Norway. The land of fjords and free wireless internet! Meredith and I began our trip in the town of Stavanger, which we found to be the perfect place to be lazy. Of course we made ourselves conquer a big hike to the breathtaking Preikestolen…we more importantly conquered jetlag hiding from the rain and the cold. Stavanger is small, but sweet with an East Coast feel. I fell in love with blue doors.
I’ve discovered a pattern in my life choices: I like to move to places I have never been before. Upfront I would tell you that my decision to move to London this fall was based on a desire to stay in Europe and the need to start a “real” career (apparently volleyball doesn’t fall into that category). But if I was completely honest, maybe I’ve just been infatuated with the idea of London. I partially blame this song:
And I partially blame Pinterest.
So now after spending a mere 24 hours there, I can safely say that London will suit me just fine. Here is just a tiny taste of what’s to come.
Only 3 1/2 more months.
Rex is kinda adorable and oh so Instagrammable.
Leaving home now to embark on a jaunt to London and Norway! As always, be back soon
Hydrobikes part dos. And tacos for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I’ve been home for almost a week now, and America still feels a bit like a foreign country to me. I haven’t really had time to process how I feel about leaving Switzerland, but I think that’s only because I know I’ll be back in Europe this fall, so all is well in my brain. After a quick reflection though, some things I regret about my time in Schaffhausen are not learning German fluently (volleyball Deutsche doesn’t count), not ever riding through the Alps on the Glacier Express, or ….. that’s all. These things are completely overshadowed however by all the cheese and chocolate I ate, all the places I did travel to and the people I got to meet. So here is my ode to Switzerland, in pictures of course. Some new, some old, but all ingrained in my memory as a part of one heck of a crazy life experience.
Meredith. Queso. River walks. Interlaken. Hang gliders. Gimmelwald. Mountain Hostels. Swiss Cow Bells. Waterfalls. Zurich. Pure bliss.
Its pretty safe to say that there are few better parties in the world than Carnival. While the Swiss version is no Brazil, its still been some of my favorite memories of living in Europe. My first season, I lived it up in Bern running through the streets in a tutu. Last season, I spent the day in Luzern drinking glühwein with THE Momma Orchard. This year was a whole new experience. In Basel where Carnival officially begins at 4am, the entire city goes dark as the flute parades begin to march with lanterns on the heads of people in crazy, and sometimes frankly creepy, costume. It was oddly inspiring to see so many thousands of people gather like that without any type of problem. I didn’t see one police man the entire night! This just would simply not happen in the States. Only in Switzerland!
