Understated Abroad

As I have talked about a bit before, our independent study period gives us a lot more flexibility with our schedules and finally gave some extra time for long weekend trips. The first destination on my list was Lisbon, Portugal. 

Lisbon, or Lisboa in Portuguese, was a dream. A mix of Mediterranean and European styles, Lisbon was a warm and fun getaway from the chilly hustle and bustle of Geneva. We had a great time walking along the winding (and extremely uneven) cobblestone streets and buying as much food as we could to take advantage of the lower prices (coming from Geneva any meal under $20 is basically free). 

Here's a round-up of everything that I recommend checking out if you ever find yourself in the capital of Portugal: 

Tile 

Portugal is known for its artisan tile work, and it was evident, as 75% of the buildings were covered in beautiful arabesque tile. This really set the tone for the entire city and made walking around the city even more enjoyable (as if that was possible). 

TAP Portugal 

Time-Out Market

POP Cereal Cafe

Probably the greatest little surprise of our trip was this cereal bar that we stumbled upon in Barrio Alto. For only 5 euros you get a delicious bowl of cereal and they even put a scoop of ice cream on top, because why not. Eat breakfast here, eat dinner here, eat here in the middle of the night, just get here okay? 

Sintra, Portugal

Sardines

 The cool thing about Switzerland is that you don't have to search very hard in order to find a beautiful place to spend a day. This proved true the day that we decided to visit Kandersteg and Oeschinensee. Oeschinensee is a beautiful crystal clear lake at the top of a mountain. But apparently, the route up to see it closed for the season in early October (I mean it's cold, but it's not that cold). We somehow ended up seeing a little lake called Blausee (pictured above). The following is a retelling of a day filled with happy accidents and beautiful views. What are the chances? 

7:45 am: I wake up after about 7 alarms go off, and get dressed for the day in my warmest fall clothes, assuming that in a few hours I will be on top of a mountain. 

8:20 am: I pack a lunch and make a coffee to go, taking my time for the moment, as I still have a good amount of time before my train leaves. 

8:30 am: I discuss my plans for the day with my host mother over a raspberry yogurt. 

8:34 am: I realize that the train leaves at 8:39 am, that I live 20 minutes away from the train station, and that I am never going to make it.  

8:35 am: While waiting for the elevator, I see that there is a 3-minute delay on the train (an anomaly in Switzerland) and think "I can work with this." 

8:37 am: My bike pass works for once in my life, and I hop on an e-bike and literally fly towards the train station, yelling out "PARDON!" and "EXCUSEZ-MOI" to all the people I practically run over. 

8:42 am: I somehow miraculously beat the train to the station, park my bike, and get on board the train, out of breath and amazed that I made it on time. This was an all-time bicycle speed record, and I expect calls from the Olympic Committee shortly. This was the first miracle of the day. 

11:30 am: We arrive in Kandersteg, only to find that the cable car to the mountain is not doing what we want it to do. We ask the employee at the tourism office what to do, and she writes a German word on a business card and tells us to get on the next bus and then get off when everybody else does. We say okay.  

11:50 am: We get off when everybody else does, not really sure where we are, and not really sure what we are looking for. We follow everyone else to a little ticket hut. 

11:52 am: We buy our tickets (with that student discount whatuppp) and ask the ticket lady how long the hike is to wherever we're going (still unclear at this point). She responds with "Go looking." We say okay. 

11:55 am: After validating our ticket and walking about thirty yards, we found what we were looking for: 

CRYSTAL CLEAR BLUE WATER

FALL FOLIAGE

SCENIC VISTAS

12:15 pm: We walk several laps around the little blue lake, totally dumbfounded by how we had ended up here and how it was so beautiful. You can see the trout in the first pic just living their life in the most clear lil lake I've ever been privy to. This was definitely the second miracle of the day. 

We are immediately met by a glacial waterfall and some very well maintained trails.  All smiles.

The inside was as cute as the outside.

