Running through the streets of Zurich

Dear Blog, Yesterday my alarm went off at 8:45am. That's sleeping in for me, however, the night before I got no sleep whatsoever. So on this particular saturday, I just didn't want to get up at all. I could stay in bed if I wanted or catch a later train but I got up anyway...Zurich was waiting on me. I felt kind of off all throughout the morning and train ride. Woke up in a funk I guess. Once, I got there, it was magically lifted. I felt better again, I felt more like myself. I walked along the streets and found some really cool shops (english bookstore..glorious, record stores, and even a fun toy shop), didn't buy anything from any of those places because zurich is literally the most expensive city in the entire world..yikes! doesn't do well on my budget even if I just got paid. But this girl can't help herself when it comes to H&M and I found this adorable short white mod dress that I'm so excited to wear around the UK in a few short weeks. I was getting hungry though and went to find a pizza place (craving pizza for the longest time) and ended up at this one right by the water (you don't even want to know how much it was for a small one person cheese pizza...zurich..that's all I can really say). Let me diverge about the water for a second, it is SO clean. I've seen a lot of canals from venice to amsterdam and they don't have shit (sorry) on Zurich. You could swim in it and not only be certain that you won't get a bunch of diseases but come out of it feeling clean and refreshed. People weren't lying about switzerland being clean..in fact all the rumours I've heard about Switzerland are living up to their word. Expensive:check. Clean:check. Beautiful: double check. Alright back to pizza. Since I was alone, the waiter sat me next to this one bloke who was alone as well. Well..this bloke (Matt) noticed me fumbling with german words and speaking English so he asked me where I was from. He turned out to be from Colorado! I hardly ever meet fellow Americans on my travels. He just graduated from uni too. We were both travelling in Zurich for the day alone so at the end of the meal we decided to hang out for the rest of the day. I was really happy about this, travelling with someone else is so much better than being by yourself, even if it was just a one-day kind of friendship. I told him about the free bike place I saw online so we walked to find it...no luck though. It was there..luckily but they ran out of bikes..suppose I wasn't the only one in Zurich with this brilliant pocket saving idea. Well on to the next idea, walk around the lake front. The lake was perfectly clear, old swiss buildings surrounded it with mountains in the background, swans swam near the edges while the sailboats lazily sailed in the center. The weather was perfect too..sunny but mild. Perfect cardigan wearing weather. And you know how much I love my cardigans. They are to me as sweaters are to Mr.Rodgers. Then Matt and I saw paddle boats and thought we should check it out. We found the place really easily and it was decently priced (even better). So we got our paddleboat!! wooohooo! It was hilarious..we exchanged very few words with the guy who gave us this paddleboat but all he said to us was "Do you know the rules".."no" (in my mind...are you kidding, how would we know the rules..you have barely said 5 words to us).."Don't go under the bridges" and then he pushed us off and we were on our way. Matt and I couldn't help but crack up over that whole scenario. back in the states they would have surely gave us some long speech with a novel full of rules and how to even use the bloody paddle boat but all this strange swiss man had to say was not to go under the bridges..and we didn't. However, this contraption squeeked like crazy. Proper annoying to say the least. But I was happy, I love being on the water. We joked throughout the ride that we were going to jump in. About half way through our ride, we stopped to take pictures and give our legs a rest. And I said "If I'm going to do it, this is it...this is the time". So I did it. I jumped into Lake Zurich. Jeans and All. Once I was in, my first reaction ended up being a mouth full of curse words. It was damn cold. But after a few minutes, I felt so alive. I was spontaneously swimming in the middle of lake zurich. I kind of forgot about matt and the paddleboat for a minute. I just swam on my back and looked all around me. This is my life and I loved it. Once I got in, I really regretted the whole jean thing but hey what's a girl to do? I wanted to swim in the lake and I have a boyfriend so going in my underwear was definitely not an option. So once I'm sitting back in my seat, matt looks over at me...and says "Hell, I've got to do it". So he did! and once we were riding back..he sincerely says "Thank you, I would have never done that if it wasn't for you". Maybe he felt alive too. I was glad that I could be a part of that. I have to tell you something about this fellow...he is ROBBIE LAND! his voice, his looks, his humor. It freaked me out during that whole day. I felt like I just spent the whole day with Robbie. I think that really helped me feel comfortable and able to joke around as if he's been my friend for longer than just this one day. So once we were back on the streets of zurich..my jeans weren't drying and god knows that they weren't going to dry anytime soon. So we found some store (Adidas), I pretended to try something on but really just changed out of the jeans and into this mod dress that I bought earlier that day. The dress is quite short and I didn't want to slut it up in Zurich so then the goose chase to find black leggings began. Luckily I found some and all was right with the world. After exploring the city more and getting coffee ($7 small starbucks..killer), I was off on the train again, feeling much better than before. I love zurich as a city. I would live in Zurich. I always judge places on if they are visit worthy or living worthy and this was definitely both. It was beautiful with a blend of nature and city. It's perfect..minus the money bit. Once, I was back in my little village of Magden, I climbed up the hill looking at the clear night sky with an abundance of stars hanging about, and at the that time, the universe just felt right.

