Week 9 - Spring Break in Switzerland

 

Boungiorno Friends and Family!

        Spring break was an absolute dream and I think I may have trouble getting back into the rhythm of school this week. For my spring break I planned a trip with Aenya and two of our close friends Joe Winter and Natalie Bell. On Sunday we packed up our stuff and headed north by train. Traveling by train is the most relaxing way to travel and these were some of the most scenic trains we had been on so far. I think one of the highlights of this train ride was getting into the mountains and getting to see the snow capped peaks. What was really interesting was when we would be traveling along and see snow on one side of the mountain and then travel through a tunnel and be on the other side of the mountain without any snow and completely green fields. After about 10 hours of travel we finally arrived in Lauterbrunnen.

Lauterbrunnen is a small town of about 2,500 people. It is located in a valley in a region with beautiful mountain ranges. While we were there, we took advantage of the scenic views on hikes and enjoyed getting to see a completely new architecture style. In this area chalets decorated the slopes of the valley. This architecture style reminded me a lot of the style of houses in Norway. 

This was one of the more decorative chalets that we saw.

On our hike we were able to get high enough to look down on the small town below. It was sights like this that made this trip feel like a dream. We joked fairly often that the “Flint Hills” were so beautiful this time of year.

Here you can see the chalets dotted across the valley.

My favorite part of visiting Lauterbrunnen was discovering the town of Murren located just above the town of Lauterbrunnen. When we walking around the town we noticed a gondola that traveled up and down the mountain about every 30 minutes but could see where it was going. We decided to take the risk and ride up and see for ourselves where this could lead. When we reached the top it brought us to a small train station where we then took a train to the small town ski town of Murren. We were all a little disappointed that we didn’t have more time here, otherwise I am sure we would have had a ski day. The landscape up above Lauterbrunnen felt completely different because instead of green grass, there were snow-capped peaks.

The next stop on our trip was Zurich. Zurich felt like one of the most modern cities that we had been too so far. The public transportation was amazing and made it so convenient to get around. This was exactly what we needed because we had a lot of stops to fit in two days. Zurich is located around a large lake and we saw many swimming areas next to parks. However, I think we would have froze if we tried to swim while we were there.

Another shocking thing to me was the wild swans that were everywhere around the lake. This next picture isn’t at a zoo but just something we saw when walking around.

I think everyone’s favorite part of the trip was getting to go to the Lindt Chocolate Factory. Growing up, Mom used to keep a few Lindt truffles to herself and they were off limits, so whenever I got one it was a real treat. Well, while we were on this tour we basically had unlimited chocolate with melted chocolate and chocolate bar dispensers so I was able to get my fill. At the end of the tour we even got to take one of every flavor of truffle, so this was basically a dream come true.

In the lobby, they had the largest freestanding chocolate fountain in the world so the entire room smelled super sweet.

At the end of the tour no one ended up turning into a blueberry or falling into a chocolate river so I would say it was a success.

Before we headed to Zurich I went on ArchDaily (an architecture website) and marked out some of the highlights of Zurich that we needed to see. Two of my favorite buildings we saw was a Pavilion by Le Corbusier and a library by Calatrava. We also went to a very new and modern mall and a project that created a food market underneath where two bridges meet.

This pavilion was located in a public park but was unfortunately closed when we visited. This was the last pavilion that he ever designed and is now used as an art museum.

This library was located at Zurich University. We actually had to follow some students inside the building but I don’t think they suspected that we weren’t actually going there to study. Every floor has desks wrap around this center atrium so students have this beautiful view while studying. It felt like almost every desk was full when we visited.

For dinner we figured we should probably get a traditional Swiss meal. However, we learned that Switzerland is a very expensive country to visit, and if we wanted to get fondue it was going to be about 35 dollars per person. We decided to settle on Raclette which is very similar, but instead of a pot of melted cheese they just pour it over the food on your plate. I’m honestly not sure how the Swiss do it because after all the chocolate and cheese I had consumed that day my stomach was in turmoil. 

Our last stop on our trip was the town of Interlaken. Nestled between two lakes in the middle of a valley there was a beautiful view just about everywhere you looked. While we were here we went on another hike and stocked up on our Swiss souvenirs. You would not believe the number of Swiss army knife and watch stores that were here. They certainly know what their brand is.

Interlaken was also well know for their paragliding. We were so close to booking a flight for ourselves but I’m not sure if i would have been able to come home if I had paid for it. Joe and Natalie made a pact to come back in 5 years whenever we are successful architects.

This spring break was certainly one to remember. The landscape, the chocolate and the cheese were hard to leave behind. At one point during this trip Aenya made the comment “I don’t mean to be sappy, but seeing this makes me wonder how some people don’t believe in God”. He has really created a beautiful world for us to explore and I’m glad I was able to check one more place off my bucket list with fantastic company.