Switzerland Part II: The Alps

Léa’s mom picked us up from the train station near Crans, the mountain village where her family has a chalet. We drove for 10 or 15 minutes up a steep and winding road in the dark. The two Oriol women in the front — who hadn’t seen each other since Christmas — chattered excitedly in French, occasionally turning to me to offer a quick synopsis in English.

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Switzerland Part I: Geneva

All I know of Switzerland is the Oriol family, my incredible hosts this weekend. To say that they gave me a favorable impression of Switzerland would be the understatement of the year.

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Barcelona

Brooke told me about a UNC guy studying in Barcelona this semester whose first Facebook album of the experience is titled “BARS-elona.” Clever, huh? I’m getting really sick of the “Party in Europe” study abroad stereotype. I realize that’s how many people feel they can maximize their time here (with a run-on stream of wild nights they barely remember and mornings they slept through?). Every weekend I feel the pressure to do that, too. But I simply have different values. My kind of fun is waking up early with lots of energy and without a hint of a hangover so that I can walk for miles through one of the world’s most vibrant and beautiful cities. And not one tiny bit of me feels like I’m doing it wrong.

So anyway, I visited Barcelona this weekend. It’s potentially my favorite city so far.

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Another hike yay!

This Saturday I went on another excursion with the Club Montaña. We left Pamplona in a big bus early in the morning, drove 2.5 hours, hiked 10 miles, explored a castle, and then drove back home. My kind of day — I didn’t even mind the cold rain we walked through all morning.

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