Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland

On somewhat of a whim, Alyssa and I decided to book a weekend trip just three days in advance. We went to this website where you type in where your point of origin is and the date of travel, and it will list the places you can travel to on those dates, from cheapest to most expensive. When we typed in our search, Geneva, Switzerland came up as 30 euro roundtrip, and that was it! Next step was to find out where we would stay. Luckily we found a couchsurfing host who was willing to take us in last minute. We stayed with a 21 year old guy named Sam who lives with his mom, Pauline and sister, Jeanette. (They are both registered couchsurfers too). The flight to Geneva was just over an hour, and on a clear Friday morning we could see the beautiful Alp skyline, as we weaved in and out of jagged snow-covered mountains in our decent. Here is a view from the top:

Flying over the stunning Swiss Alps

But, no picture could do that view justice. We flew over lake Geneva before landing in the valley town. We hopped on the train for the 6-minute ride to the city center (Geneva and is very small, and very well connected).

My trusty travel buddy!

When we got off the train, we waited at the station entrance where Sam had told us to meet him. He said that he would be wearing a jean jacket. Seeing as this was my first couchsurfing experience, I became increasingly doubtful and suspicious of the whole idea as I held my breath each time a 40-something man riding a motorcycle and wearing jean jackets passed us, nervous that one would come over to us and say "I'm Sam!". I was extremely relieved when a friendly looking student with glasses on a bicycle rode up to us to warmly welcomed us to Geneva. In Switzerland, everyone greets each other with 3 kisses on the cheek, starting with the left and alternating. He walked his bike with us back to his apartment and pointed out different parts of the city, as we all became acquainted. His apartment was extremely centrally located (as is basically everything in the city) and very homey. He showed us the living room where we would be staying, and it was really much more than what I would have expected. We had the whole room, and a door which closed from the rest of the house too. He gave us two mattresses, pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags, and kindly told us to treat his home like it was our own.

Our humble abode

Then, we all went into the kitchen where he made us a yummy pasta lunch, and gave us maps and guides to the city. We all had the chance to get to know one another, and after a long chat, Alyssa and I headed out to explore the town. First, we hit up the currency exchange office. Switzerland isn't apart of the E.U., and they use the Swiss Franc, which to our advantage was 1.50 to the euro.

Swiss Francs, pretty to look at, too easy to spend

However, we quickly learned that Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in Europe, and even groceries came at an unprecedented price. With our francs in tow, we headed out to take in some of the amazing views I had heard so much about. We lucked out, and in the three days we were there, the weather was outstanding. Here are some views of the town:

First View of Lake Geneva

The Jet d'Eau, symbol of Geneva

Me in front of the Jet d'Eau

Geneva streets

Cafes in the old town

We had a lot of fun walking around the old town, and had some of the best views when we climbed the top of the cathedral towers:

Entrance of the Cathedral

I didn't think it was possible, but every cathedral is beginning to look the same...

Stained-glass projection

View from the North Tower

Panoramic view of Geneva from the top of the Cathedral

Once the Spanish couple in front of us finished their prolonged fashion photo-shoot, I could get my picture!

When we came back down, we continued to wander the hilly and narrow streets of the old town.

I had dreams of the days when coffee didn't cost more than 2 euro...

Break along the water

Popular student hang out of cafes

Harbor views

That night, when we came back, we went out to dinner with Sam to a restaurant with food from Côte d'Ivoire, where we got a giant plate that everyone shares and you scoop it up with your hands. It was really good, and we told Sam it was our treat. Too bad the bill was 52 franks, more than half of our budget for the trip...needless to say, for the rest of our visit our eating was much lighter. We decided to join Sam and his friends that evening to see what Geneva was like at night. We had woken up at 4am that morning and were exhausted, but wanted to be polite. His friends were all very interesting characters, and most spoke some English. It was fun to play the part of a fly on the wall and just observe this alternative crowd of kids, and hear their stories. Alyssa and I headed back on our own pretty early seeing as we could barely keep our eyes open, and went to sleep for a long next day filled with more sights.
We let ourselves sleep in a bit, and then headed out to see some of the most important landmarks in Geneva. We first walked through the large botanical gardens, and along the lake, which awarded us with another day of clear, breathtaking views across the water. Here are some pictures:

Sweet tranquility

Still water, blue skies. 

Then, we made our way up to the European headquarters of the United Nations, which I had been so excited to visit! To out great misfortune, the UNO was closed on Saturday, and we had to settle for a measly picture from the heavily guarded perimeter. Here is it:

We were disappointed to say the least, but just like the theme rest of our trip, it lacked planning, and we had failed to look up the opening hours. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to come back!
Next, we went to the Red Cross founding building, where we saw one of the most impressive exhibits ever.

