Traveling/Switzerland

January 18-24

Day 1: Traveling

I was supposed to leave Monday, Jan. 18th. I was all packed, said good-bye to my cat, sister, and farm (in that order) and set off for Cedar Rapids with the parents. However, when we arrived, we learned that no flights were coming or going due to fog. APPARENTLY the pilots have to be able to actually see the runway. So… 2 cancelled flights later, I was back home.

Alright, take 2. Tuesday I was back at the Cedar Rapids airport. There was less fog and my hopes were high that I would actually get to leave the country that day. And I did, at 1:30ish pm.

From Cedar Rapids I went to Chicago, then to Philadelphia. It was in Philly that I ran into problems. I went to check in my boarding pass and passport at my terminal, and the lady kindly told me that I was supposed to be in Frankfurt, Germany at the moment, and that I was not on the flight to Madrid. Not good.

I spent an hour bargaining with the guy at the special services counter and used my good charm to convince him to let me on the plane to Madrid. I literally ran back to the terminal and went straight onto the plane, with the flight attendants closing the door behind me. Close call!

The flight was good. The plane was practically empty, so each of us passengers just chose a row and were able to stretch out across 5 seats and sleep the whole time. I woke up in Madrid and went through customs and immigration, then prayed very hard that both of my suitcases would arrive and not be in Frankfurt like my ticket said. But they did magically arrive.

From there, I had to go rent a locker to leave one of my suitcases, because I didn’t want to take it with me traveling. The locker was outside the airport, across the parking lot. I must have looked awful, I had 2 suitcases, a bookbag, laptop, and jet lag. And I was absolutely NOT prepared to speak Spanish yet. The guys at the locker actually laughed at me when it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to open the locker door, then 25 more minutes to learn how to close it.

Alright next step: fly to Geneva, Switzerland. I had to switch airlines, because I bought 2 separate round trip tickets. So after standing in the dead center of the airport for a half hour hoping Terminal 4 would find me, I decided I should probably go look for it instead. I learned that T4 is new, and I had to take a bus to it. Turns out, it’s actually on the other side of Madrid. Spectacular.

At Terminal 4, I had no problems finding my company, checking in, and getting my boarding pass. The problem was, the pass didn’t say which gate my plane was at. I’m not kidding, the boarding pass actually has ???? written where a gate number should be. Apparently, in Madrid they like to do this thing called “Learn which gate you’re at 20 minutes before the flight, then see if you make it there.” People stand staring at the big screens waiting for their flight to have a gate assigned. Then they take off running. I didn’t learn this game until after I had taken 2 trams, 7 escalators, gotten completely lost, and gone through security twice trying to find my gate.

So I stood there, waiting to see which of the 8ish terminals my plane would be at. By the way, the terminals aren’t close. You have to take a tram to them. I was nervous, to say the least. But I got the gate exactly 20 minutes before the flight, and I made it to the gate.

After the lovely flight to Geneva, which I was unconscious for the entire time, I got my suitcase, snuck into Switzerland (seriously, no one checked my passport. Not once). I then found the train station and bought a ticket to the city where my friend Carlos lives (who is Ecuadorian, I knew him from being an exchange student).

Carlos has told me to call him at that point to tell him at what time he should pick me up. So I bought a phone card using my stellar French skills (that’s a joke. I don’t know French), then attempted to use that phone card for 30 minutes. With no success, I looked at my watch, discovered that the train left in 3 minutes and ran to the platform. I got on the train, and sat next to 3 very nice looking Swiss (I presumed) boys.

I asked one if I could use his phone to call Carlos. It’s probably very expensive, but I was desperate and must have looked so because he said yes. He also helped me (in French) with where I would get off the train. They announce the stations in French and German, but I guessed right at got off at the right time in Sion. There I had a total of 8 minutes to find the next platform, which I did again using my charm and French skills.

The train from Sion to Sierre (Carlos’ city) was short, and I was finally there, Tuesday night at 10:00pm Switzerland time. Carlos met me with 3 of his friends from Greece.
Ok Carlos goes to an international university in Sierre. It’s up in the Alps (and I mean, at the very top) and is absolutely adorable. Winding roads, houses made out of stone and wood with pointed roofs and chimneys, lights. It was so cool. Plus, all the people there are all foreign, from Russia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Greece, Brazil. It was so neat.

We went to a little restaurant, and I was completely exhausted but it was so great to catch up with Carlos, and his friends were awesome (I learned a few Greek curse words too). I slept so great that night at their house.


Switzerland

Carlos and his friends all had class on Thursday, so I got to sleep in - yay. We went out to lunch, then we drove down the mountain from campus to Sierre. His Greek friends had some shopping to do, so Carlos and I tagged along. It was so much fun seeing the city, and hearing everyone speak French (plus Greek).

We went back to his university, and Carlos showed me the campus. We hung out in a small bar for a while, then ate dinner in their dining hall (they told me to act like I was a student there, so I didn’t pay). The meal was amazing, and it was awesome seeing all the other students from countries all over the world.

After dinner, we just hung out at the house, and Carlos and I stayed up until late. The next morning they drove me to the train station in Sierre, and I bought the tickets to Italy and said good-bye.

I took the train from Sierre to Brig, then changed trains to go to Milan, then again to go to Turin. The trains were really nice, and fast! Plus, it was daylight so I could see the Swiss countryside, then Italy. The Milan Centrale train station is ginormous, and it was cold. At Turin, I met my friend Simone (who was an exchange student at my high school when I was a senior). He was there with his girlfriend Elizabeth, and the three of us took yet another train to his city Asti.