il mio tempo in italia: train rides, snow, cheese and chocolate...

I've officially made it back from my 4th country this trip. Switzerland was absolutely gorgeous!

Last week was pretty good too. A lot of normal classes and things. I feel like I get into the same 4 day routine while I am in Parma, even with what I eat. I go to the grocery store here and buy the same things for those weeks because I know exactly how much of those things I need to buy to last me. Its nice though because it puts some rigidity in my life when I'm spending one weekend in sunny and busy Barcelona and the next in cold and chill Lucerne. We also had a 80s/Halloween party last week for one of the girl's birthday. It was pretty fun and one of my friends even carved a pumpkin! We're trying to hold onto a few of the traditions of the states while not being the obnoxious American students.

Friday morning we had a train out of Parma at 9:38 to head to Milan and then Lucerne. We ended up having about a 20 minute delay on that train and had to sprint around the Milan train station trying to find our train before it left us. It was a little ridiculous with all 9 of us, but somehow we managed to all get on the train before it pulled away. I always seem to be running for some form of transportation while I am on these trips. Keeping me on my toes I guess. The train ride to Lucerne was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. It took us right through Lake Como and the very snowy Alps. I kind of dozed off at one point and then woke up because I thought someone was shining a light in my face, but turns out it was just the snow reflecting in my eyes. I looked out and was in an amazing mood for the rest of the day. It also got me into the holiday spirit despite it only being Halloween at that point. (I've already started the Christmas playlists on my computer). Once we actually got to Lucerne though it wasn't quite as snowy. Plenty cold, but not snowy. We immediately went to the hostel once we got there (which turned out to be pretty nice!) All the girls (6 of us) got our own room and the boys (3 of them) had what they thought was going to be their own room, but then they got a smelly/snoring roommate during the middle of the night on Friday. haha. The accommodations were nice though, with clean amenities and a really good breakfast every morning.

Friday night after getting settled into the hostel we went searching for a place to eat which proved to be a little more difficult than we thought. We either couldn't get in because they were closed or they wouldn't take a group of 9 of us. Finally we found a place where almost everyone ordered German sausages. I ended up with this traditional swiss plate (mushrooms, cream sauce poured over a pastry shell) that I had seen recommended online during my research for my trip. Pretty good, but at that point we were all so hungry anything would have been good. We took a while with dinner then took a long walk back to the hostel where we planned for the next day. The mountain that everyone tells you to go up when you go to Lucerne was closed because of the massive amounts of snow they already have, so we weren't able to do that, but we spent most of Saturday just walking around and taking lots of cute pictures. We have lots and lots of group photos in front of gorgeous backdrops. Almost everything was closed Saturday because of All Saint's Day which was kind of a bummer when we were doing souvenir shopping, but other than that we didn't really miss out on much and just spent the time walking around. Saturday night we made reservations for a fondue place that Sarah's host father had recommended. It was really fun to experience "true fondue culture" although it wasn't that different than the Melting Pot. We ended up just doing the cheese portion because we were all pretty full afterwards. Then we spent the rest of the night at the only open pub in town watching soccer with the locals and just enjoying a good chill night inside where it was warm!

Sunday our train didn't leave until 12 so we had some time to run around and buy more chocolate before we headed out. The fog was unbelievable over the lake so we also spent some time hanging out and watching the ferries come in and out eerily from the fog. The train ride back took us a different route so we were able to see other parts of the Swiss countryside. There were a ton of waterfalls on the side of the mountains that were gorgeous to look at. We made it back into Parma around 6:30 and then all headed back to our apartments to chill out for the night.

It was definitely nice to be away for the weekend and cnn.com. I am so disgustingly obsessed its actually starting to annoy me. I can't believe we will all know so soon! I'm very ready to know so I can move on since there isn't much I can do at this point except sit around and wait. My dad was awesome and sent in my absentee ballot so I've done my part.

Hilary and Elena come to visit me this weekend!! I am SO excited to see them. Everyone has been having friends and family come visit over the past few weeks, so I am definitely ready for my turn. I think we are just going to spend the weekend enjoying Parma and the food here. Should be good!

I hope you guys are doing well!! I'm thinking about some of you as we hit the 2 year anniversary tomorrow. Its been hitting me pretty hard lately, but I'm also blessed to be surrounded by so many of these great experiences to distract me. Please don't hesitate to email me how you are doing with it all. I really do like talking it out with people, but if not know that I am thinking about you.

Love you all,