Greetings from Switzerland. This blog entry is going to talk about all the activities I’ve done here. Obviously, Switzerland is known for being the nature capital of the world so I might as well take full advantage of it while I am here. I am so happy I met Billy here because he is all about the outdoors. He did research before he came here about where to go hiking and caving.

From the pictures from my previous entries, you can tell what kind of view I have of the mountain, but let me tell you that being on the top of one is a completely unique experience. The air is so crisp and refreshing which made me appreciate the fact that this land was untouched and preserved by nature. Even with the crisis of global warming being discussed in all of my previous courses at Saint Leo, you would never think about the issue once you start hiking because it simply doesn’t matter. What I realized here is the fact that people live their lives doing the same thing everyday which stresses them out. I realized this because I was one of those people constantly stressed out. By going hiking, I thought I was just going to get a see a view of the mountains that I have never seen, but I saw a lot more. For once in my life, I was able to live in the moment and not think of anything else. We would start either in the morning or after lunch and head back by dusk which is dangerous but yet one of the best experiences of my life because I have never laid down and looked at the stars which is something that I highly recommend everyone to do. This is simply because of the fact that when you look at the stars or the clouds in the sky, you feel small and insignificant like nothing else matters.

The best part about it is that it is not only hiking that does this but caving as well. Being in a pitch black area makes me scared of the unknown which is what pushed me so far to want to study abroad. I guess I was bored of life and wanted something new and exciting. I think it is not just a reflection of me but also my current generation. The generation of millenials is always looking for the next big adventure never looking back which I love because it promotes change which most people are scared of.

Me at the top

Billy in the cave

It was pitch black so I had no idea what I was looking at

Billy and I at the end of the day

Besides caving and hiking, I also went paragliding, wine picking, and rock climbing with Carol who is the activities lady. Paragliding is a rush as you go from the top of the mountain to the bottom. It looks like it is a fast ride, but honestly it is about twenty minutes which gives the perfect view of the village. Grape picking made me appreciate the wine that I have been drinking here a lot more. I never realized there was so much hard work that needed to be done. We were out for most of the day picking grapes which was a good exercise for me because I am not one for doing labor unless it’s a sport or working out. Rock climbing is seriously fun because it gives a person a sense of accomplishment once they reach the top. Back home, I never would have thought of doing any of these things simply because it didn’t fit my lifestyle or character. However, when I came to Switzerland, one of the key things for me was to be open and exposed to the life which broadened my horizons in the long run.

What I learned is that when you don’t set limits for yourself, the world is at your fingertips. As I am writing this, I am actually exactly a month away from going back to the United States so I am just trying to take every last experience in.

The instructor and I

View of the Village

Me Picking Grapes

Yvonne Vineyard

Billy and Chris

Billy and I all packed and ready to go

Me climbing to the top

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Roma, Italia

I am still sitting in the train station in Rome as I am writing about the next blog entry. After the Louvre, the six of us took the train back to Switzerland, but Billy, Christopher, and I took a flight the next day from Geneva Airport to Rome, Italy. If you want to talk about polar opposites then do what I just did because Paris and Rome are completely opposite from each other. First off, while Paris is an extremely big city, Rome is pretty small with everything from shops to food located in the center of the district. Here, the three of us met with my friend Karim who is from Italy and offered to give us a tour of the city.

Our hostel

Breakfast

We stayed a hostel where room service regarding breakfast was included. Nothing like a cappucino and sugared roll to start the day. It is funny that when I went to Rome, I started to realize that I just came and have spent the past four days in Paris. I saw what Paris had to offer and now I was stoked for Rome because everyone always talks about Roma. The first day the four of us went to the Coliseum which was a lot bigger than what I expected. For the history of the place, I am still surprised that it is in decent condition because of weather and the effects of nature over time. We then went to Caesar August's Palace which had little standing but was enormous in size.

By now, you are expecting me to talk about another place that we went to, but the guys and I decided to take a break. What did we do? We went shopping. In the last blog entry, I talked about Paris being expensive for everything from clothes to food. In Rome, if you find the right places then it is the complete opposite. Both Chris and Billy paid about $150 to $200 US for real Italian leather jackets which retail in the United States easily for $600 to $800 dollars. I, on the other hand, do not need a leather jacket in Florida so I spent about a 100 euros on three silk ties, italian jeans, a polo, a muscle shirt, and three sweaters which would have easily costed me about $400 US in the United States. Better yet, we went to eat after that and found italian pizza to be about 5 Euro for a huge pie which was a sigh of relief on my part because I was so full after that that I didn't need to eat anymore for the whole day which easily saved me 30 euros a day compared to Paris.

Coliseum

Karim and I inside

The Group (Chris, Myself, Billy, and Karim)

Only five euros for this

Famous Gelato

Server getting spaghetti from a parmesan wheel

The next day, we decided to go to the Vatican which again would make my parents proud because my mom absolutely loved the Vatican and wanted me to see it when she went to Europe two years ago.

Vatican

After the Vatican, we wanted to go shopping again, but instead made an agreement to go see three attractions before we did so. We went to see the Pantheon, Fontana de Trevi, and the Spanish Steps. Sine, they were so close together, we finished all three and did it in a fast rate at two and a half hours. The Pantheon is known for a huge circular opening at the top of it which wasn't quite good on the day we went because it rained to the center of the building.

Pantheon

Circular opening at the top

The Fontana de Trevi is a huge fountain with the ancient gods all around it, and the Spanish Steps gave an incredible view of the city and the one street where the rich go to shop in Europe.

