Last week I was in Brussels and Paris with my group and then on my own. It was AMAZING. There’s no way to describe Paris so I’ll just start off with some particularly good moments…
Bollywood on the top of the Eiffel Tower
How did this come about you might ask? FAIR QUSTION. I was exhausted Friday night so my friend and I took a nap at around 7:30…we woke up at 8:15 and knew we had two options: big adventure or bed time. We opted for adventure! So we took the metro across town to the Eiffel Tower area, walked around, and decided we had to go up. It was pretty rainy so there was literally NO line – that’s quite the Eiffel Tower miracle. Even so Danika and I struggled to determine where we were supposed to go… we had to consult at least three guards. One even asked to have his picture taken with us. It was JUST the two of us riding up the first car and the tower started sparkling! Every hour at night it sparkles for a couple minutes….but from the inside? That was crazy cool and random. So we wandered around the top – which was windy and rainy – but the VIEWS! Hey, I’m not from the Northwest for nothing, I was totally into the rain.
Then the magic began… Three Indian men asked us to take their video on top of the tower – after some technical difficulty we fully recorded them doing a ditty and dance in Hindi and I had to drop the ILOVEINDIA bomb. They were SO EXCITED that I had been to India – that I knew anything about it really. They gave me way more credit than I deserved. As in, I just listed places I had been and mentioned that I liked Sivaji and you would have thought I was some sort of demi-god for how they reacted. They had been traveling for a month because one of them is getting married in December (Danika and I are now obviously invited). We made QUITE the scene the five of us – they taught us a couple of Hindi and Gujarati songs and we – I – asked random passersby to take videos of us all dancing. I befriended a Spanish woman asking her to take one of the videos - she struggled to respond in French then we shifted to English and finally landed on Spanish. Languages!
Nuit Blanche
Every year, just once a year, all of Paris stays up all night and roams the city looking at random art displays. I happened to be in Paris for that day! It’s called Nuit Blanche which technically means “white night” but is colloquial for “all-nighter”. I wandered around with friends, soaking it up and generally had a splendid time.
2. Float blasting techno-rave music filled with people interpretively protesting genocide in Sudan… hard to describe. No one smiled/showed any emotion. A woman was yelling over the loudspeaker about acceptance and culture….they had weird clothes.
3. Fire thrower and fire spitter in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral
4. Artistic film projected on an old city-fortress wall
5. SO MANY PEOPLE along the Seine
6. Weird animal balloons on the exterior of part of the Louvre
7. Video/light show inside a cathedral…it was so weird.
8. Beautiful Paris, all lit up J
A-Wandering!
One of the best, best things I think you can do in Paris is to just WALK. I walked with my friend from our hostel which was next to the MOULIN ROUGE (yes, dream come true!) to the Louvre, all the way along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, up to the Arc de Triumph, along the Champs Elysee, past the Opera house and Galleries Lafayette, and back to the Moulin Rouge. It was a TREK!
I really love Switzerland. I must say, before this trip I knew SO very little about the culture and history of t
his area that I hadn’t even thought about where I’d want to travel here. Now I find myself a month into my program and I haven’t yet left Switzerland I feel like I’ve been to half a dozen worlds. International Geneva, utterly unique and proud Ticino, THE Alps, quiet capitol Bern…. SUCH different mindsets, realities. (on the right is a picture of one of the murals in the Old CIty of Bern)
Me and Switzerland
1) 1. One of my biggest pet-peeves is the sound
of a ticking clock. Switzerland is the home of clocks and watches
2) 2. I love chaos, spontaneity, and the unknown. The Swiss love order, cleanliness, plans, and security
but on the other hand…
3) 3. I love the outdoors and the Swiss cherish and explore the natural beauty they have here
4) 4. I love colliding with cultures and Switzerland is full of cultural diversity – especially Geneva
(below is a picture of the famous clock tower in Bern that has been ticking for over 500 years with a little rooster dancing and squawking every hour)
Random conversation with my friend on the program here:
Me: I’m thin
king about buying myself a Swiss watch for my birthday…
Danika: Yeah? That’s certainly a SWISS souvenir.
Me: Yeah. Except… I don’t really like knowing what time it is.
