Switzerland

This past weekend, I traveled to Switzerland with a student organization group. We left on Thursday evening, and didn't arrive at our hostel in Interlaken until 3am. The first day, we took a half-hour train ride to Grindelwald, a small town nestled within the Alps. The town was absolutely gorgeous and picture perfect. We luckily had perfect weather (besides it being a bit cold). After hiking around Grindelwald, we headed back for a typical Swiss fondue dinner before night sledding. Sledding was incredible, and way more intense then I ever expected. In order to get to the mountain we had to take a bus ride and then a train. The train led us up to an elevation of about 6000 ft. Imagine sledding down that mountain! In order to stop yourself from going too fast you had to use your heels...


The next day Chris and I traveled to the beautiful city of Luzerne. The 2 hour train ride was spectacular, winding alongside lakes and up steep mountains. I could have stayed on the train all day, it was so beautiful. When we arrived in Luzerne the snow had just started to pick up. The city was lively and festive, due to the arrival of Fasnachts-Maart, a carnival starting before Ash Wednesday. People were dressing up in the strangest costumes I've ever seen and singing along with local bands. The city was refreshing and charming in every way.

The following day we explored the town of Interlaken, buying Swiss Chocolate and post cards. We then headed back to Florence, through the Swiss Alps. The ride home was also beautiful, with something new to look at every minute. I wish I could go back already!

Venezia

This past weekend Chris and I traveled to Venice. It was everything I could imagine, and more. The weather was questionable from the beginning, but it turned out to be a lovely weekend. The streets flooded everyday, making it even more of a maze to get around. We didn't give in and buy boots, though we probably should have.

The first day we wandered around taking in all of the sites. We ate at a fantastic restaurant and enjoyed the best fish I've ever tasted. On Saturday we visited Piazza San Marco, including the cathedral which is noticeably decaying due to the floods. We spent the morning in the Academia Gallery viewing Renaissance artwork. Then we made our way to the Peggy Guggenheim museum, which holds most of her original collections and 'modern' art. That night we ate at a low-key restaurant and wandered over to Campo Margherita, where all the night life is.

The next day we avoided flooded streets and found our way to Palazzo Grassi (designed by Alvar Alto). The museum housed contemporary and modern exhibitions, which were extremely interesting and sometimes comical. We then window shopped for a bit and explored the city more. After wandering around and stopping to eat a fabulous lunch, we headed towards the train station to bid farewell to the wonderful, flooded city of Venice.