"Let's go to Switzerland for the day! Sure...okay, it's only a 2 hour bus/train ride! Let's do it!" And that is exactly what we did this past Saturday… And despite the 6:20am departure from the gare, it was wonderful!

Our first stop was the United Nations Headquarters of Europe in Geneva, Switzerland. The first thing that caught my eye you ask? Well that’s easy…this giant wooden chair, called ‘The Broken Chair’, in the middle of the Place des Nations. This 39-foot chair surprisingly is not a 4-legged chair, but 3 and a quarter legs. The fourth leg is broken off leaving shards of jagged wood, yet still remains standing without tipping over. It is such a unique public statement that you can’t help but wonder what the importance, the significance of this chair is. The answer: it’s a symbol of the fight against anti-personnel land mines. It is quite the sight to see in person let me tell you!


On our way to the main entrance of the UN, Lexie, Karlee and I ran across a patch of daffodils and had to stop and take some pictures…we are such girls!


Besides the UN, do you know what else originated in this city? The Red Cross! Right across the street from the UN actually, they have the International Red Cross Museum. We did not get to tour there, but it definitely is on my list of things to do if I ever go back.

It was finally time for our tour of the UN. Our tour was actually in English because the French tour wasn’t until the mid-afternoon, but to be honest, I am glad it was in English because I learned so many new facts about the UN that I found fascinating! (Don’t worry, I will not bore you with all the details). For starters though, can you name the 6 official languages of the UN? And even more interesting, what are the top 2 languages used? I always thought that out of the 192 countries that are part of the UN, that they each had their own translator to translate speeches, etc. into their countries language, but that is not true! The translator will only translate whatever is being spoken into one of the official languages, which are: English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Arabic (English and French being the top two- yeah French!) So whoever the countries representative is must know one of these languages.


The tour lasted about an hour or so where we were able to see a UN conference room, the General Assembly room, the Peace room and the Salle des Droites de l'Homme et de l'Alliance des Civilisations as well as the gardens (well from the window- they don’t allow tourists to go outside because the property is so large and it would create security risks).


My favorite room was the human rights conference room. This room was by the far the most unique of them all, with the speckled ceiling of colors and the meaning behind this piece of art is also quite intriguing. At first this ceiling was very controversial because it was so bright and colorful and not what people wanted. But as the artist explained the reason behind his masterpiece, it started to grow on everyone. There are so many colors and different shapes and objects because when people think and even discuss human rights, we all have our own opinion and views- we see issues from many different angles. This assembly must come together and think what the best option is for the country, but they have to remember that everyone has different opinions and they do not know what the other person is thinking or feeling on a topic. The colors and shapes represent this because from one angle you see one color, but from another angle, there are different colors and shapes but unless a person sees the ceiling from those different angles, they have no idea it’s there. Something to think about for sure…

After our wonderful tour, we headed to the town for some lunch right on Lake Geneva, with a fabulous view of the jet d’eau (water jet in English). This originally was made to relieve water pressure from old pipes in the old town, but now, it not only does that, but it also was made into a tourist attraction.


We also walked through the jardin anglais where we came across the flower watch (so clever!) and a beautiful gazebo.


Then up to St. Peter’s Cathedral, which overlooks the entire city! And after, we walked through a market (not that exciting), but before we headed to the train station, the trip would have not been complete without buying some Swiss chocolate (Toblerone to be exact)! And that my friends, completed my trip!

P.S.- anyone wondering what the significance of my album title “Smoke on the Water” is? Well, when Deep Purple was at the Montreux (a city also on Lake Geneva opposite Geneva) Music Festival, there was actually a fire in Geneva and they could see the smoke on the lake, so the band decided to sing about it and what do you know? “Smoke on the Water” became a hit!* This fun fact was contributed by my lovely mother, who knows everything and anything about music! Love her!