Danika: Well that’s something to think about, Alice.
I had a very, very special afternoon/evening yesterday. My mom’s godmother, Alice Hauser – who I was named after, was an incredibly important part of her childhood. Alice’s son lives part time in Rolle with his two daughters, which is just ten minutes away from where I’m living right now! Yesterday we met, hung out their apartment, made dinner, and generally had a lovely time. It was quite special to meet them – thanks for connecting us, Mom!
Another pretty view from last weekend nearing the top of Schilthorn!
Tomorrow I am off to Brussels for four days and then Paris for five days! I’m so excited. I’m interested to see how various francophone cultures differ – both in the French language itself and in customs. Will update you all upon my return!
This photo is from last Sunday (the 19th) - I'm looking at Eiger on my left and Monch on my right... Jungfrau (the tallest peak) is just out of the picture on the right. These colors are unreal! I didn't photoshop it, I swear!
Gruyeres:
Last Thursday (September 9) was a holiday for the city of Geneva so we didn’t have school. I went with a friend from the program on a day trip to Gryeres – yes as in where the cheese comes from – in the lower Alps! Again Swiss trains amazed me… there we were basically in the middle of nowhere, close to no major city and yet it was all totally hooked up by rail. The little train was packed to the gills with middle schoolers commuting home on our way back.
This was possibly the most stereotypical SWISS day ever. Trains ABSOLUTELY on time – I took a bus, had 5 minutes to get on the train, switched trains with about a 4 minute transfer, and another similar transfer time at the next stop! The views were splendidly cow/farm/mountain/church/chateau filled, there was cheese everywhere. It was pretty hilarious.
The region surrounded Gruyeres has been under the influence of the flag of Gruyeres since 400 AD when it was first settled. Though it’s shifted hands between the Swiss cantons and French invaders, The Chateau de Gruyeres has stood in the center of the Old town since its construction in 1270. The castle has benefited from the patronage of rich art aficionados for centuries, so it has been marvelously kept up. For every century that the castle has stood, there is a room dedicated to the art of the period. Over time, new bailiffs and owners of the castle left old style intact while adding their own contemporary touch! So neat! My new friend from the program (Claire) was just as into the history and art as me so we had a lot of fun.
There are laws in Switzerland about cheese production. In order for something to be considered Gruyere cheese the producers have to follow stringent guidelines! OFFICIAL Gruyere cheese has to actually come from the area surrounding Gruyeres. I never knew there was so much to know about cheese. My host dad very, very seriously explained to me how to properly cut and eat a cheese at dinner the other night… Ask me in person sometime if you’re really curious J. I also learned that “Alpage” – cheese produced from cows that live and graze in the Alps – is considered more sophisticated than lower elevation cheese. That is because higher in the Alps there is greater variety of herbs and plants for the cows to eat, so the refined cheese-eater can identify a whole smattering of tastes. I THINK my host dad said over a hundred tastes, but that seems absurd and numbers in foreign languages are hard… I will investigate.
Becoming Legit….haha
I took a trip to the Thai permanent mission to the UN! They were closed. But, I found it, and that’s step one. I’m planning on doing some research involving the politics of aid distribution along the Thai-Burma border so I’m trying to get in touch with their embassy for interviews. I have one interview scheduled already with a professor who is well versed in modern Thai politics! Yeaaah! Just a twenty or so more to go J
Lower Alps!
Yesterday my host parents went to a Jazz concert in the lower Alps and I tagged along for the ride with a friend (the Jazz would have been nice bt, of course, expensive). We had no idea what to expect from this tiny town but my friend Emma is currently in a wheelchair due to an ankle injury and my host parents said it would be a wheelchair accessible day, so we thought we’d check it out.
WHOA. The most beautiful views I’ve ever seen! We took a little cable car from Villars (name of a big brand of Chocolate from the region) up to the base of bunch of ski lifts and just soaked up the views. WOW. We even had a glass of local wine on the terrace overlooking the Alps! Funny note – wine is one of the only things here that you can get at a reasonable price. Of course you can also get ABSURDLY expensive wine…. but you don’t have to! I’m sorry I talk about expensiveness so much, it’s a MAJOR part of living here. Sigggh.
