I LOVE SWITZERLAND

Ciao a tutti!

It's been awhile. The past 2 weeks have been a complete whirl- last time I updated, I was about to head off to Zurigo, and once I got back, I had threemidtermsjustlikethisohmygoshaaaaahhhh and then I immediately darted off to Parigi. Midterms were not so bad. But anyway, to the funner parts.. speaking of fun, the Euro:USD conversion rate is AMAZING in our favor.. 1.24 today. That sure beats the 1.55 that was the first month of this fall. So yeah! Switzerland.

So on Thursday evening, Jacqueline and I went to Termini with stuffed backpacks and stomachs awaiting the chocolate and cheese that is Svizzera. We hadn't ordered cuchette, beds, for this train ride. It's expensive to do that. But we ended up getting SO lucky and being the only 2 people in our 6-person carozza ....so we put down all the seats and had FREE beds. Best part- no one could open the doors to come in..mmmm so we slept very well on that overnighter. We got to Milano after like 8 hours (this train stopped a lot) and saw the early morning Milanese rays of light.. and some other stuff. Like neon palm trees. In Milano. (?) Milano is the Washington of Italia. Not the Las Vegas.

We caught our connecting train to Zurgio HB (sooo excited at this point). This train ride was the most beautiful ride EVER EVER EVER because it took us through the northern Italian Alps and into the heart of the Swiss Alps, which lie in the very center of the range. GORGEOUS. These mountains are the most beautiful in the world, I am totally convinced. Tons of sheep and goats dotted the perfect green landscape and the Italian stucco and terra cotta houses started to morph into Swiss chalets gradually. Hills rolled into spiky whitish-blue mountains and I was in HEAVEN. Look on fbook for those pictures.. Jacqueline has some I will steal. I was too busy being enthralled with the views to take good pictures (for the first time in my LIFE).

So we get to Zurigo, then we catch the train to Richterswil, where Franz lives. Franz just won Pastry Chef of the Year, and as I later find out, is the HEAD JUDGE of all those Food Network chocolate sculpture/marzipan/sugar art competitions. No big. He and I discussed chocolate extensively and he is just really cool. His family is great, too. We stayed with them in their house on LAKE ZURICH. Beautiful. Stunning. Alps are in the background, PS. He pretty much drove us around in the Alps all weekend, stopping for dessert breaks at rando cafés, church visits, dinner-buying adventures at real-life Swiss cheese shops, and a gingerbread factory. We also visited Luzern, a Swiss town that was too picturesque for words. Kinda touristy, but then again, that was after living with a real Swiss family in a residential Swiss town for a few days.
On Saturday Franz took us to Mt. Rigi. Mt. Rigi is a mountain in the Alps. Mount Rigi is very tall. We took a cable car up the mountain, which provided me with some of the most memorable and BEAUTIFUL views I've ever experienced in my life. Seriously. We stayed on top of the mountain for awhile and drank rum tea (Jacqueline and Franz) and espresso (me). The view was just so incredibly beautiful. I still can't get over it. The pictures I posted were from the cable car.. not even from the top. Gorgeous.


Franz and his wife Gaby fed us so well. There's something to be said for staying with a pastry chef when you go to Switzerland- usually it involves a pound bar of the (!!!) official best chocolate in the world (voted by the international chocolate committee-whatever it's called).. meals of the best cheeses in the entire world, sparkling sweet wines, dried meats, fruit breads, grain breads that melt in your mouth, and cherry liquor. Oh yea, and mont blancs and napoleans and other assorted pastries. You know. Go to Switzerland- if for anything, go for the views. It is truly spectacular.... mmm. And delicious. :) I've never eaten better cheese, not even here in Italia. Apparently cows are subsidized by the Swiss government better than children are. Hm....