P.P.S- Nothing related to Geneva, but today I was running around the track by my apartment and because none of my roommates were home I took a small sack with water and my house keys. The track was dead with a few people rollerblading, but that was it. No one was sitting at the benches in the middle of the track, so I put my bag underneath the bench and started my run. I noticed this guy sitting on the bleachers taking a break from rollerblading who kept looking at me, but I just thought that he was doing so because my face was really red or I was wearing a shirt with English on it, I don’t know. As I am coming around for my 12th lap and final one I might add, I see him making his way to the benches. I kept an eye out for what he was doing because my bag was there and as I was rounding the corner of the track I look back and I see him picking my bag up and opening it!!! I turned around and raced over there yelling at him (in French) “What the h*** are you doing?! That is my bag!” And he responded, “Oh this is your bag? I was looking to see whose it was.” HAH Yeah right! He saw me putting my bag down and I knew he was planning on steeling it if I wouldn’t have seen him. I snatched my bag out of his hand as aggressively as I could and shower him who’s boss! And not only that, but I was shocked because this guy was like 50! But because of this, now I will have to find another way to transport my keys when running because I am not going to leave my bag alone again!

And get excited!! Paris with CEA next weekend and Vizille chateau this weekend! Only 4 more weeks until Patrick comes to visit too!

Until next time,

Steph

Bonjour à tous!


This weekend in Grenoble has been some of the best weather we’ve had since I’ve been here: not too warm (because we all know I get hot way too easily) and sunshine! And because this is really the only weekend I have left in Grenoble (the others will be spent traveling: Geneva, Italy/Spain (if my mom can make it out), Paris, Vienne, then my Patrick comes out and we do Bordeaux, Normandy coast, Mont St. Michel, Paris and Lyon), I decided to take advantage of what I can do in this town! Friday afternoon, my CEA group went on a hike. We all met at the Bastille and we took the bulles up to the top. For me, this was my first time ever going up there, and oh my goodness, they are not lying when they say you can see for miles!


The Bastille overlooks the entire city of Grenoble and then some. It was hazy on Friday so unfortunately the Alps and Mont Blanc were not visible, but it was still gorgeous up there! Once at the top, we then started our hike, which lasted about 2 hours. Patrick, my program director, took us up to a lookout point even higher than the Bastille, where they still have some ancient ruins!

Hiking up was not bad at all, the path gradually inclined, which was nice, but on the way down, Patrick decided to take us down the face of the mountain. It wasn’t too difficult, but because it had rained the night before, the rocks and path were still damp and slippery, so we really had to be careful, especially because I was wearing running shoes, not hiking boots!

At the bottom of the hill, we took a detour into the caves. Apparently, during the wars, the troops used these caves as bunkers and hideouts. It was actually very interesting walking through them with all the secret passageways and stairs leading to yet another cavern or place in the mountain. This was my first hike here in Grenoble and it was by far one of the best!

Today, Sunday, we planned on going to the Chateau Sassenage for their flower and lace festival. To get there we have to take the tram A to the end of the line, then switch to a bus and then we are there. Well we made it to the end of the tram line and as we’re looking at the times for the bus, because it is Sunday and Spring Break for many students, the next bus didn’t come for an hour and a half! We literally were in the middle of nowhere, so we would have to sit at the bus stop and wait, which none of us wanted to do for an event that we would probably be at for no more than an hour. So we jumped back on the tram and headed back into town. On the way back home, walking through the parc, all the flowers are in bloom and I had to stop and take some pictures! It was absolutely gorgeous! Take a look!

This is also my last week of class for the month of April, then I officially only have 1 more month of class left...man time flies when you’re having fun! But I am praying and hoping that the volcanoes in Iceland stop erupting so they can clear flights from Europe to the US and vice versa! The volcano has been continuously erupting since Wednesday and they have no idea when it will stop or if the magma will cause another volcano to erupt. It really is chaotic and I am hoping that this will not affect my trip back to the US in June ( or my Mom’s trip out in a few weeks or Patrick’s flight out), but I can only think positive right now and say everything will work out! That’s it for now- Au revoir!