It's time to begin... isn't it?

Dear Blog, That morning, we woke up at 4:00am. He turned on the lights. It was so bright. I remember that vividly...it was way too bright for what time it was. Can't we just go back to sleep? Wake up when we want, make tea and banter? Not this morning. After a lot of convincing, he got me up. We trudged about a mile or so to Waverly Station. At the time I was conflicted, the walk was painful, cold, dark, and uphill...I was too tired for that. I wanted the walk to be over. At the same time..I didn't. It meant much more than a stupid walk being over, it meant that summer was over. Our carefree weekends in various euro cities and the week that I just spent in the cottage...making cookies, waking up late, running around in meadows, laughing all the time, and dancing in our pub...was over. I know that we'll have more memories like that but I just wanted them to last so bad...I wanted to stay. I always thought everytime I left the UK..that I left my heart with it but this time I really did, I swear to god, I did. Finally, once the bus came..I held back. I didn't cry. He didn't say much. Then I let his hand go, walked on the bus and the bus driver was so unbelievably rude to me. I sat by myself and lost all control. I cried, and I cried hard. It brought me back to a year ago when I left my kindergartners in Italy and I took a bus all by myself to the airport straight after work. It was a cry that couldn't be stopped even though I wanted it to. There were people in pretty much every seat for christ sake...and I...I was a hot mess...an uncontrollably one at that. And then I was on my own I went to Michaels parents house for the afternoon since it was close to the airport and I could be in Frankfurt whenever I wanted. It was a Sunday, I needed to pick up my visa at the swiss consulate on Monday. All in All.. I adore them, they make me feel a part of the family and I've only met them on two occasions. His dad helped me get on the train with my two luggages at the end of the day. He kissed my cheek and waved goodbye as the train took off. I really was on my own now and I couldn't help but cry a little again. Franfurt..I hated it. I really did, I swear to god. Basically when monday afternoon hit and everythining at the consulate went smoothly, I got the hell out of there and started on my way to SWITZERLAND!!!!!!!!! I'll talk more about the family and kids in another blog...don't you worry! But for now, let me tell you, that I live on top of a hill...currently I am sitting outside on my own terrace that connects to my room. I can see all of the houses, some look so small that I could pick them up by my hands and set them on my palms. The village is surrounded by hills. It's so beautiful! I wish I could do it justice, but Blog..I really don't think I can. I'm sorry. This weekend, I went to Colmar, France, it's in the lovely famous wine region of Alsace... I went completely and utterly alone. As soon as I got to Basel SBB, I went to go to the french platforms, there was a sign there that said "France" with a sliding door. My heart fluttered! It was such a cool feeling, I stood between these sliding doors just for about 20 seconds..I was in two places at once, Switzerland and France. I felt like I was on a "Walk to Remember". In that moment...I felt infinite. Oh by the way, in preparation for the movie, I've been reading the perks of being a wallflower..for about my 4th time, so this entry may be full of references that you may or may not get. At the moment, I feel both happy and sad, and I wonder how that could be My emotions were running high..I don't know what's wrong with me, I feel constantly on the verge of tears. There were times where I wanted to cry because everything around me was just so beautiful in Colmar. It was like a fairytale, cut out hearts in the colorful shudders of the houses, cobblestone roads, bakeries, cheese shops, biscuits/ chocolate shops galoure! It was authentic too...no one spoke a lick of english. As I walked around, I would say the signs that I saw aloud to myself in the best french accent that I could muster up. It was silly but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish I was learning french instead of German. It's a gorgeous language..it really is! "Sont de mont qui von tre bien ensemble...tre bien ensemble"...thank you beatles, thats almost as much as I really know. During my day in Colmar, I went shopping for souvenirs, after being here for 2 months, it's about time to send some love back, right? I went shopping for clothes, found an awesome maroon cord skirt..while trying things on..this song came on..one of those songs that puts you in a good mood and makes you feel alive..well it came on so while I was trying on clothes..I was dancing and jumping around. Once again, in that moment, I felt infinite. After the shopping, It was time for a snack. Tried an onion torte, thanks for 'Mum's suggestion. Really though, I don't even think I would have thought about going to Colmar without their suggestion during my graduation. Another great family that I'm so happy to have in my life. Anyways, I got off on tangents way too much, so I walked around a bit..ended up finding myself a Marche aka french market. Drank a few glasses of wine! Brilliant! I wanted to keep shopping around after that but then my wine haze started to hit. Made my way to a lovely french park and read the perks of being a wallflower and took a tiny nap. That's when I realised..when I am alone or feeling lonely, I look to my books and my writing. I want to feel connected with someone when I read or with my writing, I want someone to feel connected with me. It makes me feel less alone. And right now, I could really use that. I want you know, that I meant what I said, I really am both happy and sad. However, I am living the life that I always wanted to and I feel so lucky for that. I take it in, I appreciate everything. This isn't everyone's life. Some people don't make it out...even when they want to. It's not an easy life to live though. Constant goodbyes and change. It can be hard but someone once told me that if it's not difficult...it's not worth it. And I believe it. With every bit of me.