Geneva, Switzerland

June 4, 2010

I'm currently sitting in yet another airport - Geneva, Switzerland to Nice, France. Bre and I missed our 4:05pm flight's check in by 5 minutes, so we now have to wait and hope seats open up on the 8:30pm flight.

Geneva was so pretty and a very relaxed city - not busy at all. The weather agreed with us both days, so we saw everything there is to see here! We started our first night here by getting picked up by Jacob and Elise at the airport and heading to his house to drop off our bags. Jacob then took us on a walk along the waterfront at night before going to pick up 4 other couch surfers. Bre and I grabbed a quick dinner at McDonalds since everything else was closed.

After the other four arrived we went to a small bar called Tiki and grabbed beers and got to know each other - they were off to Nice in the morning, so perhaps we will meet again.

The next day Bre, Elise and I went a full day of sightseeing, we saw the Cathredral, gardens, the waterfront, Baby Plage, the UN and so much more. Geneva is an absolutely gorgeous place, although I think would make me restless if I lived there all the time as a young person - it was also pretty expensive.

That night we went out with Jacob and his friends and pre-drank with a wine & cheese on his balcony. The place we went was a lot of fun, and full of locals. There was a wall with a million shots with funny names to choose from.

The next morning Bre and I made a trek up to the UN again to go on a tour of the inside. They were all out of English tours, so we went on a French one, hoping we could understand most of it. After that we rushed to get to our flight in Geneva - yup, we missed it, and here we are now.

MY GENEVA PICTURES:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2338490&id=72610957&l=1063dc9c30

Paris, France (Airport)

June 2, 2010

Yesterday at 9:10pm, Bre and I left Toronto, Canada for our three month Europe adventure -- three planes later I am sitting at Orly Airport in Paris, France, waiting for our last flight of the day to Geneva, Switzerland. The six hour time difference has got us both tired, but I think once we meet up with the people in Geneva, the excitement will take over! Today alone I have been in four countries - Canada, Iceland, France, and in a couple hours - Switzerland!

We met a lady on our flight visiting her "man friend" in Oslo, and she gets to travel a lot for work, and when visiting him. It is nice to see the world doesn't just close its doors once you have "grown up".

It doesn't even feel real yet, though I just finished ordering lunch in French in Paris (2 years of university French = useless!) I am so excited to start this journey. Bre and I have been talking about this since first year - it's a dream come true, and even more amazing that we get to do it together. It's going to be hard being in a place so far from home for so long, but I think these three months will fly by!

Tonight we are going for drinks with some couch surfers and meeting up with a tutor from LSF. We then have a full day of sightseeing ahead in Geneva!

That's all for now!

Brittney xo

PS: Icelandic is a language - definitely didn't know that.

wow, fail.

So, I have been home from Europe for about 19 days now. Needless to say, I did not keep my blog while away. Excuses aside, internet (for free anyway) was VERY hard to come by in most countries, especially in hostels when there is a line up of other people behind you to use the computer. I knew I had to document my trip somehow though, so I got myself a journal and wrote down everything, every chance I got. We were on 6-7 hour train rides enough that I successfully got a chance to keep up to date with most of my travels.

I love the blogging community, as well as the chance to share anything I learned from my three months in Europe, so I have decided to transfer most of my journal over to my blog, as well as add some extra research on the places I have done, now that I am home. The good thing about doing it this way, is that I can now add pictures from my trip to my blog as well!

This summer was probably one of the most amazing, yet exhausting experiences of my life. I learned so much about different cultures, myself, and confirmed that my first true love is travel. As happy as I was to get home, I miss Italy to death (I have a weakness for all things Italian - food, language, culture, GELATO), as well as just the general thrill of getting to see or experience something new each day. When I got home I was certain I would put teaching in South Korea off for a year, but I have already begun interviews, and excited to get on the go again - so this time I will try and keep an up to date blog about that as well.

I obviously won't be able to put up 3 months worth of stories within a week, so be patient, I will do it in order of travels - which means first stop on my blog will be Geneva, Switzerland!

Hope you enjoy!