Semana Santa, Destination: Switzerland

After leaving Salzburg, I headed to Basel, Switzerland, where I would be staying for 3 days. The drive from Salzburg to Basel was about 5 hours and I slept nearly the entire way. I finally arrived and I met up with my hosts from couchsurfing. In reality, Phillipe and his roommates live in St. Louis, France, bit it is only about a 5 minute drive to Basel. St. Louis is also very close to the German border, so the residents of the flat worked in Switzerland, lived in France, and bought groceries in Germany, since Germany was cheapest for groceries and Switzerland payed the most for work.  Phillipe was the main host and he was really a funny and nice guy! When I got there, there were already about 10 people in his apartment! There were his friends visiting from Germany and the mother, then his roommates, and another friend. They all went out to party that night, but I just stayed in since I was still tired and was not in the mood to go out.

The following day, Phillipe gave us all a personal tour around Basel. It was really cold but we had a nice time and Phillipe was a good tour guide! We first walked down the main shopping street, but I avoided buying anything since everything is outrageously expensive in Switzerland. Then, he took us to a really cool "wall of rockstars." Then, we walked around and finally made our way up to a point that overlooks the river.

Phillipe(my host) and I

 The Cathedral is located right behind me from where I was standing when I took this picture ^

Cathedral

 We then went back down and wandered around some more and he showed us a really cool fountain with all sorts of crazy contraptions!

Crazy cool weird fountain

Inside Cathedral

Random colorful piece of "art"

Lil Jon and I... NBD

After a few hours of touring around Basel, we got ready for a night out, but first, Phillipe went to meet up with 5 Russian girls who were going to stay at his place for 2 nights. When they arrived, they were all really nice! They are studying in Germany but went on vacation to Switzerland. After a couple hours of talking and listening to music, we went out to go see Lil' Jon perform at a nearby bar! It was really awesome I got to see him live!! But it's so weird because it seems no Europeans even know who he is! I have asked so many of my friends from Europe and the majority have no idea! Anyways, I ended up getting a picture with him which was really awesome!! I was super excited that I was able to get a picture with him, but I had to first convince the security guard to let me into the VIP section!! :p

The Russian Girls

After a really fun night dancing and watching Lil' Jon perform, we went back to the apartment and all went to bed. The next day was a really big let down... The Russians and I were planning to visit Zurich, Switzerland but unfortunately, there were many complications and the train tickets were too expensive so we didn't end up going... :( Instead, we hung out at starbucks for a couple hours then walked back to the flat and hung out with Phillipe and his roommates. Then later on that evening, Phillipe went to go pick up another Couchsurfer! Her name was Kadi and she is from Estonia but is currently a nanny in Basel. She was so sweet and altogether, we went out to an Irish pub. We had a great time dancing all night at the Irish pub and then a Latin Club!

Kadi and I

The next day was my last day in Basel. The Russian girls had left early on that morning because they had to catch a train. We all just relaxed and Phillipe had made us some really delicious chicken wings. Later on in the afternoon, we went back to downtown Basel and grabbed a beer and sat next to the river and had a nice chat. The sun was finally shining(probably for the first time this trip) and the weather was gorgeous. We watched some swans float by, people watched, and talked until the sun set. It was a perfect way to end my time in Basel. Later, I would go to Geneva, Switzerland for my final destination of my European Adventure.

I arrived in Geneva Switzerland at around midnight and I would only stay the night and the next day in Geneva. I had a host in Geneva and he was really nice. His name is Sylvain and his English was not so good but good enough to communicate if I spoke slowly. Geneva is in the French speaking part of Switzerland, so everyone there speaks french. Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland, containing about 1.3 million inhabitants. It is a global city, containing the headquarters of one of the agencies of the United Nations and Red Cross. It also had the 3rd highest quality of living, but on the other hand, is really expensive to live there.

 Shortly after arriving, I was offered food and drink. I ate a little bit of pasta then mentioned how tired I was from the traveling. I slept on an air mattress in the living room and the 2 nights before, he had hosted his first couchsurfers from South America. Shortly after arriving, I went to sleep so that I could wake up at a decent time and have the whole next day to explore and site see. I woke up at about 10am and had breakfast, then we set out to Lake Geneva. We first went to Jet D'Eau, which is a really big, high pressure fountain. We then walked over to the Cathedral and went up to the top where we could view a panoramic view of Geneva! It was just stunning!

After visiting the Cathedral, we met up with Sylvains friend Remy and his girlfriend. We went to a cute small restaurant and had chicken, salad, and fries. I was attempting to order my food in French but my pronunciation was horrible! They all appreciated that I was trying though. When it came to the bill, it was not cheap. I tried to put my part in but they refused to let me pay and covered the bill, which I really appreciated. It was so nice of them to do that! After lunch, we went to a supermarket where I could buy some swiss chocolate. I bought 4 bars, 2 of them were for my host family back in Spain. At this point, I only had about 2 hours until I had to leave for the airport to catch my flight back to Madrid. We all decided to go over to the botanical gardens! It was a really nice time strolling around the park, and it was free! Pictures from the botanical garden are below...

My host(Sylvain) and I

famous chair

After the Botanical Gardens, we stopped really quickly in front of the United Nations so that I could take a picture in front it! By now, it was time to go back to Sylvains apartment to grab my luggage and head to the airport to go back to Madrid. I was really sad to finish my journey, but it was time to go back "home" and get back into school. I arrived in Madrid at around 9pm and got back to the house at 10:30pm or so. I came back to a meal, which was needed from all the traveling. I was so exhausted from the entire trip so I unpacked, brushed my teeth, and went straight to sleep. My trip was so amazing and I met so many people! Everyone I met was so welcoming, nice, and friendly! At first, I was a little worried to travel by myself, but it was such a good experience organizing everything all on my own and on a budget. I learned so much from my trip during Easter break and if I could do it again, I probably wouldn't change anything! Shout out to my friends, hosts, and parents to make this trip happen!!