A Letter To My Love

Dearest Switzerland,

I owe you an apology. Over the last three months, we've been spending a lot of time together, and honestly I started to take you for granted. You've been nothing but good to me since we first met in early January. That first week in Lugano was magical. I will forever cherish how special you made my 21st birthday. Our first weekend together was one for the books. Skiing Zermatt was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. You certainly inherited Mother Nature's best traits. 

Since then however, we've drawn apart. I take full blame. I started seeing other countries. First it was Italy, drawing me in with its delicious food. Then Germany with its endless supply of beer. Then England and its irresistible accent. Ireland stole my heart. I celebrated Valentine's Day with France. I went on a second date with Italy, who continued to woo me, this time with pesto. Belgium made me the world's best breakfast. Hungary was a cheap date. I gave Germany a second go. Prague and I really hit it off. Italy was determined to show me the wonders of Rome last weekend. 

I realize this isn't the best apology, but rather a list of my recent conquests. Keep reading. 

It had been over two months since our marvelous weekend together in Zermatt. Honestly, I was slightly bitter you wouldn't show me the Matterhorn, but I now realize you were simply playing hard to get. We had only just met, you weren't ready for that type of commitment. Clearly, I wasn't either. 

I realized that despite how long we've known each other now, we hadn't spent quality time together in quite a while. This weekend changed everything. Italy was practically begging me to visit Cinque Terre. Frankly, Italy was getting a little too clingy. Instead, I stayed with you. It was just the two of us and you showed me the world.

My journey to Interlaken was beautiful. You continue to teach me that it's the journey, not the destination. We were finally starting to click, and Friday you proved that. 

I woke up early Friday morning excited for my journey ahead to Jungfrau, the top of Europe. With stops in Lauterbrunnen Valley and Kleine Scheidegg, I was already blown away. Jungfraujoch took the cake. Words cannot describe your beauty, Switzerland.

Getting to Jungfraujoch required a simple train ride. Getting to it's peak at Mönchsjochhütte however, was not. You challenged me and I accepted. After an hour hike up the mountain, I made it. It's there that I fell in love with you all over again. I enjoyed a terrific lunch and one of the most beautiful views in the world.

Just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, you did this:

Thank you, Switzerland. While our time together is coming to an end in a few short weeks, I want you to know how great you are. I promise to come back and visit you, if you promise to be nicer to my wallet. 

With love,

Con amore,

Mit liebe,

Avec amour,

Bijan

Avalanche Risk: Considerable

My alarm went off at 3:45 in the morning on Saturday. We had a train to catch. Sixteen of us were headed to Zermatt, Switzerland for what would soon become the best weekend of our lives. Over the course of the next seven hours, we took five trains and arrived at our hotel in Randa, Switzerland. Randa is located about twenty minutes outside of Zermatt by train. We stayed at the Matterhorn Golf Hotel, where I imagine golf has never been played. Trip, Taylor, and I were placed in the penthouse, just as we are in the Montarina.

After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we got back on the train to our final destination, Zermatt. As cars are not allowed in Zermatt to preserve it's natural beauty, horse-drawn carriage is one of the main forms of transportation within the town. Zermatt is a small German-speaking town in the shadows of one of the most famous mountains in the world, the Matterhorn. We spent Saturday, exploring the town and making preparations for our ski adventures on Sunday. While in town, we ran into a recent Hokie grad and his father, who helped us find a good place to rent skis.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch and explored the Matterhorn Museum before heading back to the hotel for the evening. Things got interesting Saturday night. Twelve of us met up in the penthouse for a classic game of Go Fish. After about two hours of playing cards, we got a knock on our door from our very angry next-door neighbor, and owner of the hotel, Maurizio. As it turns out, large gatherings are frowned upon in his establishment. After all of our guests left, and a lot of yelling in a mix of Italian and English from Maurizio, things calmed down. Despite his threats, the police were not called. Luckily for us, he arrived about twenty minutes after we broke on of the beds in the room. We had about eight people sitting on the right side of the queen bed while playing, before it caved in. Had we gotten away with it, I would not be blogging about it, however we received an email this morning informing us that we will, in fact, be charged for repairs. Divided by twelve, the cost is minimal, so thankfully we can laugh about it.

Sunday morning we woke up early to head to the slopes. We rented our gear the Saturday night, to help ease the process for the morning. Following a breathtaking thirty-minute ride up the mountain, to the Gornergrat peak we were ready to go. As a relatively inexperienced skier, I was informed that Gornergrat was home to several beginner friendly slopes. It seems as though the term beginner has a different meaning in Switzerland. The initial drop of "beginner" slope was very steep, and stayed that way throughout. I stuck with my friends Alex Santoli and Ashley Graham throughout the day. While Ashley and I had skied before, it was Alex's first time skiing.

