Hike through Simplon

I need to put captions on pictures, but here is the album link for my hiking trip with l'Aumonerie this weekend! Enjoy!

Rome: Day 4

On Sunday, we did our last touristy things - Foro Romano, Arco di Tito, Colosseo, Campidoglio, and Piazza Venezia, passed the annual Rome Marathon (a funny idea to be running 23 miles around Roman ruins with your dog alongside). We ate our last gelato, bought a supermarket's worth of pasta, pesto, and olives for our ride back home. And now it's over. Probably the best trip this year with the best travel companions imaginable.

Rome: Day 3

On Saturday, Julia showed us the church and student community center where she used to live and study. We had a nice picnic (away from the rain), took a nap in the comfy chairs, and played with the Euro version of Lincoln logs. We then explored the staircases of the theology library.
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We visited the Villa Borghese museum, which was filled with extravagant marble and the famous Bernini sculptures (Appollo e Daphne and David, to name a few).
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After a wet walk through the park, we took a pause at a café to dry off and have an afternoon cappucino. It amazes me how many waiters rattled on in Italian, expecting me to answer. Thanks to my French, I have an ounce of advantage in uderstanding the language when compared to the 100% anglophone. That is not to say, however, that my spoken Italian isn't just as broken and smattered with sign language as any other non-speaker. It takes quite a bit of effort to even guess at the pronunciation of a word. Oh well, I now know what I need to work on.
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Saturday night, we dined at a wonderful little restaurant where I ate the best pizza of my life (mozzarella, zucchini blossoms, and anchovies), roquet and tomato salad with olive oil and lemon juice, and tiramisu with strong espresso and the richest mrscapone that has ever touched my palate. Yum is all I can say.
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Afterwards, we explored la Notte dei Musei (Museum Night), where we saw fluo colums, complete with pink soldiers on horseback and museum lines that stretched down the stairs and wrapped around the block. Because we were thoroughly tired and our shoes had transformed into squishy water vessels, we left the long lines, rejected free, unlimited museum access, and headed to the hostel in pursuit of much needed sleep.

Rome: Day 2

Mission of the Day : Caravaggio Tour.
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I think it’s safe to say that, although Migros does offer a compatible quality with its line of Budget products, I will never again buy their batteries. After one single day of picture-taking, the camera was kaput. Crying in disbelief, I re-oriented the batteries and turned the camera on and off multiple times, only to find the annoying « battery empty » screen. Fortunately, we managed to find some over-priced Duracells in a tacky souvenir shop near the French church.
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I should also add my observation of amazement at the amount of free culture Rome has to offer. For example, we were able to see a good deal of Caravaggio’s most famous works witout paying a dime; and even so, the lines weren’t too epic and the paintings were situated in beautiful churches in quaint neighborhoods around Rome. Definitely no complaints there.
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The complaints immediately follow, however. Why would there be room to complain, you say? Especially in a city full of breath-taking architecture, artwork, and scenery? Well, the bus system is frankly the biggest pain in the ass imaginable. See yourself arriving at the bus stop – everything goes well the first time. The first bus arrives in 15 minutes – no problem. The transfer, however, is another question entirely. Bus 118, in particular, is sure to give problems. Bus 628, the other bus on the route, arrived THREE times before our bus arrived an hour later. After 55 minutes, we decided to forget our plans to visit the catacombs, only to find the bus barrelling down the road to our stop. We were not going to throw away that valuable time spent playing hopscotch and singing camp songs only to miss this transfer, so we sprinted to catch the 118 before it was too late.
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After a few minutes on the bus, it was evident the impossiblility of walking to our desired destination. My dear friend Katherine had previously encountered the death street with her mom a few weeks prior. The street was narrow and devoid of sidewalks or any sort of pedestrian passage, which is rather frightening when you have cars honking and passing each other from every direction and swerving abruptly to avoid imminent collisions. Our bus ride was a bumpy, crowded, stiflin 40 or 50 minutes of heaven. Grateful to finally reach fresh air (notably next to a group of strategically-placed dumpsters), we stopped at the Catacombe di San Sebastiano. And no, we didn’t see skeletons, only really small stone caskets. There were two American girls in short shorts and black t-shirts (on a rather chilly spring day, no less) that decided to follow our French-speaking tour and take pictures even though a) they obviously did not speak any sort of foreign language and b) they chose to ignore the tour guide when she reprimanded them in French, Italian, and finally English in regard to their prohibited photography. It was just as well, because when the group finally ascended from the depths of the catacomb at the end of the tour, the girls slinked back "unnoticed" to probably wreak havoc on the dead. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who took note. It would be cool if they got arrested. Alas, we unfortunately had to leave before the girls resurfaced and met their fate with the authorities.
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And then came the rain. And it rained. And rained. And...yeah. For two days. Nonstop. For those of you who think it is always beautiful in Rome, maybe you only saw the city in postcards. No matter, because we took our trusty old Bus 118 and waited another hour in the downpour. And this time, one of our group members did almost die on the street because of the lack of sidewalks and the speedy traffic. Little seven-year-old Sophia's Coke Zero was completely dead, but she thankfully got out with all of her fingers and toes intact, if only incredibly shocked and upset. This is when I decided how grateful I was for the frequent pedestrian sidewalks and conscientious drivers. I will never live in Rome.
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Julia then took us to the pre-school where she sent Sophia during her residence in Rome - Celio Azzurro - and the family welcomed our drenched group with a steaming platter of pasta with spicy tomato sauce, apples, fresh mozzarella, parmaggiano, peccorino, raw green beans, and red wine. We shared some beautiful stories despite the language barrier and spent a wonderful evening with our generous hosts.
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The husband, wife, and two sons served us piping hot espresso and explained a bit about their philosophies - teaching 50 3-6 year olds how to respect one another, be grateful for the one who cooked their meal (whether it be male or female), share household responsibilities between genders, grow their own vegetables (everyone eats salad at this school, thanks to their effort in raising their own garden), and, most importantly, to respect people of all cultures and religions. They are taught how to argue in a polite way and how to manage disputes the way that adults are supposed to. The love of this family for each other and their students really touched me, and it is encouraging to know people who still have good morals and share them with young people.
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In general, I have been very impressed with the Romans I have met on this trip, maybe because Julia simply knows a lot of good people. Earlier in the day, we also met a man who writes for Confronti, a daily journal that focuses on immigrant rights, confrontation of political and religious extremisim, and daily prejudices in the city of Rome. He told us the story of the difficulties in finding residency - being originally from Morocco himself - and gaining work permits as an immigrant.

