Switzerland: we danced, and we cried, and we laughed and had a really good time

Coffee along with some much needed wi-fi to check into our lives in the morning, followed by attempting to exchange some money and retrieve my card. This was a failure because the line was far too long and we didn't want to miss our train. We took 3 trains to get to Switzerland, since our pass didn't cover the one through Austria. None of them we're bad trains and we made all the ones we wanted. Daryn's friend Jenna and her husband we waiting for us when we arrived. I immediately felt welcomed to their home. Florim (Jenna's husband's family is originally from what is now Kosovo, and it was interesting to talk to him about his family.) Jenna was also very interested in my experience abroad, and it talking with me about my culture shock, since she also has experienced this living abroad.

For dinner we had some delicious fondue, which is a very common meal in Switzerland. We went for a short after dinner walk around their town, and I was in love with how much character it had. Each village has a castle, and the city of Yverdon Les-Bains (where we stayed) was right on the largest lake in Switzerland. The lake was covered in swans and located near some small cabins. None of the cabins are allowed to be on the lake because then less people would be able to enjoy it. How smart is that!?!? Also there are only a few streets you are allowed to drive on, making for a very relaxing small city life, and leading people to enjoy walking everywhere. These little things made me hate the chaos and mindless ways of Albania. We stopped for one beer at a cute little bar/cafe and headed home to get some sleep because tomorrow we were headed to the alps!

First views after arriving

A quick breakfast was followed by putting on winter gear, and heading into the car to drive on the dark highway to the alps. The sun began to come out as we drove and I felt again as though I'd never seen mountains before in my entire life. The sun was beginning to radiate off the snow as Jenna explained to us the history of cities, and pointed out beautiful and interesting sights along the way. Switzerland is a very interesting country and a lot of their politics make a ton of sense. For example trash bags cost a lot of money causing people to be more conciencous of how much waste they are producing. You also have to pay every time you need a bag at a store, which causes people to always carry reusable bags with them. Get on board America! Once we arrived at Les Diablerets (the village we would be in for the day) we stopped to get some cheese and fruit for our picnic later in the afternoon. Florim (Jenna's husband) then rented our sleds and warned us that conditions on the trail weren't great, because it had just snowed, so we wouldn't be going very fast. We were fine with this as we were quite nervous. We all hopped onto the ski lifts to make it to the top, and I was already in awe of the breathtaking views.

At the top of the mountain.

The first time down the hill was in fact slow, but the last portion was fast and extremely fun. Lunch was a typical Swiss picnic, consisting of bread, cheese, and wine. Apparently Swiss people never eat crackers with their cheese! This is crazy! Anyway after finishing our 2 bottles of wine we were feeling quite good and ready for our 2nd trip down.

Lunch :)

Of course me and Jenna both needed to use the bathroom and had quite a difficult time finding one, so we ended up going in the front of the car. Don't worry, we covered it up with snow. The second time down was much quicker, because the sun had melted some of the snow. It was way more fun that the first time was, and by the time we reached the bottom we were ready for our 3rd time. The 3rd time was cold, and by the end of it I was ready to get into the heated car and home for a hot shower.

Midway down break

We headed into the city of Lausanne to meet a few of Florim's friends (it was one of their birthdays.) It was also a gorgeous city. Lausanne is built on many different levels, and apparently directions come not only in the form of left and right, but also up and down. There was a beautiful Cathedral (after the Munich night pictures I didn't even attempt to take any pictures to capture the beauty) and at every hour a man comes out to call our the time. It was very interesting to see, and he even asked us how we were! After meeting Florims friends we headed to a nearby bar (where Florim used to work) and had one beer. During this time we talked a lot about Albanian men. One of Florim's cousins was once pressured to marry an Albanian man, but is now dating a guy from Italy. They decided to invite her to dinner the following night so that I would be able to talk to her. They opted not to invite her parents, assuming they would try to set me up with a man. I was so exhausted I fell asleep on the car ride home, and was able to easily sleep until the next morning.

Since we didn't have to drive so far away we decided to allow ourselves a little extra sleep time. After a quick breakfast and coffee, we packed a tea and chocolate picnic and headed to a smaller mountain range called La Chaux-de-Fonds for a bit of winter hiking. We parked the car about a 30 minute walk from the cliff overlooking the Alps and hiked our way through the snow into a quite windy area with a beautiful view. Unfortunately for us it was quite cloudy that day, so we could not see the Alps, but the picnic in the snow was still a wonderful experience. Hiking back to the car was quite easy, because it was downhill. On the drive back we stopped to take some picture where we were able to see the alps, and I think they are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

part of what looks like clouds in this picture is actually the Swiss Alps. And this picture does it no justice whatsoever.

We also stopped at a market to get items for our dinner that night. Daryn related the market to a small grocery store in America and I was overwhelmed to the core. At one point I thought I might pass out. This "small grocery store" was about the size of the biggest store I've been in since I got to Albania. It was not a pleasant experience. Luckily we were able to get in and out quickly. Once back at the house we continued our cheese and wine experience. I just can't get over how much we had, and how much I loved it all!

Then we headed to the train station to double check/ purchase our tickets for the following day. It was hard just knowing that the following day we would have to say goodbye. Daryn had been dying to play music since about 4 days into our journey, and Jenna and Florim's friend owns a beautiful electric grand piano. He was kind enough to have us over an hour so that him and Daryn could serenade us with some impromptu jazz music and a few other fabulous songs.

Raclette. mmmmm.....

Next on the list was a dinner of Raclette, which is a traditional Swiss meal of potatoes with melted cheese and seasonings on top. It is, of course cooked in a very special appliance and was delicious! I ate way too much just because it tasted so good. During this time we were joined by Florim's cousin and I got to talk to her a bit about Albanian and Kosovo. Eventually we made the decision that she would be staying the night and from that point on things spiralled downhill. It started with Daryn teaching her how to shotgun a beer and was followed by multiple drinking games, including musical chairs, many beers, and at one point champagne. Who knew 5 people could wreak such havoc. The night ended with us watching and laughing at some pretty ridiculous youtube videos and then passing out at about 2:30am.

The start to a wonderful night.

I slept terribly knowing that it was the final day of our journey together and that tomorrow I'd be on my own in Milan. I wondered to myself why I was so stupid in choosing to fly out of Milan. Why hadn't I just left from an airport in Switzerland? With the trip being over I was back to being confused about my life, and in need of being responsible for it again. It felt like leaving home all over again, except without all of the excitement about heading to unexplored territory. I tossed and turned for the majority of the night, and eventually forced myself to get out of the bed to shower. We ate breakfast slowly since we were a bit hungover, and after a few tears and hugs at the house we headed to the train station so Daryn could catch his train. More hugs, and uncontrollable tears. After we watched the train leave Florim and Jenna drove me to my train station about 45 minutes away. On the way there Florim said something that changed the way I will feel about saying goodbye for the rest of my life.

Goodbyes suck. They are terrible and horrible, but they are also incredible and beautiful. They are one of the greatest things in the world. The emotions brought to the surface of a goodbye are some of the truest emotions a person can produce. In that moment you aren't holding anything back. You are completely genuine to who you are and what you are feeling, and that is amazing. It reminded me of a quote I read when I was extremely homesick about 6 weeks into this experience. "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." -Winnie the Pooh. I'm the luckiest person in the whole wide world. And thus ends the portion of the journey with my best friend. I already miss him like crazy, but I'll hold on until the next time I get to say hello.

20 thousand roads....