the rest of my group went to Venice for Carnevale. I wasn’t too excited to go to Venice so I just decided to come home and have a day of rest before we headed for Greece. So on Friday we toured the city and saw the Duomo, the David and the Uffizi gallery. I enjoyed walking around a city where so much history took place. Having learned about the Renaissance, the Plague and everything else that has happened in Florence it was cool to see the city. I had always heard such great things about Italy, but to be honest I wasn’t that impressed with the city. It felt so dirty compared to Switzerland and the people are much more easily irritated and some of the streets are just too sketchy. I was completely fine only being there one full day because I felt like it was like long enough to see everything I wanted to, get some good food and wine and come back to Switzerland. After seeing Florence and the Villa and the people in the program, I had never been so happy that I had been rejected from the program in the first place. I had originally applied to study in Florence and wasn’t accepted and now I understand the saying “everything happens for a reason.” I totally would not have enjoyed Florence as much as I love Lausanne. I am so happy to be in a place that I love and can safely call my temporary home.

Paris




















Last weekend we went to Paris with a group of 6 of us and rented an apartment rather than staying in a hostel because it ended up being cheaper. We stayed for 3 days and got to see most of the stuff that we wanted to see. We went to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, Musee D’Orsay and the Arch of Triumph. Of all those things I would have to say that the Eiffel Tower was the most impressive, it was so much larger than I had ever expected. We went to the halfway point up the tower (they wouldn’t let us up all the way due to the wind) so we got to see Paris from above and while we were up there it started snowing. How many times can you say that you watched it snow from atop the Eiffel Tower?! However, the Louvre was what really caught me by surprise. I had been to the Met in New York before and thought that was the biggest museum I had ever been to, until I went to the Louvre. We waited until after 6pm on Friday because student’s get free admission so we had only 4 hours to get through the whole museum. It was completely impossible to enjoy the entire museum in 4 hours. We only got to see 2 of the 4 different wings of the museum but I was happy to see the works of art that we got to see. It was so cool to be able to see the paintings in real life that we have learning about in our Religion class and our Humanities class. I actually felt for once that I understood the paintings rather than just standing there in front of them with a blank expression. There isn’t much to say about Paris other than that we saw all the main attractions and it was absolutely freezing. I think I can legitimately say that it was the coldest I had ever been in my life. We weren’t able to do much more than site see because it was absolutely freezing outside and snowing and we were only there for 2 day. My absolute favorite part of Paris was going to Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart). It’s a small place on top of a hill that overlooks all of Paris and we happened to make it up there for sunset and I got some great pictures. I would love to go back to Paris in the spring or summer and see it again. I did love the city though and it was cool to see how different French sounds between Swiss French and the French from France. I felt like there was so much else to see other than the usual tourist attractions, so I would love to go back.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Thonon Les Bains





As a day trip on Friday a few of us took a trip on the ferry across the lake to a city in France called Thonon Les Bains. There wasn’t much to see but we walked around and got a cappuccino and came back. It was freezing and somewhat a waste of money but at least we know what is across the lake now. Just a few docks and small houses with a small town square.

Chateau D’Oex




The next weekend we stayed in Switzerland again and headed out to a place about 3 hours from our house to watch the famous Swtizerland Hot Air Balloon contest. It was in a huge field that was covered with snow and had hot chocoloate stands everywhere and it was a festival full of crazy painted hot air balloons that took off at various times of the day. Some were painted in crazy colors and some were made to look like Scotsmen playing the bagpipes. It was cool, but so cold!

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.

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