Rome: Day 1

Upon our arrival in Rome, we first went to our hostel - the YWCA UCDG - to get rid of our bags and prepare for our first afternoon. We were surprised to find a market that spanned the block of via Cesare Balbo. People selling fresh fruits, knockoff Gucci handbags, lacy bras, and silver costume jewelry covered the street and piles of shoeboxes and garbage bags spilled over the sidewalks. Our first stop was to see the Fontana di Trevi, where we took our first photos of the coin toss and the tacky souvenir stands in front of the enormous fountain.
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Our first gelato was at an old family-owned place called Giolitti. In the entryway, there were little chocolate cookies and gellied fruits. The line stretched from the cash register to the ice cream counter, where people were calling out their orders as if at a fish market: "visciola, cocco e stracciatella!" My daring combo turned out quite delicious, with bits of fresh cherry and crackly chocolate swirled together with flakes of coconut and cream.
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We took a stroll through the Jewish ghetto after stopping at Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Navona, where a man escaped from a straightjacket and chains and I danced to a musician's lovely guitar music.
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History of Giordano Bruno
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Out of sheer convenience, Viv and Emma let me kow that they would be in Rome until Friday, when they were taking their trip to Tuscany. Viv’s campus happened to be in the Jewish ghetto (where we were visiting that evening). We managed to get in contact through a series of very expensive sms. We met up at the Bruno Monument and rejoined the group to have our first pizza, where I took full advantage of the anchovies.

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The reunion was nice albeit short. It was comforting, as always, to be reminded how close I am to loved ones despite being in Europe. I am also looking forward to when Viv comes to visit Lausanne after her stay in Rome.

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When dinner was over, a few of us went to a café for drinks - the first time I tried a limoncello, which, I must say, could use a little less sugar. We shared a few laughs, Swiss jokes, and a fair share of « C’est pas évident » and « Serais étonné, » which continued to cause disruptive laughter for the rest of the trip.

Grand St. Bernard

(see photos)

This weekend, I went with the Aumonerie to Grand St. Bernard for a weekend of snowshoeing. I felt like I was in a winter survival movie because there was litte visibility and the snow covered our entire line of sight. It was truly an amazing experience to see the mountains and learn about the area's history.



We stayed overnight in a hospice at the top of the mountain, where they provide food and shelter for free for passerby. Their motto is to welcome and nourish, and it was wonderful to arrive to a warm, castle-like building with small food nooks and bowls for hot tea.



We passed the time playing Jungle Speed and cribbage, and we visited the museum that talked about times from the Middle Ages and ancient tools and equipment used to traverse the dangerous mountain area. They also talked about the origin of the St. Bernard and the dog's role in helping sniff out the travel path after a new-fallen snow. This was a wonderful chance to spend sometime outdoors doing winter sports, a common pasttime (or, rather, obsession) for the Swiss. As the months pass, I am constantly amazed at how much culture the Swiss have to share.