Milch, lol.

Now that we no longer have class every day (helloooooo thesis project), we're free to set our own schedules and work on our research on our own.  For me, this means that exploring Switzerland isn't just for the weekends anymore. Enter: this Tuesday trip to the Lauterbrunnen Valley. 



This GORGEOUS valley is home 72 waterfalls and some seriously scenic vistas. Fall was in full swing, and the trees throughout the valley were vivid with color. And unlike hiking up the mountains, hiking through the valleys is leisurely and doesn't make you think you have asthma. Still takes your breath away though. 

My face all the time in Swiss nature.

The highlight of the valley is the Staubbach Waterfall, the tallest freefalling waterfall in Europe. You can even walk right behind it and take in the view. 

WOWOWOWOW. Mountains and fountains, ya know?

Laughing about how great life is when you don't have class every day.

From the main falls you can take a casual hike to see the rest of the valley and waterfalls and a lot of happy Swiss cows. And some goats. 

One day we'll all be goats.

Another highlight of the valley was Trümellbach Falls, which was 11 consecutive waterfalls INSIDE A MOUNTAIN. Super loud, super nature, super cool.  

Caves are not conducive to good photo lighting, but here is 1/11 falls.

Me, in a cave, looking at a waterfall. Probably saying "wow".

On the walk back to the train station (we love you SBB) we saw a vending machine.  That in itself was a little odd, and when we got closer, we saw that it was filled with local jams, cheeses, and wines. SO SWISS!!!

Like Wandering Oaken's Trading Post from Frozen, but in 2017 and a bit more Swiss.

And of course, I got to see my favorite Swiss cows. Look how cute they are. The cows here are basically a national treasure and take priority over everything else.  We found this out when we turned around and saw a herd of cows holding up about 10 cars worth of traffic. Even more Swiss. 

THE COWS. THE MOUNTAINS. FALL.

T'was a magical Tuesday. 

 What better way to relieve the the stress of a tough finals week (a 16 page paper, presentations, and two finals. Oh la la.) than to venture to one of the most famed chocolate factories in Switzerland and try all the samples? 

As with any Swiss adventure, this journey began with a magnificent train ride through the Swiss mountain side.  Fall came early here (on time? Living in Arkansas distorts my view of the proper transition of seasons) so the views were enough to keep us enthralled and looking out the windows.  After the train, the factory was a short bus ride away.  We accidentally took the bus for one stop too many, but we were fine with it because look at these gorgeous fall colors.  



 The tour of the factory was VERY Willy Wonka.  It began with a history of chocolate and worked through time to a history of the Cailler brand and Nestle (who came to own the brand during the Great Depression). 

The Aztec room, complete with a conquistador (not pictured) shaking in his boots, so excited about bringing chocolate back from the New World.

A little moving display room, showing the process of selecting the location for the factory.  In a surprise to no one, the happiest cows which make the sweetest milk live in the region they selected.

Then we were told all about the supply chain and production process, and were given the chance to try raw cocoa beans (If you like very dark chocolate its like 2 degrees less sweet. I liked it) and other raw elements that they use in the chocolate (nuts, cocoa butter, etc). 

We saw the production line and how modernized it has become (hint: I saw thousands of pieces of chocolate being made but only saw one person the whole time).   

Then came the important part: the samples. First the instructed us on how to professionally taste chocolate using like 18 different methods. How does the chocolate sound? How does it feel in your hands? What's the aftertaste? Seemed a bit much for me, but I'm willing to learn the process. They then gave us samples of every kind of chocolate and truffle you could imagine. Dark, milk, white, peanut butter, hazelnut center, crispy, caramel, the whole assortment. It was absolutely amazing, but left me a little parched (a girl needs some water to wash down all that chocolate). 

After we were stuffed to the brim, we made our way back to (the correct) bus stop and took in the fall colors.  We also met some precious little sheeps (friendly reminder to rush join phi lamb). 



Stress relief, achieved.