So in honor of Carnaval, we decided to celebrate by spending 6 days in the Swiss Alps. University of Maastricht cancelled school for the festivities so we experienced a little of the craziness and then got the heck out out of town. Our destination: Gryon. It's literally not even on the map. Its a tiny town outside of the bigger ski town Villars. Its in the French part of Switzerland and we were recommended the hostel, Chalet Martin, by previous Baylor study abroad students. We spent a whole day, over 12 hours, navigating our way through the European train system and finally at about 9:30 pm on Monday (March 23rd), we arrived. 

Honestly, Switzerland is my favorite place so far. I could have stayed there for another 2 weeks, if I didn't have to come back to school. The hostel made our trip. It was so warm and homelike. The people there, the owners and the other guests, were incredible. The owner is an Australian named Matt who is married to Elizabeth, a girl from West Virginia, who stayed there while doing a college backpacking trip. Now, her and her younger brother Patrick help run the place. They also rent rooms per month, so besides people who just come through for a few days at a time, there are people who live there all year or for the entire ski season. I guess its a running joke that you can never really leave the Chalet Martin. You just keep coming back. I can see why.

This is the few off the deck. Im sure it's just as amazing during the summer months. 

Ill just get confused if I try to do this in order. But one of the days, we went skiing. I'm in the middle here with Briana and Jazzy.

Breathtaking

This is Barbalouse, the next little town down the cograil from Gryon. This is where we got on the ski lift and such. 

Every night, we had a "family dinner" with the twelve of us from Baylor in an effort to save some money. The hostel had a kitchen with everything you need to cook. We had spaghetti one night (hey, were college students!), chili the next, chicken noodle soup, and breaded chicken and mashed potatoes another. The first night we didn't get there til after dinner and the last night we were on our own.  

All our skis outside of our hostel

This is where we stayed, the attic. My bed was behind that first curtain. 

View from the hostel

Ski resort

Palm trees in Switzerland. This is getting me excited for the beaches in April

Lunch break from skiing (Tori, Meghan, and Miranda)

They have these weird lifts there. Kind of intimidating

The quaint little town of Gryon. 

We did wine and chocolate tasting at our hostel. Switzerland only exports 1% of their wines, so tasting them is something you have to do while visiting. We learned a lot, no really, we did.  

The next day, one of the girls Carolyn and I decided to venture to the town of Zermatt in order to see the Matterhorn. We failed to realize that our Eurorail didn't cover the trains to Zermatt because its a private train company. So we had to pay 50 swiss franks to get there...We probably wouldn't have gone had we we realized that, BUT it was too late. So we decided to have a positive attitude and enjoy it for all it was worth. If I was going to 50 Swiss Franks for a train ride, however, this would have been the one. The ride there, was stunning. Going through vineyards and mountainous areas with rivers cutting through, like the one above.  

And then we got there! Here's me in front of the Matterhorn. I mean, honestly, how cool is that? The real thing was 5 times better than the Disney World Ride and that's saying a lot. 

We walked around the town of Zermatt and went in some shops. It was a super cute town. 

No cars were allowed in the town, except for these little taxi car thingys. Yes, thats their technical name. 

Our last day in Switzerland was absolutely beautiful outside. It was 60 degrees outside and sunny. Jazzy, Briana, and I went out to lunch at a restaurant called Cookie. We splurged for some authentic cheese fondue. Best lunch ever. Period. 

You are supposed to either eat fondue with white wine or hot tea, so that it doesn't upset your stomach. We figured noon was a little too early for wine, and we got some amazing fresh mint tea. Isn't it pretty?

Yum!

Our time to leave Switzerland had come, so we packed up our bags, said goodbye to our Aussie friends and the beautiful views, and hit the road. "We'll be back, Chalet Martin," we wrote in the guestbook. And we will. Someday. 

The picture is of Lake Geneve taken from the train on our way home.

This weekend I'm staying in Maastricht and a couple of us are going to do day trips to Cologne and Luxembourg. I needed a weekend to get caught up on laundry and school. Plus, there's so much to see within an hour or two of us, that it would be a shame if I didn't spend at least one weekend here.

Oh and good news, my mom is coming to visit the last 9 or 10 days Im here in April. I'm so excited to show her my little European home :)

With Love,

Taylor