Ashton, Stephen, and I took a trip to Europe! I've taken a while to write about it, considering we got back in April, but we had such a great time!
The first day was by far the longest. We drove to Chicago, then we flew from Chicago to Berlin and from Berlin to Zürich on AirBerlin. The flights were long and I didn't sleep for more than an hour. Luckily, we had empty seats on our 8-hour flight and we could spread out. I had two seats to stretch out in, but it's almost impossible to get comfortable enough to sleep restfully on a plane. Luckily there were monitors on the back of the headrests, so we played games and watched movies to occupy our time.
In Zürich, we met Stephen's cousin, Morten, who showed us to the train station. We had about a 45 minute train ride to Schaffhausen, where we stayed the majority of the trip. Morten’s parents, Ladd and Caroline, own Café Vodergasse in downtown Schaffhausen and so graciously allowed us to stay in their apartment above it.
We had the most delicious lunch at the café around noon with Morten and Jane, Morten’s sister. The zucchini and tomato quiche with a garden salad was so fresh, and a much needed pick-me-up after the long flight. We were thrown off by the time difference, but we decided to power through until the end of the day to adjust to Swiss time. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
Morten took us on a walking tour of Schaffhausen. We walked through the main strip of downtown and around to where he went to school, then to Munot Fortress on the Rhein.
The view was absolutely beautiful from the top.
After we walked around the fortress, we stopped at a local ice cream place, El Bertin Glacé. It was delicious. Morten was nice enough to pay for ours because we didn’t have any Swiss francs yet.
After ice cream, Morten showed us a monastery. It was so peaceful. I could’ve just walked around in it for hours, but we headed back to Schaffhausen for some coffee and tea at the café.
That night, Ladd and Caroline prepared a delightful dinner for us. One thing different about the Swiss is that they have larger lunches and smaller dinners. It makes sense, though. Americans go to bed after a big dinner and absorb all the calories. Having a larger lunch gives you calories to sustain you throughout the day. That’s just one example of a healthy habit I picked up from Switzerland.
I ended the night with a Facetime call with my parents and sister. It was bizarre being 6 time zones away from my family.
Continue to Switzerland 2015: DAY 2 >>
There are 300+ more pictures I couldn't possibly fit into one blog post, so I uploaded a slideshow. Check it out here: Switzerland 2015: Photo Album
The first day was by far the longest. We drove to Chicago, then we flew from Chicago to Berlin and from Berlin to Zürich on AirBerlin. The flights were long and I didn't sleep for more than an hour. Luckily, we had empty seats on our 8-hour flight and we could spread out. I had two seats to stretch out in, but it's almost impossible to get comfortable enough to sleep restfully on a plane. Luckily there were monitors on the back of the headrests, so we played games and watched movies to occupy our time.
In Zürich, we met Stephen's cousin, Morten, who showed us to the train station. We had about a 45 minute train ride to Schaffhausen, where we stayed the majority of the trip. Morten’s parents, Ladd and Caroline, own Café Vodergasse in downtown Schaffhausen and so graciously allowed us to stay in their apartment above it.
We had the most delicious lunch at the café around noon with Morten and Jane, Morten’s sister. The zucchini and tomato quiche with a garden salad was so fresh, and a much needed pick-me-up after the long flight. We were thrown off by the time difference, but we decided to power through until the end of the day to adjust to Swiss time. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
Morten took us on a walking tour of Schaffhausen. We walked through the main strip of downtown and around to where he went to school, then to Munot Fortress on the Rhein.
The view was absolutely beautiful from the top.
After we walked around the fortress, we stopped at a local ice cream place, El Bertin Glacé. It was delicious. Morten was nice enough to pay for ours because we didn’t have any Swiss francs yet.
After ice cream, Morten showed us a monastery. It was so peaceful. I could’ve just walked around in it for hours, but we headed back to Schaffhausen for some coffee and tea at the café.
That night, Ladd and Caroline prepared a delightful dinner for us. One thing different about the Swiss is that they have larger lunches and smaller dinners. It makes sense, though. Americans go to bed after a big dinner and absorb all the calories. Having a larger lunch gives you calories to sustain you throughout the day. That’s just one example of a healthy habit I picked up from Switzerland.
I ended the night with a Facetime call with my parents and sister. It was bizarre being 6 time zones away from my family.
Continue to Switzerland 2015: DAY 2 >>
There are 300+ more pictures I couldn't possibly fit into one blog post, so I uploaded a slideshow. Check it out here: Switzerland 2015: Photo Album
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