Somehow, despite my best intentions to post here more regularly, reality never seems to keep up. And so, once again, I find myself writing the kind of blog post that I hate reading: the dreaded recap.
Of course, I have been busy, what with being in Switzerland and trying to take advantage of being back in Europe. Oh, and those pesky classes that I have to attend. Can’t forget those. Still, even with taking five classes here I feel much less pressure and work much less than I do back home in Boston. Indeed, right now I should be studying for a human rights final I will be taking this evening, but somehow I feel perfectly justified in sitting here and typing this up.
Since arriving here in Geneva, I have been able to do a bit of travelling around the country: St. Cergue, Chambery and Bern number among my day trips. It is a fun little country to explore, and as a fellow exchange student remarked early on in the semester, living in Switzerland is a lot like living in a postcard. Everything here is truly gorgeous.
View from the train up to Chambery
This one is a little hazy, but you get the idea. One of my first weekends here, I went up to Chambery, which is a little town up in the mountains. Every year they have a festival where they bring the sheep down to pasture in the valley for the winter. They literally herd the sheep down the main road, and there is plenty of food and wine to be had. It was a unique, and fun, experience.
Lausanne
After leaving Chambery, I spent some time in Lausanne, which is a very pretty town not too far from Geneva. It is much more of a college town than Geneva is, and therefore had a younger vibe and a different atmosphere. I was only able to spend a few hours here, but it was nice.
covered bridge in Lucerne
Another trip early on in my time here. Lucerne is several hours away from Geneva by train, and this particular trip made for a strange day involving rain, bad food, enormous bugs, the circus and hockey riot police. But that’s a story for another time.
As I said, Switzerland is nothing if not picturesque. Although I can’t say I will miss my classes or the actual lifestyle in Geneva, I will miss the incredible views.