Our accommodations were not that shabby either - our hotel was right on the Thames River, in between the City of London (basically where everything famous is located) and Greenwich (where the prime meridian is)- because I was able to score my Hilton discount! Go me! But, since there were 3 of us traveling, we got stuck in a sticky situation because unlike in the US, there is no room option with 2 double beds, either 2 twins or 1 double and if you have another person, you either have to get another room or pay for the extra person. Well, we are students on a budget and paying extra was just not what we wanted to do, so I requested a double bed and called to request a rollaway bed as well because we didn’t want to be sharing the bed. When we got there and were checking in, I made sure that the rollaway was still going to be sent up and this begins our sticky situation lol The receptionist asked me why I needed a rollaway bed so I told her what I mentioned above. Then she looks through her room availabilities and comes to find that they have a room with 2 twin beds instead. As I knew this wouldn’t work, I had to quickly find a reason to say no. This went back and forth about 5 minutes and she kept asking me why I needed the rollaway bed and if we had 3 people, but I was not going to give up and actually tell her we did (I definitely get this quality from my Mom) so finally she gave in and not only gave us the rollaway but the room with the 2 twin beds! She definitely knew we had 3 people, but hey, no extra charge on the room equals a win for Stephanie!


The first night was very low key; just starting to explore the city. We started off first by going to Piccadilly Circus, which definitely reminded me of Time Square in New York, not to mention a gazillion movies that has this square in it as well. This was also where we found our first English pub to dine at. And to my surprise, they had Strongbow (an Irish cider, which is gluten free) on tap; great way to start out the night!



Friday was a big day for us because we were going to Stonehenge! I was really excited for this because the last time my family and I were in London, we never made it out to Stonehenge. We took the tube out to Kensington for our bus pickup at 12:30pm and by the time it was 1pm we started getting worried that they had forgotten about us, but luckily we were not the only people there, so at this point I wasn’t worried. About 15 minutes later, a bus pulls up…finally! To show that you paid for this excursion, we had to print out the e-mail confirmation we received, so as I got up to the front, I handed the tour guide my confirmation and she looks for my name on the list and it is not there, nor is Lexie’s or Aaron’s names. Starting to panic now, I ask what we are supposed to do. The guide calls their offices to double check because her list may not have been 100% updates, but of course, we weren’t even in their system! We were trying to figure out what to do for about 10 minutes, when finally the bus driver realizes that our confirmation is for a completely different company!! Haha I felt SO embarrassed because I was about ready to become a very angry customer/tourist! Once we figured this out, we now had to worry about finding our tour bus and hope that we didn’t miss it while dealing with this issue. I was panicking because I paid to see Stonehenge and there was no way I was going to miss this! Luckily, Lexie brought her US sim card so as we were phoning the company, another bus turned onto the street and what do you know, almost 2 hours after our pickup time, our bus finally arrived…ahh (to say the least)! The bus ride was about 2 hours long, but I got to enjoy the green, English countryside on the way, and calm down from what just happened. And you’re probably going to laugh at me right now, but as were pulling up to Stonehenge, I really didn’t expect it to literally be in the middle of nowhere- there were sheep roaming around yards away from me!


The Stonehenge tour was so interesting too! We each got a headset that went along with a self-guided tour of the area. There were 9 different stages of the tour that walked you around the entire site. It was crazy to hear about all of the myths and legends that people over the years have come up with and their theories about why it was built in the first place and if there is any meaning to them.


Before we got back on the bus, we grabbed a snack. I wasn’t going to get anything because it was sandwiches and other foods I can’t eat, but as Lexie and Aaron were waiting in line, they called me over and pointed to this cake in the window. It was a Gluten-Free piece of chocolate cake! I couldn’t believe it. Out of all the places to have it, it was at Stonehenge! I just had to buy it and boy was it good!


When we got back, we of course went into another pub for a drink and to figure out what to do that night. One of my good friends from ISP (my school in Prague), Alison, lived in London and we had talked about meeting up for dinner and drinks and I was so happy that our plan came through! After 10 or so years of not seeing her, we got to hang out and catch up on life the whole night, it was so great!! She is exactly the same as I remember too, but with a heavier English accent. And surprisingly, I came to find out that she too has Celiac Disease- it’s a small world I tell ya!


