Long time no talk! The past few weeks have been incredibly busy as we gear up to leave for Africa so it has been hard to find time to sit and write up a post. I had the chance to visit Interlaken and Bern, Switzerland a few weekends ago. This past weekend was one of my favorites. My sister Devin had a work trip and was able to squeeze in a weekend with me in Vienna, Austria. We did a whole lot of walking and saw as much as we possibly could all weekend between churches, palaces, and waffle places 🙂

Tomorrow I head off to Africa for the next month. I will be ‘off the grid’ and then will return to Lugano for a few days before I head home to the states. I will be in Rwanda working with an NGO which is in charge of an orphanage and a school. I will be in a group of 9 VT students teaching english, other lessons, and playing sports and other activities with them. Our weekends will be filled with a safari, a retreat, the Rwandan Genocide Museum, and meeting a survivor who wrote a book we read. I am extremely excited for my time in Africa and I cannot wait to share my pictures and experiences when I return.

Happy early thanksgiving 🙂 Catch ya in a month!

Two weeks ago I traveled to Amsterdam and I found these two people there : ) 

We went to the Van Gogh museum which was a self guided tour. There were so many works on display, but it was so interesting to learn more about his life. After the museum, we grabbed dinner where I had amazing fish and chips. We stayed on a house boat which was an experience but very cool. The next day we found bagels!! And proceeded to do a guided walking tour of the Jewish Quarter which, again, was very cool. Following that we headed to the Anne Frank house which was incredibly moving because you really did walk in the areas where Anne and here family walked and lived. We walked around Amsterdam a little more and then went on a nighttime canal tour which was incredible, and cold. The canals are lit up and the views of the city were amazing.

The next day we headed over to the Heineken museum and did a tour there to escape the cold and rain.

My parents headed back to Lugano with me and I loved being able to show them around. We took a day trip to Bellinzona which is home to 3 medieval castles. 

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The next weekend I headed to Dublin, Ireland with a group of 10. When we arrived we had dinner and I decided to wait to indulge in a full Irish meal so I had a burger but tasted my friends bangers & mash and stew. We headed over to Temple Bar, one of Dublin’s most famous bars which was really cool along with its surrounding area.

The next day we woke up bright and early and headed over to the Guinness Storehouse for a self guided tour. In my opinion Guinness was a much better experience than Heineken, but both were still really cool. Guinness was much larger and at the top they had a 360 rooftop bar which had amazing views of Dublin. We all went to the gift store and I had way too much fun in there, merry Christmas everyone 🙂 

After Guinness we headed to another Dublin classic, the Brazen Head for lunch. I shared chili along with bangers and mash…and another side of mash which was so delicious I could eat it everyday. We continued to walk all around Dublin and went by St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the surrounding areas.

That night, our hostel hosted a bar crawl which we did which took us all throughout Dublin. The next day we walked around Dublin even more, shopped even more. We ‘toured’ Trinity College and then headed to the airport to end our weekend. 

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn. Zermatt is officially my favorite place that I have visited. One of my friends said it best when she said she felt like we were in a snow globe. The train ride there was incredibly beautiful so it made the time fly.

Once we arrived in Zermatt we were met with the lovely, cold mountain air. We walked around town for a little and enjoyed ‘create-your-own’ pizza for dinner. The next day we had incredible crepes for breakfast and then began exploring Zermatt a little more. We ended up getting a litttttlle bit lost on our way to the Gorner Gorge but it ended up being perfectly okay because we were able to see amazing views.

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Eventually, we made it to Gorner Gorge which took about 20 minutes to walk through. The trails were pretty narrow and the bridges were very high up but the views made it worth it (almost).

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For dinner we feasted on cheese and chocolate fondue, a Swiss specialty. The next day we woke up early to do the 5 Lakes Hike around the Matterhorn. The hike took around 3 hours and the views were out of this world. Pictures truly cannot do it justice. We took a train up to one area and then took a gondola up to the top (quite a frightening ride) and began our descent down. And, of course, I got a few Toblerone bars to hold me over for the train ride home 🙂

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Verona, Italy with some friends. The home of Romeo and Juliet. We got in on Friday and walked into the center of the city to grab dinner where we ate at a restaurant recommended to us by a local. They were known for their rabbit and horse (yum…) so of course I had pasta. After dinner we walked around the city and of course got gelato.

The next day we spent shopping for basically the whole. Verona had so many cute stores so it kept us pretty busy. We all had kind of realized that maybe we did not have enough clothes for when the weather got cooler so that was the main priority! After shopping we grabbed lunch and had the most amazing pesto pasta 🙂 my favorite.

We walked all around Verona and were able to see the Arena which is older and better preserved than the Roman coliseum. They even still hold concerts and other performances there but sadly their summer schedule ended the weekend before we went.

