Me colé!

Today was a strange day. I woke up bummed out because I was lonely. Not having someone to travel with can be hard and sometimes it takes a little extra motivation to get out of bed and... Seize the day! But finally did it and by noon I was walking into the metro headed downtown. I walked brought El Parque del Retiro and really reflected on life. I bought a bracelet and ate some orange Swiss chocolate and sat on a bench while listening to a jazzy saxophone play in the background. I was content and in that moment I realized that I have to learn to keep myself company; me to me. Funny, I walked out of the park with a sense of fulfilment and happiness, a feeling I was proud to have given myself without the need of someone else.
But life acts in the most random and inexplicable ways. I got into the metro and headed to the main plaza, ground zero. And soon I found a tour group of international students studying in Madrid! Just when I realized going off on my own was also a good experience, I meet so many great people. "Me colé!" I butted in! I became a part of the meet and greet community of people who recently arrived Madrid from all over the world! Needless to say, I have plans for the rest of the week... With great company.

Visit to Geneva 2.0

Another very nice sunny day spent in Geneva before heading to Madrid. Both me and my phone took a dip in the lake. Thankfully no water got in and all the buttons work!

Meet the Alps

This is the real deal and I'm sorry to disappoint all you Ottawa skiers but you've been missing out! Tremblant has nothing on these spectacular mountains where one of our double black diamonds is equivalent to their "red", and intermediate level between blue and black. Not only is the skiing fantastic but the scenery is unbelievable.

We finished off the day with raclette, a typical Swiss dish. Yum!

Pure Joy

The past two days I have experienced pure joy. Weisi and I visited Lyon, the second biggest city in France. We found a host in couchsurfing who gave us a tour of the city and offered his keys so we could enter and exit his apartment whenever. So we roamed the city, went to the cathedral with the most magnificent view, saw the "Eiffel tower" (see building next to cathedral... Not the actual Eiffel Tower) visited a puppet museum and a miniature museum where the sets of the famous film Perfume were made, walked around the old town and the shopping district, visited a Pakistani/Chinese store, witnessed a gay rights parade, put a few euros into busker's hats... And so much more. But the highlight of my stay at Lyon was the amazing experience we had wit couchsurfing because not only does it benefit the surfers, it benefits the host too. We cooked for him and shared our stories and by the end of the night we were pretty much family. He then took us to a reggae concert where we met other couch surfers. The evening ended in a private jazz club with only 6 of us drinking beer and swing dancing. These people I met last night... They have amazing stories and very useful advice about travelling. I can't describe the joy I felt during the few hours we spent together; where everyone wants to hear your story with no judgment, where everyone accepts and appreciates, and most importantly everyone inspires you to make your dreams come true with what you have.

Life is simple.

Rest(less) Days

After dropping Hirut off at the airport in Geneva yesterday morning, Weisi and I took a stroll around Nyon and Lausanne. In California they have palm trees, here they have things that look like ogres. I love these trees and haven't been able to find out what they are called but they are everywhere!! We saw big cathedrals and beautiful mountains. Switzerland is really something but to be honest I'm more than ready to change the scenery a little.

As for today, I had a legitimate rest day where all I did was cook, read and pack a little for tomorrow. The thing about rest days is that I have too much time to think, and sometimes this thinking brings me good ideas but often it brings worries and questions that I am unable to answer. For example, what is the point of my trip? Tough one, I haven't figured it out yet. And I might not figure it out until I look back in a few months. Or maybe even later. What I'm trying to say is I feel like I need something more than walking around cities and taking pictures; a little more depth to my trip. And this is why I updated my profile on couch surfing; it's because I realized that one of my goals here is to meet people and what better way to do it than to live with them? Don't get me wrong it's a bit scary staying at someone's house you don't know but I am cautious and from what I've heard, it's a great organization with some really great people. Most stories are positive to say the least.

Tomorrow I am off with Weisi again, this time to Lyon in France where we will spend the night either surfing a couch or at a hostel. I have this little girl excitement bubbling inside me when I think about it... I love Switzerland but I think it's time for something new!

A Collection of Pictures

Here I am being lazy and not wanting to write much. Instead I will post a few pictures with a small comment under them to tell you about my past few days. I'm happy, safe and warm (I've heard about the Canada weather these days...) and I feel like my adventure is just getting started. Thank you to all who have written to me or commented, it means a lot you are keeping up with my trip and I hope some day you plan one of your own and keep ME updated! Here we go...

So my second day in Geneva was even better than the first. My Monday excursion through the city was fun, but Tuesday was just the perfect day. Not only were all museums open (everything is closed Mondays) but the sun decided to come out! This is the bridge that takes you from one side of lake Geneva to the other, at the beginning of the lake when it's quite small. This lake gets so wide that you could mistake it for the ocean if you didn't know better.

