Day 16: Off to Switzerland

Did you know that Swedish House Mafia is from Sweden, and not Switzerland? I didn’t catch on to that until 7:30am this morning when I woke up - LOL.

Today was our longest bus travel day thus far, from Paris, France to Lucerne, Switzerland! I slept most of the ride, but I had the most delicious salami and brie baguette in a little town outside of Dijon, France - AKA the home of Dijon Mustard! I also had delicious chocolate gelato and bought a nice bottle of white wine for 3 euros.

Our hotel is in a small town called Engelberg. It’s adorable! I have the biggest porch ever overlooking the Swiss Alps, bright green countryside, cute little lodges, and crisp air surrounding me. This is definitely an unreal scene, and to be living in it is even more dreamlike for me. Everything is so peaceful. I could really live a relaxing life here!

We grabbed dinner at the only restaurant in all of Engelberg on a Sunday evening, and I paid $33 for my meal. (Switzerland is SUPER expensive because they are SUPER rich) I had a famously good Swiss beer at dinner that was light and delicious.

Now, MIND YOU, I’m in ASICS sneakers, jeans, and an ADPi hoodie at dinner because this town is dead silent on a Sunday evening. So I thought there was no way anything crazy would happen at night….WRONG. 

We walked into the bar next door and it was hardcore DUBSTEP and crazy disco lights!! I was pumped. Everyone was dancing and having a great time. Giuseppe, our tour guide, was being an ANIMAL - chugging and dancing like a crazy Italian man. We were all baffled. Once again, I loved being out with a big group. We all bring something different to the table and when we’re all together, it’s unreal how much fun we can have. 

I didn’t go to bed until 2:45am because I was swinging on the playground, hanging in the hotel gazeebo on a beanbag chair, and talked with Kim for a long time about our lives. 

Swiss Alps tomorrow!!

Day 15: From 0 to 100% in 3 hits.

I woke up a MESS today. Oh my god. So dehydrated. Nauseous. So disoriented. Thank god we didn’t have to do anything until 3:30pm. I slept in until noon and went to the market to get food for the picnic we were having later. But even eating food made me feel worse :(

Our group went to the Seine River that runs through Paris to have a picnic right next to Notre Dame! At first, I wanted to kill myself considering the terrible state my body was in. And then Nicole spotted these random red bite marks all over my wrist and elbow! No one else had them so everyone was trying to diagnose me! I honestly wasnt too scared, but it was just another thing to add to my mess.

But then fate stepped in. Rhys shared his hash splif with me, and 3 hits later I felt like a new woman. This is now the second time on the trip that THC has immediately relieved my body of pains. Just taking notes…

By the time we walked from the river to Notre Dame my nausea went away. There were gorgeous flower gardens on my left, the magnificent Notre Dame on my right, and a bright blue sky with the sun shining down on us at the same time. I was so in my element. The line to get inside the cathedral was too long, but the gothic architecture on the exterior was to die for. What an unbelievable sight.

The rest of the day only got better and better! I couldn’t get over how happy I was considering I woke up miserable only a few hours earlier. We walked through a huge market with oil paintings, antique books individually wrapped, and endless posters and coasters. It definitely had that gypsy vibe that Molly and I loveeee!

We walked back to the river to catch up with the group, and next thing I know Alexis’ HULA HOOP FELL IN THE RIVER!! She was screaming “HELP! HELP! NOO THIS ISN’T FUNNY!!” Meanwhile, everyone was histerically laughing as we watched the hoop just float around in the river. My friends and I were especially dying because she has been carrying the damn thing everyday, everywhere we go. 

Eventually, it floated close enough to the edge for our ridiculously tall friend Tyler to reach over and grab it with an umbrella while a stranger held his legs! I was still LOLing about this for 10 minutes after. Thank god we can relive this story because Nick recorded the entire thing.

The next activity was a canal cruise ride down the Seine River to see Paris from a different angle. My friends and I were laughing, dancing, and being our silly selves as the sun began to set. We had some serious #deepthoughtz about our lives. It was amazing. I truly realized in this moment how lucky I am to be having this experience with so many of my best friends - it’s a trip that no one will truly understand unless they were here living this dream with us.

The night got colder as I was dressed for 80 degree NY summer weather. And yet, the night still got even better. We made our way to the Eiffel Tower as the sun was setting to go all the way to the top. On the way up, I was with Lex, Zoe, and Jenny. We made it to the first level of the tower when the sun was turning a ferociously bright red. It was a brilliant scene. As we moved up, we watched the tower sparkle as it does on the hour! It was glowing gold with the prettiest silver sparkles everywhere! It was brilliant against the darkening blue sky. The view of the Paris skyline was insane-it took my breath away.  It was a magical sight to see and was definitely my favorite so far.

About an hour later we made it to the top, found the rest of our friends, and routinely had tall Tyler take a huge selfie of us! We average 12 people in a picture! We even heard of an engagement happening while we were at the top! So cute.

It took forever, but we finally made it back down after 2+ hours! By the time we all got our crepes (I had ham, egg and cheese), we finally got to see the tower sparkle on the hour from the ground. It was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SIGHT MY EYES HAD EVER SEEN. LEGIT, MY EYES WERE GLUED!

I love how the Eiffel Tower is in the middle of a not so overwhelming part of Paris, allowing you to see it from so many different angles and views. But at night it became the most magnificent sight, sparkling and glowing in the dark night sky.

I love Paris. I want to go back immediately!