Saturday rolled around- too fast I might add- but it was our touring day! First things first, Lexie and I went to Leicester Square to try and get half price discounted tickets to Wicked for that night. As we were standing in line, I asked the guy who was walking up and down the line giving us a list of all the shows that are in town and I asked him if they had tickets for Wicked, and thankfully I asked because they do not sell any type of discounted tickets for Wicked! I was really surprised by this, especially because they are the main company that sells these types of tickets. But I took my chances and went to another ticket office to buy my Wicked tickets, and what do you know, I was in luck! I saved around $60 USD by buying my tickets the day of and I was SO excited to be able to see it again...it is by far one of my favorite musicals around!


After dealing with this, we headed to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards! We got there about an hour before the event was supposed to start and there were so many people it was crazy! We all didn’t expect it to be this crowded, but we squeezed our way up to the front and waited. We were too far away to see them actually change the guards (they do that within the gates of the Palace), but we did get to see them parade in, which I think is the best part anyways.


Buckingham Palace is right next to St. James’s Park, and because it was such a beautiful day, we took a stroll through the park. The pictures turned out gorgeous!


Our day also included seeing Westminster Abbey


Big Ben and Parliament

The London Eye and the Aquarium

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

 London Bridge,
The Tower Bridge

The Tower of London

and St. Paul’s Cathedral (where Princess Diana was married)


On our way to the Globe Theatre, we also came across this amazing cathedrale and market (Borough Market).

Oh my goodness, the market smelt so tasty with the many different types of delicious foods they were cooking from Greek, to Spanish to Indian food. They also had a fruit, vegetable, fish, flower, spices and dessert section of the market….it was massive and packed with people, but the part we entered was the dessert section. And just like Stonehenge, more gluten-free products!!
I couldn’t believe it! I was so shocked to see this in a market and it wasn’t just one product, there were at least 20 different items I saw that were gluten free. I wanted to take them all back to France with me! I decided to try this muffin looking cake with almonds on top and I am so glad I did; it was absolutely delicious!

After our fun-filled day of touring, it was finally time to head back to the hotel and get ready for Wicked! By the time everyone was ready it was 7pm. Man, we totally lost track of time and we didn’t have long at all- the show started at 730pm! We asked the front desk how long it would take to get there on the tube and from the hotel to Victoria, they told us at least 35 minutes. Well shoot, that was not an option anymore. As we were talking amongst each other to try and figure out what to do, the hotel suggested we have one of the drivers take us. I knew that was going to get pricey, but I asked how long it would take them to get us there. The driver said he could get us there in 30 minutes (I know, I know, we were cutting it WAY too close). I look at the driver and before even telling him yes, I say, “Will you speed?” His eyes lit up and I knew he totally would, but his answer was “Well I will do my best to get you there on time.” From the moment we hopped in his car until we arrived at the theatre, we were going in, out and around cars, zooming past them and made it to the theatre in 20 minutes! Our driver was the bomb!


Wicked was absolutely amazing! Patrick took me to see Wicked in San Francisco as my Christmas present this January, but seeing it the 2nd time was even better, because I noticed so many more details and enjoyed it more because I knew the storyline. Overall, I want to say that the production was, in my opinion, better than the first time! Maybe it was the English accents, but boy could these actors and actresses belt it!
Defying Gravity is one of my all time favorites and Elphaba (the wicked witch) really hit it out of the park when she sang it…gave me goose bumps! Wicked was the perfect way to end such an amazing weekend! I will definitely be coming back sometime in my life…3 days is just not enough!




Here are some other pictures from our Saturday fun day of touring!

And back to reality and school I came to find out that I missed a midterm. A “pop” midterm I might add! Can you believe it? In the 3 months I’ve been in Grenoble, I’ve never had a test or anything that I really need to study for. When my professor told me I had to take it Tuesday after class, I thought to myself, wow I am going to actually have to put some effort into studying- I mean I haven’t studied (real studying) since December for finals! haha

Not only do I find this out, but come to class Monday morning at 8:30am to find that after waiting for about 30 minutes for my professor, our class was changed to the afternoon! No warning or email or anything like that, just a note posted that same morning to let us know…oh how I am not going to miss this part about France…

Au revoir pour maintenant!

Steph