The End

I spent my last weekend in Zurich. Zürifäscht, which is the largest public festival in Switzerland, held every four years for three days, was taking place. It was kind of like Albanifest in Winterthur. It featured music, 30 minutes of fireworks set to music each night, and other attractions (rides, food, etc) throughout the old town. It started on July 2nd, so even though I wasn't home for Canada Day, I got to have fireworks anyway (a day late, but oh well)!

I am now home safe and sound. This was probably the most memorable and rich experinece of my life so far. I've learned so much about myself, met some unforgettable people and had some amazing experiences. Goodbyes were really hard and I think adjusting to my old life in Regina will be a little tough at first...but at the same time, I get to see all my loved ones again!

Thanks everyone for following my blog, posting comments, sending emails, and making phone calls while I was away. See you soon!

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Amsterdam was an amazingly beautiful city...great architecture, canals, easy going people (hmm...wonder why). I think that gets lost in all the hype about legalized drugs and prostitution. I had this feeling that it would be a scuzzy city, but it was anything but. The Red Light district is actually a really cool place to hang out. You see all sorts there...from people looking at the women in their windows and smoking pot to old, civilized couples just strolling through. The area has a lot of energy and it doesn't feel dirty or anything. It seems somehow...professional. Christian and I had a really relaxing time while we were in Amsterdam. We did a lot of walking around, shopping, watching FIFA games, took a canal cruise...really great time. Amsterdam is definitely in my top three favorite European cities.

Jungfrau Region, Switzerland

After finishing my final (which I think went well), I set off to central Switzerland for two days of hiking in the Alps. I was supposed to go with Tatjana, but she threw her back out the day before and was unfortnately immobilized :( I spent my time hiking near Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. I am certain that in those two days I hiked about 40km. The area itself is straight out of a fairytale...waterfalls, rolling green hills, gigantic snow covered mountains, babbling brooks, cows with cow bells...amazing. It reminded me a lot of Banff actually...even had a tonne of Asian tourists :) One of the people in my hostel dorm room was from Kelvington, Saskatchewan...smallest world ever!

I managed to spend some time with Tatjana before she left for Italy and I left for home. She lives with her grandmother and they had me over for a traditional Swiss meal, Raclette (melted cheese). That evening, I attended Albanifest with her and some of her friends. Albanifest is the largest annual festival in a historic town in Switzerland. It is kind of like the exhibition. The whole old town is filled with rides, food vendors and music for three days. I had time to take in one evening and one afternoon before departing to Amsterdam.

Is Anyone Out There??

Has anyone seen "Julie and Julia"? Julie starts a blog and checks obsessively for comments, wondering if anyone reads her blog or if she is just wasting her time. This is how I feel people! Where are you? Is my blog just that boring that no one looks anymore or is commenting just too much work???

I Heart Paris

Paris was amazing! I had such a wonderful time there. For the people who say they hate Paris...I'm pretty sure they weren't in the same city that I was. It was beautiful, people were friendly (enough) and it was the cleanest place that I have been to outside Switzerland. Paris is the only city so far that I didn't feel ready to leave. I spent the first day just hanging out in my hostel (Peace and Love), drinking beer, watching FIFA and chatting with the staff. That evening I met a guy from Australia and a girl from Malaysia and the three of us ventured out to watch the Brazil-North Korea game. It was a great night...the conversation and beer flowed very easily :) The next day I met a girl from the US who has been living and teaching in Dubai for the past two years. She was travelling solo as well, so we ended up spending the next two days taking in all the sights and sounds of Paris together. We saw the Louvre, the Mona Lisa, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and many, many more...there is so much to see in Paris! The final day, I leisurely strolled through a few more areas that I wanted to see, stopped for coffee, and got my hair cut by a Parisienne guy at a place called Rock Hair. I am now back in Winterthur preparing for my final on Tuesday. It's a tough transition from over two weeks of travelling to studying...but it has to be done and then I'll be on to my final adventure...Amsterdam...seems like a good way to end off my time in Europe!

Provence, France

My hostel in Aix-en-Provence was right next to a modern art gallery, Fondation Vasarely, and it turned out there was an outdoor festival taking place the first evening I was there. I heard it kept the people in the hostel up the night before and so I thought...if you can`t beat them, join them! The festival was put on by Seconde Nature, a multidisciplinary project dedicated to new forms of creation in the fields of electronic music, digital art, and other cultural oddities. It was really different and great! It reminded me a lot of the concerts in Victoria park. They had beer, food, and really unique entertainment. The next day I did the walking tour of Aix. It`s a small city, so I was done in under two hours, which was fine with me, because I`m getting a little sick of being a tourist. There was a great, outdoor art show going on all over the city in little gardens. They even had someone playing the piano and a man singing opera. That was probably my first time seeing live opera. It was somewhat enchanting. I finished off the evening by taking in Sex and the City 2!! Movies were half price for the time I was in Aix...so I could not resist :) My last day in Provence I spent lazing on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea in Marseille! It was beautiful! I spent a little time browsing the streets of Marseille, but not a whole bunch. By this point in my travels, I more interested in seeing things other than just city after city. Anyway...cheers all! I am off to find a coffee and croissant and see the Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame... :)