This is Geneva's famous Jet d'Eau. Believe me the picture doesn't donut justice. I got on a small boat that took me from one side of the lake to the other; I felt infinite. 

This is the boat after having dropped me off. 

So I walked around, talked to people, opened massive church doors and observed beautiful art. I decided Picasso was a really cool dude, kind of crazy but he would have been a whoot of a friend. I say this because I saw an exhibition about the life of Picasso explained in photos. The cool part was the art Picasso was working on in the photographs was also part of the exhibition. 
The story behind this picture is that today I realized travelling alone means you either get no pictures with you and the amazing things you see (unless you consider Selfies which I have tried and don't work so well) or you ask some random taxi driver to do you the favour and this is the quality you get. Good thing we all know what I was standing in front of...

Tuesday we hosted my friends as a goodbye dinner to Hirut (left) who goes back to Sweden tomorrow. Dinner was delicious thanks to Martha.

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United Nations Special Visitor

That's right. When you have a close friend who works for the United Nations, you can get invited as a special guest which means you are free to roam around the UN palace without a tour guide. What a privilege!
So after getting lost (on purpose... One of those trust your instinct things which worked out fine) for three hours in the heart of Geneva I bused to the United Nations palace and ventured every conference room, hallway and library. They even have their own hospital! Needless to say it was all quite impressive.
This place really got me thinking of how much I like helping people. Julio, the family friend who works in the UN, and I have talked a lot about his work. He says the challenging part about it is that there is little reward in what he does when it comes to the media, which is true. When things go well in third world countries we don't really hear about it. But when there's a natural disaster that wipes out a whole country that's when it's on the front page of every newspaper and news channel. Regardless, visiting the UN has really got me thinking if how much I'd love to work in a place like this where self reward and seeing how you make a difference is enough...

Mount Jura!

Today we skied between the clouds on the Jura mountains. Just to give you an idea, the Jura mountains are separated from the alps by lake Geneva so they're that much shorter. The cool thing about skiing on these mountains is that you get an amazing view of the Alps.

Sleeping is Not Always Giving In

Today was my day to rest. So I slept as long as I could till I got tired of sleeping. Then I grabbed my small backpack, a bottle of water and my phone and hopped on a bus with Hirut. We went downtown Lausanne and walked up and down the pier along lake Geneva. I don't know how people can get used to the scenery here. You see a clear green lake then dramatic mountains appear out of the clouds. It's breathtaking. We headed to the olympic museum that is unfortunately closed until later on this year and then walked around the old town for the rest of the afternoon.

Tomorrow I'm off to Geneva then to the border of France and Switzerland where I will spend a few days with another family of friends. Skiing on the Alps? Yeah I guess I'm up for it :D

Oh forgot to mention I got an email from McGill. Apparently I got accepted... Again. Things are going well.

444 Steps

Today Hirut and I climbed and descended almost 444 steps, unsure of the number because we lost track after a hundred... This happened in Bern, the capital of Switzerland, in a gothic style cathedral called Berner Münster in German. From up there we could see the whole town of Bern, standing on top of the world facing the sun that has been a little shy the past couple of days.

Bern is beautiful as you may see in the pictures below yet today was more than visiting a city. Today was a day for getting to know my travel buddy and new friend, Hirut. We spent the whole day leisurely walking through small alleys, over bridges and past old buildings. We casually stopped to take a picture or two. But I have to say the highlight of my day was getting to know her. We got lost in conversations about our past, the present and our hopes and desires for the future; our dreams of travelling and helping people. Having met her the day I arrived to Switzerland was a surprise that has turned into a kind and easy friendship I am thankful for. Someone once told me the friends you make during your travels are ones you keep for a long time. I hope this is true.

"If you visit Lucerne, you've seen Switzerland"

This is somewhat true. Lucerne is located right in the center of Switzerland. It faces a lake, has a river running through it and is surrounded by mountains. It's impressively clean and has a great transportation system; typical Switzerland.

But I find that every town has it's charm. Whether it's the story of the milkman who started a cheese factory, or the name of the town that was inspired by a fight against a bear. It could be the woman with a baby who stopped to take a picture of us or the men dressed in suits rushing by with purpose in the middle of the day.

This is what makes travelling interesting; many people can walk down the same street and all remember it differently. I find details that you learn from talking to locals, from reading a little history then seeing the monuments, the gesture people make while walking down the street... All of these and more are what give the town a charm. They are things you can't read about in guidebooks, or see under google images. It's being totally immersed in the place and finding it's charm.