The “short walk” that Brinberg (our professor) told us we were going on, was a little misleading. Turned into a six hour hike up a mountain in the alps. It took us two hours to hike up the mountain, and there was no such thing as flat surface. It was allll uphill, and exhausting. And Brinberg doesn’t believe in a slow pace or taking breaks. People were dropping like flies. It was one of the hardest hikes I have ever done. Everyone was pretty offended that he didn’t warn us that we needed to be conditioning over winter break to get ready for this hike. However, it was definitely worth it. There’s no other way to get to the top of the mountain except by walking and the views along the way and at the top were beautiful.
Gamma Phis at the top!
We were scared for the steep walk down, but luckily he decided to take us only half way down the mountain and then the rest of the way down via towns. It was so pretty walking through the towns and seeing where people live. Everyone has such nice cars! They could have a not-so-great house but still have an awesome Porsche. All the towns here remind me of fake towns that you’d see in Disney World or Las Vegas, they’re all so colorful. We were having a great time strolling through the towns until all of a sudden Brinberg says, “Yeah, we’re in unknown territory now. The road we usually take isn’t here anymore.” The road that they used to take had been reconstructed and didn’t exist anymore! So he had no idea where to go so we ended up wandering.. and wandering… Until finally we had to cut back through the mountain to get to another time to get to the bottom of the mountain. It took us about six hours total and 10 miles, except it felt like longer because so much of it was uphill!
The bus finally picked us up around 4:30 and we headed back to the Montarina to shower and relax until dinner. We headed to dinner around 7:30 at the Quattro Sorelle (translates to The Four Sisters— HAHA Sarah and Annie, loved this name). It was pretty cheap there and had good pasta and pizza and the staff loved us! The place wasn’t very busy when we got there, there was maybe 4 people, and then all of us rolled up. I went in the first wave of like 16 people and then another 10 came and then another 10 came. The waiter gave us extra wine, free dessert, and a pack of gum! It was really fun.
We stayed there for a couple hours and then walked across the street to a bar called Coyote Ugly. The bar was really fun, the bartenders there loved us too. It’s great because most people seem to really like us, probably because we give them so much business. They gave us free drinks and popcorn at the bar! After that we headed to another bar and then to a mini club called the Underground. It was small and crowded but really fun. We made a lot of Swiss friends!
Me and Savannah with the owner of The Four Sisters
We stayed there for a couple hours and then walked across the street to a bar called Coyote Ugly. The bar was really fun, the bartenders there loved us too. It’s great because most people seem to really like us, probably because we give them so much business. They gave us free drinks and popcorn at the bar! After that we headed to another bar and then to a mini club called the Underground. It was small and crowded but really fun. We made a lot of Swiss friends!
A couple things I’ve noticed since I’ve been here:
It’s so weird having absolutely no idea what people are saying. I’ve never had this before. I overestimated how much English people would speak here. All places I’ve been have been able to speak a little bit of English, and if they don’t they speak Spanish, and I can pick up and speak some Spanish. However here, they barely speak any English or Spanish. I tried both last night… It’s just weird feeling this huge disconnect with people here. I really need to learn more Italian, I hope we will in class!
Another thing I underestimated was how expensive everything is. I know everyone told me it was expensive, but apparently it didn’t really register until I got here. Everything is so expensive! A cheap dinner is 15 francs, which equals like $16. And food in the grocery store is expensive, and they don’t even have a lot of American stuff. They don’t have creamy peanut butter! Such a bummer. If I would have known this information before I would have brought more food from home. I really do think we’re going to lose weight here because we can’t afford food for snacks or meals! Oh and last example to let you guys know how expensive it is here, 2 meals at McDonald’s is 30 francs….
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