Hamburg, Germany

The last city I visited in Germany was Hamburg, which is a port city and the wealthiest city in Germany. It also has the largest “Red Light” district in Europe, Reeperbahn. It is a lot tamer than the one in Amersterdam apparently. Really, it just seemed like a bunch of strip clubs, sex shops and fast food joints. Mostly harmless, but a bit scuzzy. They have a street that woman are not allowed on...I may have snuck around the barricade and taken a peek :) Besides a couple trips to Reeperbahn, we also went on a cruise of the harbour. The ship yard is huge. We also took in a couple sites in Hamburg, but there really wasn’t much to see. In fact our time is Hamburg was a little anti climatic after being in Berlin. But the trip did end off with nothing but excitement. Our night train was an hour late which meant we missed our connection in Munich. So we were rerouted back to Winterthur in a different direction, at this point, two hours late. And then...while taking our new route home, the train stopped and changed its sign to say that it was going back the way it just came from. Turns out there was an accident on the track up ahead and we had to be rerouted again. We ended up on a bus to Konstanz and then took a ferry across Lake Konstanz where we caught our final train home. In the end, it took as long to get home from Hamburg as it would have for me to have flown home to Canada! But, in the end, I got to see Lake Konstanz, which I had wanted to for some time and didn’t think I’d have the opportunity :) Tomorrow morning I’m off to Aix-en-Provence for three nights and then Paris for another three nights!!

Groovy Berlin

Tomorrow morning we leave Berlin and head to Hamburg. Berlin is a very groovy city. It is hard to explain the vibe in Berlin...it's very happening, very raw, very alive. It seems to be a city full of very alternative, artsy type people and places. The first day we went straight from the overnight train ride to a 4 hour walking tour of the city and saw all the main sites, such as the Brandenburg Gate, a remaining section of the Berlin wall and the TV tower (another CN tower...seems every big city has one). The next day we went to a huge flea market. Apparently a Sunday in Berlin would not be complete without going to a flea market. Then we went to Charlottenburg Palace. Finished off the day with a free pint of beer at our hostel. Every night at 8pm, they give away an entire keg glass by glass and every day at 2pm, they give away free cake...does life get better than that?? Today we went to the two other sections of remaining Berlin wall, the longest being East Side Gallery, which is 1.3km long and completely covered in paintings now. It is pretty incredible to see the wall...hard to believe something like that happened in my lifetime. We also went to this super groovy artsy area, Tacheles. This is hard to explain. It's like a huge junk yard and there are a bunch of little galleries and art made from the junk. There is also a huge warehouse building full of galleries that you can browse. The building looks condemned and smells of pee, but it was very interesting. It seems to be alternative art made by lots of independent artists...definitely not mainstream. Tonight we are just going to chill out and get ready for our early morning train ride to Hamburg!

Beer, Beer and More Beer!

We just arrived in Berlin this morning on the overnight train from Munich, where we spent the last three days. Munich was awesome! Being that Munich is famous for its beer halls and Oktoberfest, we decided to dub our time there "Junifest". The very first place we visited after dropping our bags at the hostel was Hofbräuhaus, basically the most famous beer hall in Munich. From there we went to another famous beer hall, Augustiner Keller. We enjoyed some German food (cabbage rolls, sausages, kuchen) along with our liters of beer (yes...they serve them by the liter)!! The next day we spent the afternoon on a walking tour, taking in all the must sees, such as the Glockenspiel. And then, that evening, we went on the Beer Challenge, which is basically a pub crawl. It was a great way to meet people to party with. Four beer halls later... The next morning we got up and went to BMW Welt (World). Unfortunately, we weren't able to go on a plant tour because it was closed...next time. After that, we had a nap in the park...ahhh and ended the day off in the Englischer Garten, which is one of the largest parks in the world (if not the largest), known for nude sunbathing amongst other things. Naturally, there is an outdoor beer garden in the middle of the park, Chinesischer Turm, where we consumed our final liter of beer in Munich!

I'm Done!!!

Today was my last day of classes! I just finished my German final which went pretty good and had my last presentation today. Now I am free to do whatever I want until June 22nd when I have my only final! I leave Tuesday morning with Koryn to Germany. We are going to Munich, Berlin and Hamburg for a total of 8 days! Can't wait!! And then once I get back from Germany, I plan to spend a week in France and end off my travels with a few days in Amsterdam with Christian at the end of June. So, keep checking back on the blog...it should get pretty exciting soon!!

Cheers!! Speaking of cheers...off to Paddy's for a celebratory pint!!

When in Rome

Corey and I spent four days in Rome while he was here. There is so much to see and do in Rome that the only way we could imagine even accomplishing half of it was to do one of the "Hop on Hop off" bus tours. We managed to take in 17 different sites, though we didn't tour them all extensively. Some of the noteworthy ones were Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (pictured in order above). When we weren't touring, we were eating pasta or pizza and drinking wine or coffee in outdoor street cafes!

So my vacation this past month is over and besides eating, sleeping (and typing this blog entry), I am engrossed in project work. There is light at the end of my tunnel though...two weeks today and my semester is over...besides one final on June 22nd!

Alive and Well (for those of you wondering!)

Corey has come and gone by now. He arrived home a couple of days ago...barely. There was another eruption of the volcano in Iceland and the evening before he was supposed to go home, all of the surrounding airports closed down. For some reason, Zurich's remained open and after a four hour delay and unexpected overnight in Toronto, he made it.

While he was here, we did a similar tour of Switzerland to what my mother and I did...my city (Winterthur), then my favorite Swiss city (Zurich) and a city that I hadn't been to yet, Lausanne. It is in the French speaking, southwestern corner of Switzerland. We spent the afternoon taking in the sites that the city had to offer and then took a short train ride to Chateau de Chillon which is a castle located on the shore of Lake Geneva that dates back to the 11th or 12th century. We took a tour of it and then went to Montreux via ferry. Montreux is a small city near the castle where we had supper and after that we took the train back home to Winterthur. For the next couple days, he relaxed and I did homework.