Being Alex's first ski trip, she endured the expected challenges, on a mountain far bigger than a beginner should start on. I was incredibly impressed with her great attitude throughout the day. Despite the difficulties, she made it to the bottom with a smile on her face. Ashley had a great approach. She took her time, and stayed on her feet. I tended to get over confident with my abilities every so often. If I managed to stay on my feet for anywhere over five minutes, I started to think I could compete with Lindsey Vonn. Despite having to pull out of the Sochi Olympics after tearing her ACL, if I were to race her today with a three-hour head start, I'm confident she would still beat me to the bottom with time to spare.

While we were only able to see the outline of the Matterhorn through the clouds, the view was incredible from 10,132 feet up. The conditions were perfect, with temperatures hovering around zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and snow on and off all day. We ran into our new Hokie friends about an hour into our ride. The kindly to guided us to an easier trail that lead to an igloo and an ice bar. Naturally, we had to stop there. Ice bars are cool. Igloos are cool. Ice bars in igloos on top of a mountain that overlooks the Matterhorn are very cool.

After enjoying a beverage, we continued our descent down the mountain.  It took us a while to get down to the gondola. It took three hours and forty-five minutes to be exact. While I had "Help Me Rhonda" stuck in my head the entire time, I loved every second of it. I was in no rush to get to the bottom. We stopped occasionally to enjoy the view, and frequently to help each other up when we fell. We made a few more trips down the mountain, despite notices that warned "Avalanche Risk: Considerable" as we got on the gondolas.

Needless to say, my trip to Zermatt was one of the coolest experiences of my life. I still cannot believe that I skied in the Swiss Alps yesterday, and lived to tell the tale.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Mission Accomplished!

The forecast called for rain all day today. When I woke up, I was pleasantly surprised to find three inches of snow on the ground instead. Strangely, snowy palm trees are becoming a normal sight here in Lugano. Conditions were perfect for castle hunting. Since arriving in Lugano last week, I have spoken with a lot of locals to try to find the castle. The language barrier made it slightly more difficult, but the overwhelming majority of suggestions pointed towards Bellinzona, Switzerland.

Bellinzona is located twenty minutes outside of Lugano by train, and is home to three castles: Castelgrande, Sasso Corbaro, and Montebello. In the early 16th century, the cantons of Bellinzona were united politically, but weren't particularly friendly otherwise. Each eyed control of the St. Gotthard, Lukemanier, and St. Bernard passes, and thus built the castles.

I got on a train from Lugano to Bellinzona at 1:15 this afternoon. Within twenty minutes, I was in Bellinzona, carrying the card David made me from the Card Isle, in search of the castle. I walked through the town, and saw glimpses of the castles up in the mountains. In an attempt to get more information, I went into a local cafe, Botega Caffe Cacao, to ask a local for help. After exchanging basic greetings in Italian, it became clear to them that Italian is not my strong suit. Luckily, one of the women in the cafe spoke English and was able to help me.

I went to Castelgrande first, as it was closest and largest. Castelgrande has two gigantic watch towers. I climbed to the top of the tallest tower to get a view of the town. It was there, that I spotted my castle.

The castle on the card is the Montebello. It took me about twenty-five minutes to walk up to it. Bellinzona had about six inches of snow covering the streets. I took my time touring the snow-covered castle and finally found the exact spot that David took his picture last summer when biking through Europe. I am so glad I got the opportunity to explore Bellinzona. While it is very close in proximity, I doubt I would have made the trip had I not been lead there by the mission. Thanks for encouraging me to adventure, David!

After a great day in Bellinzona, I headed back to Lugano to prepare for my next adventure. Sixteen of us are headed to Zermatt, Switzerland for a ski trip tomorrow morning. Next stop, the Matterhorn!

Ciao!

Ventuno

After our first day of class on Monday, about half of us went to the Alprose Chocolate Factory. Alprose is the largest chocolate manufacturer in Switzerland. The factory is located just twenty minutes outside of Lugano by train. While the factory is closed for special production until the end of the month, we took a tour of the museum and ate lots of samples.

It's not often you see snow covered palm trees. In fact, Tuesday was the first time I had. I awoke on my twenty first birthday to the sight of snow falling from the Lugano sky. Tuesday was our second day of class, and unlike Monday, classes lasted six hours instead of three. The day started with our first session of Introduction to Italian, followed by Consumer Behavior.

After class, I finished some homework, studied a bit, and then went to AnaCapri for a mug of Feldschlösschen with my friend Nick Carr, before heading back to the Montarina for dinner with the rest of the students. At dinner, Professor Brinberg surprised me with a Lindt chocolate bear and a tiara in recognition of my birthday.

After dinner, about thirty of us went to a bar called Coyote Ugly to celebrate. It's slightly disconcerting when you walk into a bar only to find a couple and their infant in a stroller sitting by the bar. They left soon after we arrived, but it was certainly bizarre. I had a blast with my new friends, and enjoyed what was without a doubt, my favorite birthday to date. It doesn't get much better than singing Train's Drops of Jupiter at the top of your lungs with thirty friends to end an awesome day.

This weekend I am headed to Zermatt, Switzerland with about twelve other students for a weekend of skiing in the Alps. I hope to do some castle hunting and possibly attend a Lugano hockey game Friday before leaving. Stay tuned!

Ciao!