Emma and I are hoping to make our way back to the area once she’s out of the wheelchair to do some Alpine yoga and hiking. Oh! There were loads of cows (of course) and one group of about 60 was herded not only by a couple people walking, but an SUV. That sort of broke the mood briefly, but was really hilarious.
I had too much to say for one post so.... See the post below for the rest of the story! The second post is a lot more entertaining and this one has more history.
This weekend was one of my most random and fabulous travel experiences. Ever! I really don’t know where to begin – Saturday in particular was one of those days where everything came together without and stress or force. We couldn’t have planned it! Daria and Kate – I thought of you both a lot because these random coincidences would occur when I’m with you J. Essentially I stayed in a hostel that looked like an Italian villa, happened upon three separate festivals/parades, and witnessed multiple native dances/native baton twirling formations….whhhaattt? I was traveling with Kelvin Bates, a friend from Lakeside High School, and his college friend Evan who is with him on a program here in Geneva. Excellent travel companions!
We trained from Geneva to to Lugano on Friday night, got into our hostel that looked like an elegant Italian villa, and crashed. As we rode across the country crossed through French, then German, then Italian Switzerland. With each train stop the languages being spoken around me faded in and out in prevalence depending on our location. Announcements over the loudspeaker are usually made in at least three languages – the primarily language of the Canton first, then priority goes first to German and Second to French. English is typically the third language because Switzerland is so international. Ohhh we lucky native English-speaking Americans. Swiss trains never cease to amaze – unless I’m mistaken it is THE most well connected by rail place in the world. And they had to deal with the Alps…
Saturday morning we took off for some epic urban trekking through the old cobbled streets and beautiful buildings and along Lago di Lugano. Mountains rise up all around this not too cold and sparkling clean (Swiss take PRIDE in keeping their natural world clean) lake. We went into two cathedrals – so unbelievably different from Genevoise architecture! Calvin nipped extravagance in the bud so baroque/renaissance architecture is largely missing in Geneva. Geneva also obviously became mostly Protestant while Ticino has remained almost exclusively Catholic. Ticino has had healthy influences from Italy – its cathedrals are replete with marble inlay (Deepa!) and vivid paintings. After soaking up these awe-inspiring monuments to god we wandered up one of the big hills surrounding Lago di Lugano. We were trying to get inside “Castello Paradiso” (I mean, who is doesn’t want to see Paradise Castle?!?) but it was actually private property so we could only creep around the outside… Our trek did lead us to the “Parco Panoramico”. Side-note: between Kelvin, Evan and I we knew about five words of Italian, but we learned that if you say things in Spanish with great feeling you can sort of get the ball rolling. Kelvin was particularly good at deciphering Italian signs in museums. My Italian consisted of “Bongiorno Princepesa!”, “Ciao, bella!” and, “That’s Amore!” Which, Kelvin and Evan kindly informed me, was half English. Some local Swiss DID teach me how to say, “I cuddle with my cow pillow”. Stay tuned to find out just why that was truly pertinent to our conversation.
I think we need a little background on Language in Switzerland! Ticino is the largest Italian speaking Canton in Switzerland. Though not commonly used in the business/public realm, Italian is one of Switzerland’s three official languages: German – 63%, French – 21%, and Italian – 7%. The fourth “National Language” (meaning it is recognized culturally and historically, but not for public/official use) is Rumantsch. Only about half a percent of Swiss speak it as a first language – it is a very old language native to Southeastern Switzerland. Part of the reason I wanted to go to Ticino was to see how such a different culture from Geneva and from the German north, fit into the collage of Switzerland. My initial reaction was that I was in transplanted Italy… but of course it didn’t take long for life to complicate my perceptions.
Geneva is in the southwestern corner of la Suisse on the Lac Leman and Lugano is the little white dot on the southern lake in the "Swiss Italian" dark green area. Bellinzona is just north.
Next we took out a paddle boat on the lake for an hour! Loads cheaper than Geneva, WOAH. We swam, it was gorgeous and sunny, Alps in the background, valleys and mountains all around the lake, perfect water temperature…. Kelvin had a Euro suit because he lived in Spain this summer and was trying to fit in. HAHAHA Kelvin. He’ll be ever so pleased that I included that detail.