We continued to walk around the streets and walked through Castle Vecchio which was incredible. The castle itself was beautiful and the bridge extending from the castle had the most amazing views of the water and the city.

For dinner, we had an Italian staple, Ramen noodles. There was a really cool place on the street we were staying for so we thought we would feast on some dumplings and ramen. On Sunday we went to see Juliet’s house and just took some more time to walk around different piazzas. This past weekend I stayed in Lugano which ended up being very nice and relaxing. There were markets set up all around and the weather was beautiful so we walked around and ate lunch down by the water. My favorite food here is kebab and I will proudly admit that most of money is going towards kebab.

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This past weekend a few friends and I took our first weekend trip to Florence, Italy. It was a quick train ride from Lugano so we were able to make the most of our time and eat all the gelato our heart’s desired. We stayed in an airbnb right next to the Duomo and other amazing places and piazzas.

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We grabbed some amazing dinner (pasta :)) and walked around Palazzo Vecchio for a little while where we saw an amazing orchestra perform some Bruce, ACDC, and other American classics. The next day we went on a winery tour through Chianti. We visited 2 different winers and 2 different towns which took up most of our day. The views were absolutely stunning and we got to taste many different oils, vinegars, cheeses, and salami.

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We spent the next day walking through Florence and just exploring. We walked through the leather market and throughout Ponte Vecchio, a beautiful bridge and also market. We got back to Lugano Sunday and we are back to class and homework.

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Very delayed but we all survived the hike. This post will mainly be pictures because the views were beyond incredible. We hiked a total of about 12/13 miles. The way up the mountain was only about 4. It was incredibly hard and steep the whole way up but the view on top was incredible, even for someone terrified of heights. On our way down, we took a different route to another town, Morcote. Fun fact, across the lake from Morcote you could see Italy so in essence I hiked all the way to Italy. After we reached Morcote our director bought everyone gelato and we had a little while to hang out before heading back (on a bus don’t worry) to Lugano where dinner awaited us (the best ravioli in the world).

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The past few days have been incredibly busy but also exciting at the same time. On Sunday we went on a walk with our director who showed us all around Lugano. I am getting all my steps in these days. The walk from our hostel to downtown is all downhill through staircases and steep sidewalks (the walk back up is the real fun part).

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We walked through the town and also down by the water which provided some amazing views and pictures. We spent the day exploring and watching a Jazz Festival that was happening downtown. I went to dinner on the water with a few friends to a highly recommended pasta restaurant and it did not disappoint.

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Yesterday, Monday, we started class. We will be taking 3 classes, 3 weeks each, while in Europe. Our first class is a marketing class focusing on social change. We walk to the university every morning around 8 and it is about a mile uphill. Class ends at 12 and then we have the day to ourselves until dinner.

From Monday through Thursday night we are provided dinner at the Montarina. It alternates between meat and pasta, each meal consisting of 3 courses which always includes dessert. The food is amazing and the hosts are so nice. Dinner is a great way to talk to people and get to know them better.

Tomorrow we do not have class and instead we are doing a roughly 15 mile hike up Mount San Salvatore from 9:30 – 4 so wish us all luck! This weekend I am heading out to Florence with a few friends and I received some incredible tips and advice from my cousin, the one & only Pauly Boy.

Travel Day. We began our journey last night, August 30. Our flight was expected to leave around 6 so we were told to meet at the airport at 2:30. Long story short our flight got delayed until 9 so we all had plenty of bonding time in the airport. Upon arriving in Zurich, at around 11 am Switzerland time, we all hopped on a bus that was ~supposedly~ only a 2 hour ride to Lugano. The short bus ride turned into a 6 hour drive. I guess I never escaped that Northern VA traffic. The bus ride was absolutely beautiful.

We arrived at our hostel, La Montarina, at around 5 and because the hill up to the entrance is so steep the bus could not take us all the way up. So just imagine 60 college students crawling up a hill with all of their luggage. We were assigned to our rooms and I share a room with 3 other girls. We had an amazing dinner at the Montarina and then we had the chance to explore Lugano. Lugano is HILLY. Just to get downtown there are flights of stairs and large hills so I think it will be perfect to burn off all the pasta and gelato I know I will consume.

This fall, along with ~65 other Virginia Tech students, I will be studying abroad in Lugano, Switzerland. I will be in Lugano for 9 weeks and from there I will head to Rwanda for four weeks, or the month of November. While in Europe, I will be traveling every weekend to many different places. I will be studying at Franklin University and will be taking classes in international development, marketing, and communications while additionally completing a field study. Feel free to follow along with me on my journey or just look at the pictures because those are 1000% the best part 🙂