Day Trip to Milano

Today I went with Giovanni, Natasha, and Justyna to Milano for a day trip. It was a 3-hour train ride, but the time went by quickly because we had many opportunities to talk about what we would see while we were there and how we would attack the large list of tourist venues. Our first order of business was to find a good place to eat, so we stopped in a family-owned store with freshly made Italian dishes. (see photos)
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During the day, we saw St. Ambrose church, the Cathedral, a bunch of crypts and mosaics, and the Castle museum. We also headed to the Pinacoteca to see the Caravaggio, which, unfortunately, was temporarily on exhibit in Rome.
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After we saw the Pinacoteca, we stopped for an iced tea in the student café next door. We had this wonderful foccacia rolled with olives as well. As we were sitting at the table, this woman approached us and asked us what our definition of life was in one word. She told us that the art student across from us said "beauty," but she wasn't convinced that this was a good answer. Natasha said "movement," I said "friendship," and Justyna said "love." It was funny because we kept having to have Giovanni translate for us - we told her we were from Switzerland, so she tried to speak German. We tried to explain that, no, we were from the French part, and then she apologized that she didn't know French, only German and English. Then she continued to talk to us in Italian. She added a rather amusing element to the end of our visit, as well as a thoughtful perspective on discussion. In any case, we left her to the other clients in the café so that we could catch our train back to Lausanne.
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We took the metro to the Central train station, where Giovanni bought wrap-around earmuffs from a street vendor and hailed the end of his suffering in the Lausanne cold. He had been waiting for 8 years to find these earmuffs at a good price, and he finally found some! For 3€, no less.

Montreux Christmas Market

Today, Ada and I shared a lovely meal together and, afterwards, explored the Montreux Christmas market, one of the biggest and most famous in Switzerland. Most of the offerings were food-related, like roasted chestnuts, mulled wine, dried fruits, spice cakes, and cookies. However, they also had artisinal gifts like honey candles, wreaths, scarves, hats, jewelry, as well as more commercialed specialties. Each stand was decorated in such a grand fashion, with holly and foil and wood and lights. Montreux was bustling with tourists, who stood in awe of the current sculptures that adorn the lakeside: an artist trimmed and wrapped bushes to resemble the animal characters from the movie "Madagascar." It was amazing how detailed the structures were ; the artist used different colored bushes to show the stripes on the zebra, and the penguins had tufts of straw coming out of their heads to add various accents.
After returning from a long afternoon of walking and sampling delicious Christmas treats, we had some tea and a slice of the spice cake that I prepared for Ada the night before. It was relaxing to sit with her and talk about Christmas traditions in Germany and Switzerland, as well as her memories of Christmas as a child.
In early evening, Ada dropped me off at the train station and I headed back to Lausanne to prepare my schedule for the next week. I made gingerbread cookies for EthNoel, a huge multi-religious celebration that l'Aumonerie holds every year. Mansoureh was so impatient - she kept poking at the raw dough and stealing glances at the cookies that were still hot from coming out of the oven. She was worse than a little kid! Of course, I had to humor her and let her finally taste a cookie after all of her pleas. Because it was Johannes's 30th birthday today - my roommate Mansoureh's boyfriend - we sang for him and toasted to delicious cups of hot cocoa, and then I proceeded to feed them cookies in the shapes of shooting stars, reindeer, and shepherds.
Next on the agenda: For EthNoel, Pasha (another student from ISU) and I will perform a mini skit - he will read "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and I will play carols on my violin in between stanzae. We will also act out the story using props that we painted and Pasha will portray Santa using various costume components that we made as well. I am looking forward to this week of celebrations. Christmas is almost upon us!

