I absolutely love Switzerland. A little bit German, a little French, and a little Italian. I think it combines the best of Europe in one country (relatively speaking).
We arrived yesterday to the Italian-speaking region and have settled in to the Virginia Tech villa in Riva San Vitale. I'm trying to do my best at taking photos, but am finding that my camera and abilities cannot do the beauty justice. Thefore, I found this photo on the web. I promise to upload the real thing when I can.
So far we arrived in Zurich on May 15th. Our program officially began on the 17th with our studies taking us to the University of Zurich, ETH, University of Basel, and the University of Switzerland Italiano here nearby in Lugano. We have been welcomed and hosted graciously at each of our stops. I must say I'm surprised at both the similarities and differences I am finding to our higher education system in the U.S.
Random observations: Zurich is the most quiet, pristine city I've been to. Picturesque with the Swiss Alps in the background, we found our way to the lake the city surrounds.
I'm very proud to say that my first meal was a large sausage/bratwurst and a roll of great, chewy, crusty bread. I told my traveling friends I was getting in touch with my heritage.
I LOVE the coffee here. Strong as ever and readily available anywhere you go. We did have to break down and visit the Starbucks on Sunday morning. Nothing else seemed to be open. We enjoyed the people watching from their outside tables.
I was a little disappointed by the chocolate-culture here at first. I kept seeing "advertisements" for Lindt chocolate on top of buildings thinking it was the headquarters of Swiss chocolate or something. We would walk to the building and find it was just a bank. Finally, we gave up at the expensive truffle shops and found the local Coop, or grocery store. Fortunately, I was able to get any kind of chocolate I could imagine within a budget affordable for every college student. We also found the Coop to have a nice selection of wine, fruit, cheeses, and bread. Every meal from that point on came from our Coop grocery store.
Other than hiking up the Swiss countryside and sprinting to make the train in Lugano, my back/leg have held up pretty well. My PT would be proud of the progress I'm making!
Hopefully there will be more to come in the next few days as we have a compter lab here at the villa!