The museum had such great displays, filled with video, photos, and memorabilia that gave a clear and touching account of their operations. The first rooms had real footage of the world wars, and of smaller wars in Europe and Africa, showing the nurses, doctors, and aid workers assisting and saving the lives of those injured in battle. The footage and images of the victims of war was like being drenched by a bucket of ice water, and my attention couldn't be taken from the exhibits by anything. There were also rooms that showed what the Red Cross does in difference scenarios of disaster. For example, there was a supply room for flooding that showed what they provide families in need, there was a rehabilitation room which showed how the organization helps with physical therapy and artificial limbs for those who have been injured in war. There was also a room that was a concrete box about of about 10 square feet where 17 P.O.W. were kept from anywhere to 5-60 days, and how the Red Cross works to make sure prisoners are treated humanely and receive psychological help from volunteers. There was also a case of many gifts that such volunteers had received from prisoners as a sign of their gratitude. For example, there was a beautiful sculpture carved out of soap from a jail in Somalia, and a crucifix carved out of wood from Romania. The most powerful room to me was demonstrating the Red Cross' work in relocation of families displaced by war. Here, the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with hundred of photos of homeless children whose parents had been murdered by the genocide in Uganda. Each child looked straight at the camera while holding a piece of paper with their identification number on it, where relatives can search through the database and hopefully recognize the child and take them in. It definitely left me with a lot to think about.
After we saw the museum, we headed back to the lake front where we caught a water taxi to the other side.

From there, we walked on the pier to the base of the Jet d'eau, although just our luck, it shut of when we were about 20 feet from seeing the base of it. Either way, it gave us a good view looking back towards the town.

We soon headed back to Sam's, with our baguette and Boursin for dinner. We didn't have plans for that night, so we just hung out, talked, listened to music, and Alyssa played the piano that the family had in the living room. She is seriously such an amazing pianist, I was shocked when she spontaneously started playing a piece that she was making up on the spot!

We went to sleep pretty early and woke up the next morning for a day trip outside of the city. We had considered Zurich or Bern, or even Chamonix, but alas the expensive transport system of Switzerland made our decision for us. We went to the cheapest place that the train would take us, to a town called Lausanne about 30 minutes down the lake side. The town turned out to be quite nice. We walked down to the port, where families were out and about playing in the fountain and feeding the swans. There was a life-size chess board in the center of the plaza that Alyssa and I played too.

More swans than I have ever seen in one place before!

I love Switzerland.

Despite her friendly demeanor, she is one beast of a chess-player. I didn't realize I was playing against a 3rd-grade chess club alumni.

Then, we walked up to the largest cathedral in the city, which was really beautiful.

However...

This charming gentleman who put himself in charge of opening and closing the door for visitors for a small fee to be dropped in his cup, also felt the need to grace everyone's photos as he picked his nose so intently you'd of thought he was digging for gold. Not only that, but then he continued to wipe his boogers all over the cathedral door. It is rare that one feels a strong urge to vomit when entering the threshold of a centuries-old architectural marvel. Well done, sir.
As I struggled to keep my lunch down, we left the cathedral and continued to walk amongst the old and winding city streets.

We came upon the lake again and walked along it for a while until we make our way to the Olympic Museum.

The museum charged quite a hefty entrance fee with no student discount, so we were forced to enjoy the sights from outside.

We headed back to the train station, and back to Geneva. On our way home, with a total of 10 franks between the two of us, decided to get bread and cheese for dinner again. However, we quickly found that absolutely nothing was open on Sunday, so we headed back to Sam's house with empty bellies. However, when he got home from work, he popped his head into our room to say "We'll be eating in half an hour, okay?" His Mom proceeded to cook us a giant, multiple-course dinner that filled us to the brim. She made two veggie salads, we had bread rolls, cooked white celery, beans, pasta, and fish. She spoke only French with very little English, but was extremely friendly and curious about where we are from in the U.S. and our studies in Barcelona. That night we cleaned up and said thank you and headed to bed really early for our 7am flight back to Barcelona the next day. Very successful couchsurfing experience, I must say. The next morning we spent Valentine's Day drowsily shuffling through the airport at 5am. Although we were jet-lagged, and Alyssa was countries away from her newly engaged fiance, we enjoyed the remnants of our Swiss-bought deluxe milk chocolate and more stunning views flying over mountains and seas, back to our home in Barcelona. Next weekend, Catherine, Joanna and I are flying to Galicia for 4 days, to a town called Santiago de Compostela just north of Portugal. We are couchsurfing again, staying with a girl named Roci and her 5 roommates, should be fun!
I hope you are all doing great!
Love, Megs

Fantastic Weekend in the Sun!

The sun is shining and I am loving life.

This weekend has been so long and packed, but so fun and with a taste of spring weather! The last week or so has been in the high 60s, every day a little warmer, and today was about 75, which made for a great day on the beach! Let's recap the last few days, shall we?

First, Joanna's friends were visiting this week, so we took them out a few nights to see some different areas. We went to a fun tapas bar in Gracia called "Shh...no se lo digas a nadie" where we ordered sangria and all shared plates of mushroom quiche, patatas bravas (fried potatoes with a mayo/ketchup dipping sauce), and couscous with vegetables. Here they are in Gracia!