St. Maurice Abbey and Thermal Baths

Today, I went on an excursion with five girls and the priest from l’Aumonerie to visit St. Maurice, the oldest abbey in the world. It was built in the early 500s, and there are still remnants of the original framework of the building. Giovanni, the priest, gave us a private tour of the monastery, showing us the sleeping quarters, the tunnel with the water source that flows under your feet, the old crypts and frescas, and some prized treasures – chests of gold, silver, and gems, intricate bronze crosses, statues, and figurines. The rooms were rich with history and character, and he gave us a wonderfully detailed description of the significance of each religious symbol that graced the monastery. For instance, you often see two doves drinking from the same source of water and a serpent that wraps around the perimeter of the birds but cannot access the source. This signifies a closeness with God and is used many times in religious artwork from the Middle Ages. The Tree of Life also plays an important role in religious relics, as it is even incorporated in some drawings of the crucifix. The square crucifix with the clover-shaped ends is characteristic of the Tree of Life. You can see this style of artwork in chandeliers, columns, paintings, and mosaics.
After having eaten lunch in the monastery, we took a lovely walk along the Rhone and profited from the beautiful autumn colors and the vast mountain. We finally reached the thermal baths after our hike, which are therapeutic outdoor pools that receive water from a natural underground source. Since the water is from a natural source, it is full of minerals that are excellent for the skin and aid in removing the everyday toxins that our bodies absorb from daily pollution. The source provides water at about 65-70 oC (149 - 158 oF), and the bathing facility must cool off the water before it is cool enough for human skin (the water was at least 80 oF when we were swimming). It is quite a sight during night time, because it was about 40 oF outside and you could see the steam rising from the pools into the night sky. They had water jets in the pool where you could lay down and the bubbles would massage your whole body. There were also Jacuzzi areas, jets of water for the back, the head, the feet, the legs, etc. They also had a giant cascade of water (like a mushroom) where you could go under and surround yourself with the sound of the waterfall. The favorite activity was the whirlpool, where a current of water would push you in a circle along a wall, and we played many games here – holding onto the railing and resisting the current, traversing the pool with our feet on the walls and our backs to the center, jumping over each other, doing flips, and jumping up and down as the current carried us round and round. It was the most fantastic sensation to be immersed in the warm water and then to jump high into the cold air.
In addition to the outdoor facilities, they had wonderful saunas and relaxation rooms. The first one we visited was a Turkish hamam, which is a wet sauna filled with the smell of essential oils – it is heated to about 60 oC (140 oF)with so much humidity that you cannot see the person sitting next to you. It is basically like sitting in a cup of chamomile or jasmine tea. You walk in and can barely breathe, and there is a small fountain in the center where you can drink cold water. You then sit on the bench and let the oils penetrate your senses and your skin; I have to say that this provided the perfect atmosphere for meditation and reflection. It is the combination of a tropical rainforest and the continuous burning of incense. The scent of the oils takes over your olfactory senses and forces you to really concentrate on taking full breaths. Ten minutes in the hamam, and you feel rejuvenated and detoxified.
Afterwards, we went into two different saunas – the first was heated to 85 oC (185 oF), which was very very hot, and they had different oils permeating the room. The next sauna was 30 degrees cooler, but still pretty hot. (If you spend too much time in these saunas, you start to cook like a pizza.) Because it is important not to overheat the body, they have showers and a pool where you plunge into cold water (about 10 oC - 50 oF - or so). They also have what is called a “nuit polaire,” where you put on these plastic sandals and walk into a room dripping with ice and snow. You can throw snowballs and drink fresh, cold water. The facility also provides relaxation rooms with different types of lighting; one room uses only white light with a gradual change to red, yellow, green, and blue, depending on the timer. There is also relaxing music and an explanation of the colors and how they affect the body. After that, there is a blacklight room where you lay on beach cots and listen to more relaxing music. Overall, the cost is about 20-25 CHF for 3 hours of massages, swimming, therapeutic lighting, and saunas with essential oils. I think I am ready to take my exam on Monday after having completely eliminated my stress. What an excellent end to the day.

Creux du Van in the Jura

One and a half hours in the “prison bus,” as we jokingly called it. Somehow, I got stuck in this bus both going to and from our destination of the day. Basically, we sat in a large van with benches in the back; we were separated from Christian, our driver and host of the Aumonerie, by a wire cage. As cars passed us on the highway, they would point and look at the ten girls squished in the back and sloshing around like water in a bucket. We would wave and smile, imagining what the passersby were saying to their families: “Look at those girls in the back of the bus. Why are they smiling and waving? They look too pretty to be prisoners.”

Near Neuchâtel, there is a very famous rock formation called the Creux du Van. It takes approximately 2 – 2.5 hours to hike up this incredible incline (good climbing shoes are a must), and when you reach the top, the mist is so heavy that the temperature drops a good 20 degrees. After seeing this place, you cannot stop imagining such a view. Even though the air was heavy with fog, we were able to take some amazing pictures of this colossal structure. As you can see from the photos, it was rather cold and windy (I somewhat resemble Kermit the Frog in my rain jacket).

In some of the photos, you can also see wild mountain goats that have excellent climbing skills and resistance to the cold. Watching them was truly a spectacle.

I hiked for most of the day with Alba (from Spain) and Saskia (from Germany), and we shared many stories of our outdoor adventures in our hometowns and other travels. It was great to be among people who truly love the outdoors and take great care in respecting the environment around them.

After our long and steep descent from the cliff – our legs and arms were trembling at this point – we had a coffee at a small restaurant near the parking lot. It was then that the sun started to shine and there was no trace left of the mist that clouded our view of the rocks. Of course, if we had only waited another half an hour, we could have seen the Creux du Van much more clearly. Midway through our return trip, we stopped to see a panoramic view of Mont Blanc and Lac Leman. The sun was shining as bright as ever, and we enjoyed the few minutes to lie in the grass and rest our tired muscles. At any rate, this experience in nature has to top almost every other hiking excursion I have ever done in my life. The muscle pain and the cold could not have dampened my spirits one bit.

By the way, my legs still hurt.