Green Eggs & Jamón: Swiss Miss

"The hills are alive....with the sound of music...." Alright, so maybe not exactly the same country but Switzerland is close enough. This week's crazy adventure consisted of taking off for the absolutely beautiful country of Swiss cheese, Swiss chocolate, Swiss army knives, Swiss watches.... (believe it or not, I am sure I am missing more) and of course, the breathtaking Swiss Alps.
After taking in the sights of feria in our own Sevilla, my friends, Kelly, Lauren, Kate, and I set off on Wednesday for a full days travel of three buses, two trains, and one plane to get us to Geneva, Switzerland! This trip really could have not gone better as far as travel complications (for those of you who remember the Italy bus ticket fiasco, this was quite the blessing), besides the fact that our precious peanut butter got chucked in the Madrid airport security...and yet the jam still managed to clear security.

Day 1: We woke up to a beautiful, sunny day in Switzerland and enjoyed coffee and pastries at a nearby bakery before taking a bus for a bit and then casually walked over the France border (no big deal, right?) to embark on our 3 hour hike up Mount Saléve, all while singing songs like 'the hills are alive with the sound of music.' The view on top made all the hard work quite worth it as upon making it the top, we were struck with the fact that we were standing on a mountain in France, overlooking Switzerland and the Alps. With a picnic of bread and jam (this really has become my consistant meal during travels) and carrots, we took it easy for a bit on the top of the mountain and soaked in the beauty.

Crossing the Switzerland/France border

Embarking on the hike

We made it!!

Overlooking Switzerland

first sight of the Alps

Day 2: Well, the rain does not only stay in Spain, it stays in Geneva too! Friday morning we started off with some grocery shopping so we could make the rest of our meals in our wonderful little apartment after scouring the city the night before for the cheapest dinner we could find...a 14.50 frank (about 16 U.S. dollars!) sandwich....you read right, a sandwich! They aren't kidding when they say Switzerland is expensive! And then the rest of the day was spent wandering the city of Geneva and trying to dodge the rain as it soaked us! We visited the Calvin College of Geneva (as Lauren actually goes to Calvin College in Michigan!), the reformation wall, and park de Bastiones. With shoes flooded in and out, we headed in for a very cozy night of warm showers, homemade spaghetti, and a movie night complete with popcorn and swiss chocolate! A night like this was that is usually the norm back in college life was quite the treat as we are never able to have these type of things together in Spain and needless to say, it was oddly one of the highlights of our trip!

Geneva fountain

Just a little wet...

Park de Bastiones

Reformation Wall

Day 3:

We love train rides!

Today we experienced the epitome of Switzerland...a small village situated in the Swiss Alps! We made a day trip out of train rides from Geneva to Montreux to Gruyéres. It literally felt like we were entering the world of Narnia with more and more snow appearing the higher we got up the Alps. Once we made it to our final stop, Gruyéres, we experienced the cobblestone streets, an ancient castle, lots of cheese samples, and just the overwhelming beauty of rolling hills of green with spotted houses scattered as far as the eye can see. My words really can't do it justice of how incredible this small village was and how happy I was to see this charming and quant side of Switzerland. Getting away from a city can allow you to stumble upon some of the most breathtaking views and cultural experiences this world has to offer. And with some dark chocolate Toblerone candy bars (oh my word, this is the best chocolate ever!) in hand, we made our journey back to Geneva, staring out the train window as the Swiss countryside zoomed by.