Then on Friday, as an excursion with my EAP group, we hired a bus and drove the hour and a half to a town called Poblet. First, we went to a restaurant in town, where they fed us breakfast. The dining room was beautiful and the tables where so nicely set-up. Our breakfast was two generously portioned sandwich-halves, each with a different topping. One side was ham and cheese and the other all different types of sausage on pan con tomate. 

They also decided to put a porron of red wine on our table for breakfast. Let's not forget that we are college students here, and regardless of whether or not that was meant to be consumed at 9am, we had ourselves some tasty breakfast wine. 

We left the restaurant, purple teeth and all, and headed by bus to the Poblet monastery. Although it was beautiful and I'm sure packed with a stimulating historical past, we were guided by my 90 year-old Art History professor who not only speaks by basically whispering, but also has no ability to maintain a train of thought. When taking us through the monastery, he told us all about his life, his wife, how he's been in jail, went blind, tried to commit suicide, but then took a minute to get a coffee and found the meaning of life in a Beethoven number playing at the cafe. While this is all very fascinating, I ended up taking tons of photos in a giant historic building that I knew nothing about. Just as I would catch the word "monasterio" in his speech, and get ready for some factual info, my hopes were again dashed by the story of his herniated back. 

Anyways, here are some photos from the monastery. Make up you own facts and figures, they will be just as accurate as what I would be able to tell you.

After our tour, we headed back to the restaurant for lunch. This was the main draw of the excursion, because what we were about to try is known only in Catalonia, and only at this time of the year. They are...the calçots!!!

So there is a ton of hype around this veggie treat. Basically, it is in the onion family. Maybe like a nephew or brother-in-law of the leek as well. To grow it, you plant the bulb, and as it grows, you continue to pack more and more soil around the stem, so that the white part grows much longer. To prepare, they grill hundreds of them on a BBQ, and then take them off and role them in newspaper and put then in a box, so that they steam themselves. Then, you peel off the burnt part, and dip the stem into the "Romanesco" sauce which is basically tomato, oil, pine nuts and lots of garlic. Here is a play-by-play:

Bibs on. Ready to roll.

Life supply of Calçots and our individual  Romanesco dipping sauces

Goodbye to the charred part. Joanna was convinced that the burnt part was meant to be eaten but after she took a huge bite of burnt calçot, she decided maybe everyone else's way wasn't so bad.

A careful dip.

Fancy, eh? It was actually quite good. Nothing spectacular, but the calçots were really soft and kinda creamy-ish but not really. 

Then, they brought the porron out again.

Improper porron technique, but you get the idea.

People were getting all kinds of crazy with this thing, and those with the most porron-skillz could hold it arms distance away and shoot it into their mouth without spilling. I tried and...well, lets just say I'm glad I had a bib.

Even though we were stuffed, the calçots were only course one of four! We headed back inside the restaurant.

Bread and wine.

Next course: a sausage soup. It was basically like Campbell's chicken noodle soup, but someone had chucked in a couple hunks of discolored sausage links.

Be jealous.

Next course: Surprise! More sausage. 

Yum?

For dessert, we all had birthday cake for our program organizer, Kirsten's birthday.

Yum.

So basically the excursion was all about being served ridiculous amounts of sausage, but at least we had a beautiful sunny day, and plenty of wine to go around.

The next day, Alyssa, Joanna and I, met at the top of Montjuic for a picnic in the sun. 

It was a beautiful day, and after we picnicked, we walked all over the mountain. We found an area of really stunning gardens, filled with water fountains and little cafe areas. 

It was so clear that we could watch the sun set across the whole city, and as we did, we settled down in front of the art museum and listened to a man passionately play Spanish guitar.

Today, we decided to go to the beach, to enjoy this warm and sunny weather. We took the metro down to the Barcelonetta beach, and walked a while to find a perfect spot. 

Joanna!

Alyssa!

We all laid down for a while on the sand to soak up the sun, and just relax.

After a bit, we walked around the beach area, and along a pier that stretches far out into the water and is covered with adorable restaurants and happy customers enjoying their paella in the sun.

There were so many people out today, and street vendors and performers all over. 

The weather has been so amazing, and you can just feel the high energy in the air around here. I hope it lasts!

Tomorrow I start my Catalan class, which will be for 2 hours every night across town until 9pm. I am excited for it though, I've always loved language classes, and it will be fun to really get comfortable speaking Catalan. 

On a whim, Alyssa and I decided to go to Switzerland next weekend! We booked our tickets, and will be staying in Geneva for 4 days, and use couchsurfers for a place to stay. (It's a website where people surf and provide couches all over the world. It's totally free, safe, and a great way to get the onside scoop on wherever you may be!) We will be so close to France, so we are planning to cross the border for a day trip, and maybe a few more to near-by cities or into the mountains. I can't wait to see it, from what I have seen, the landscapes are just breathtaking. Once I get back I am headed to Istanbul, Turkey in a few short weeks too! I hope you are all doing very well!

Much love, 

Meg