Fontana de Trevi

Me before throwing a coin in the fountain

Spanish Steps

Gucci, Prada, Bvlgari, Louis Vuitton, and many others lined this one street where everyone besides tourists were dressed in suits. It made me appreciate the style of Europe because people get dressed to go shopping which is a rare commodity in the United States. Again, we only spent 10 Euros for dinner which was Fettucine in a mushroom sauce and all the bread I wanted. I will not emphasize it enough. Take chances and opportunities as they come because it is rare that you will get a second chance. I know previous students who went abroad, but didn't do any traveling outside the country they were studying in which they later regretted. Regret is something I do not live by so I am making sure to make the most of what I do and where I do it.

Now that I am comtemplating the past week, I want to bring up a dinner conversation that the four of us guys had last night. It dealt with the money we spent and what we do when we are back in the United States and the state of the economy globally. My friend Chris explained that we are not paying for the goods whether it be clothes, attractions, or food, but instead for the experience. Compared to the rest of the people at Saint Leo University and even the people who have never left the United States, I feel great knowing that I have this experience to talk about it through this blog and with friends back home. I also am looking forward to the day when I can talk about it my son, daughter, grandchildren, etc because this is a ONCE in a lifetime opportunity which both Saint Leo and my parents have given me.

I am about to board a train for Florence in the next couple minutes and then will head back to Switzerland so hope everyone reading this takes what I have to say with a grain of salt. The quote for this blog entry is one that Karim, Billy, and I make fun of Chris for saying because he says it all the time but I now know it's true.

Life is good.

Ciao Italia. Back to Switzerland

Posted by Saint Leo University at 8:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I just finished my mid-term exams and am now leaving Switzerland for the first time. As I am writing this, I am actually sitting in a train station in Rome just pondering about the past week and let me tell you that it has been both a gracious and welcoming position. On the 24th of October, I left for Paris not knowing what to expect. Of course there are the stereotypes that I have heard of that Paris smells and that the people are rude, but I came to Paris with an open mind because I wanted to see for myself what the country had to offer.

Right before we left Switzerland, look at the flavor of the chips

There were six of us who went together which consisted of myself, Billy, Christopher, Charla-Maye, Joy, and an art professor named Ms. Julianna Bark. As soon as we got off the train station, I felt like I was in New York City all over again. There were people everywhere and the noise was something I wasn't used to since I have been living in a small village for the past two months. We stayed at the hotel Gare de Lyon which was right next to the station.

For the first day we were there, we decided to get out and walk around the city because I was told that there were beautiful squares located around the city and from there get food from a restaurant nearby. Let me tell you first off that the waitress we had was extremely nice which was far from what I expected. I ordered the hen which had a sauce that Ms. Bark said only the French people could do best. I still couldn't believe that I was in Paris nevertheless the fact that I left the United States.

One of the many squares

Delicious hen

On the second day, we went to the Museum d'Orsay. I was against it asking that I be excused to see the city by myself but I was persuaded to go because the rest of the group was going. Compared to the art museums in the United States, it was so surreal to actually see the paintings which were being talked and questioned about in my classes with Dr. Reynolds. I was actually in the area where great art was being produced without realizing it. After the museum, we walked around the whole day and ended up at the Eiffel Tower at night. I know that I may be redundant in this blog entry when I say that the Eiffel Tower is a truly amazing experience but forgive me because as an American, these are sights that I never thought I would see in my life in person but only in pictures. Every hour, the tower lights up for a five minute period which impressed me because everyone around the area would just stop whatever they were doing to just stare at the tower and enjoy the show. For that five minute period, nothing else mattered to me except to just live in the moment because I may never see it again.

Me with crepes with nutella which is pretty much a chocolate sauce

Museum D’Orsay

Art student recreating one of the sculptures

Me and the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower lit up

The next day I went to mass at Notre Dame. Let me say it again. I went to mass at Notre Dame. For my parents, that is a big deal because Notre Dame is one of the biggest and oldest churches in the world which was yet another experience. Finally, the last day we went to the Louvre which is the biggest and best museum in the world. I was surprised to find out that it takes a full week of going from open to close to see and appreciate the whole museum. I saw the Mona Lisa with my own eyes and was fortunate enough to find a girl to take a picture of me with it. The sculptures and statues amazed me because of how detailed and sophisticated they were.

Me with a statue

Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame

The Louvre

Me with the Mona Lisa

Me at the Arc de Triomphe

Now that I have talked about the good, I think I deserve to tell the readers about some of the bads. While French food is delicious, it is quite expensive and you get smaller portions which leaves you hungry. Also, the city of Paris is so big that you have to take several metros to get from one attraction to the next which kills a lot of time. Also, everywhere we went had a sign to watch out for pickpocketers, but that is to be expected since it is a place for tourists who carry a lot of money. Overall if anyone is reading this blog, let me just say take every opportunity you can take because life passes by faster than you think. Do not hesitate to take chances because that is time wasted in itself. Thus, I will end this blog entry with two quotes.

Sometimes the things we cannot change end up changing us the most.

Finally, this quote should've been on the first blog entry, but I only found this one recently which describes my initial thoughts to Switzerland even now Paris and Rome. It is from a song by Bryan Adams called 'Here I Am'.

Its a new world
Its a new start
Its a life with the beating of a young heart
Its a new day
In a new land
and its waiting for me
HERE I AM

Next Stop: Italy

Posted by Saint Leo University at 8:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)