Zermatt:
Began in Zermatt, it took almost all day Wednesday to get there but it was worth it. Once we got to Switzerland I was stoked. The Alps are so incredible. The last train we took basically took us from sea level up into the mountain range an about 9,000 feet to the village of Zermatt. We all were pretty much exhausted and starving when we got there. We found out pretty quick that Zermatt is the most expensive place on earth. There were Gucci and Rolex stores and designer stuff like that everywhere. Not really what we were expecting but whatever! Wes and I planned to ride 2 days but we woke up Thursday and it was pouring rain and being it’s pretty expensive to ride for just one day we opted out. We were not very happy about it though after traveling all this way, and not being able to snowboard. So we sat inside till about noon in the rain, before finally getting geared up to walk around in the rain and take some pictures. Wes and I found this ropes course, and after about 5 minutes decided we should probably try it even though all the ropes and wood were wet from the rain. It was pretty gnarly; we didn’t really know what we were getting our selves into. We were strapped into these harness things with two carabineers. We climbed through this course and zip lined through the trees at about 50-60 feet above the ground. It was so much fun. For food, we ate a lot of grocery store made sandwiches, which consisted of bread and cheese and meat, pretty basic but all we could afford.
The second day it was bluebird and we were stoked. We had some fresh on the ground too and it was the end of May so we were amped to ride. None of us decided to wear sunscreen that day which turned out to be a bad idea. We all got pretty bad sunburns and what not. When we got to Paris everyone was staring at us like we all had a skin disease. It was actually pretty funny. I think we thought that we wont get burnt real bad and we will look super hard core with a goggle tan. That plan backfired pretty quickly. We ended up blistering and I had to go and find burn crème in France with Kelsey.
Paris:
I don't know any French so when we left the pharmacy I yelled to the lady Bon Voyage! and the lady and Kelsey laughed hysterically at me. Apparently it doesn't mean goodbye, but rather have a nice trip.
On Saturday morning I got up at 5:15am to get ready to catch the train at 6:30, which was the first train out of Zermatt. The rest of the group left a couple hours after me because the train was full. So I rode the train to Paris and got there shortly after 1pm. I met up with the Bowlby’s and they immediately took me out to lunch at this really good Thai restaurant. It was some of the best food I have ever had, even the Bowlby’s thought so. We actually had a really cool waiter who used to live in LA and had really good English who we made best friends with. Jeff told him he needs to bring the restaurant to Seattle and Jeff would give him the place to do it and the Ferrari. After that I dropped all my stuff off at the Hostel in Paris, which was the nicest of the three hostels we stayed at over the 12-day trip. From there we walked around Paris, and went out for an afternoon drink.
We had some traditional French Rose wine at lunch so we were already having an awesome time. We went to this museum which houses a large collection of Modern Art, on the roof is a fancy restaurant so we all got a cocktail and hung out on the roof for a while. Then we went out for a very French dinner, which I loved but Jeff didn’t so much. Overall, it was one of my favorite things I have done in Europe. Meeting up with the Bowlby’s meant a lot to me, and it was something I won't forget.
Look at that goggle tan, awful...at least Kelsey saved the picture!
In Paris we took the subway system everywhere. Which was nice to use but extremely dirty. I would hate using it everyday personally. It smelt awful. We saw the Eiffel tower I think 3 times. The first day it was raining and windy so the top was closed so we didn’t tour it. So we bummed around town and saw some sights. The next day it was just cloudy and not as poor of weather so Wes and Anjali and I went and toured the top. We stood in line to get in for about an hour and a half. Then we took an elevator to the 2nd floor and had to wait another 45 minutes to get on the next elevator. The line system they had was pretty inefficient, Marla would have not been happy. I think the trip up the Eiffel tower took a total of 4 hours to do. Then we went to the Notre Dam de Paris and got to do a really cool tour. It was pretty expensive hahaha. Actually no it was FREE because Wes told them we are “German Students” because if you are a resident of the EU you get in for free. That was really fun; we got to go in the bell tour where quazi moto lives. He wasn’t in that day so I didn’t get to meet him.
Amsterdam:
Amsterdam was a beautiful city, and actually fairly small in size. We walked across the town multiple times a day. We lucked out on the weather and had sun all 4 days. The first day we walked to the Anne Frank house and saw it from the outside. I was dying for some coffee so I went next door and got a cup of coffee and the barista told me that the time in which we were there is the busiest time of the day. So just as we were just deciding that we wanted to do a boat tour a couple of local guys pulled up with their own tour boat for about 10 people and offered to give us a tour. It was cheaper and we got to in some of the canals the big tour boats couldn’t, they grew up there too so they knew everything about every building and canal. It was awesome, and I would definitely recommend this type of tour. After the tour we walked by a windmill and unfortunately we were there to early because the brewery below it was closed. So we decided to walk up to this museum called Nemo, and sat on this really neat open area in the sun for bit. We did a lot of just walking around because Amsterdam is so beautiful. Every building is kept in great shape and seems to be freshly painted. The canals run down the middle of almost every street, it’s so cool to see. On the sunny afternoons people would take out there boats with friends and cruise the streets with beers and music. It was basically the same kind of thing we do on our lakes, only they do it in the middle of downtown. So instead of pulling up to the bars in your car you pull up in a boat.
Life abroad is pretty great. I enjoy the traveling and all the neat people I get to meet. I have the same struggles with some of the tests in school here, but overall I'm doing well.
This is the theater from that sleezy movie with christina agulerra
Yeah, so this is the city of Paris. Pretty similar to Bend with its buildings and bridges as you can tell.
This is inside the home of Quasimoto, nice place!
Cody and his sunburn
I have a habit of running into the middle of the street to get the picture
The biggest LV store in the world mom
Wes playing dress up
Some old fart stealing money from the fountain..how terrible
