Matterhorn- Kaity and I got up bright and early (6:30 a.m.) on Saturday morning, November 13 to catch a train to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. The ride was beautiful and took about 3 hours total. We had a minor setback just past Lausanne when our train was held up for almost 30 minutes, but eventually we made it to Visp and then to Zermatt. The weather could not have been better—beautiful sun and clear blue sky. I found Zermatt itself to be very touristy, which makes sense because it is a ski resort town. But in November things were pretty deserted, so it was not crowded.
Kaity and me in Zermatt
The older part was much less touristy and (in my opinion) more interesting. Kaity and I wandered around town taking pictures and then got lunch before taking the Gorner Grat Bahn up to see better views of the Matterhorn. It was even more dramatic from up high, and we took lots of pictures before hurrying back onto the little train down the mountain. One would think the snowy Alps might begin to get old after 3 months, but honestly the incredibly natural beauty is just so awe-inspiring that it’s impossible to become mundane. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for me. I enjoyed the ride home, listening to my ipod and snapping occasional pictures of the sunset. 
The Matterhorn!
Leaving Switzerland- I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Switzerland and learned more than I ever possibly imagined, but by the time November 20th came I was definitely ready for a change. Once the novelty of a place wears off you begin to pick up on the flaws and cultural differences that are not necessarily apparent to a tourist who only spends a few weeks taking in the sights. The hard part was saying goodbye to Martine and the rest of my host family, to whom I am extremely grateful for taking me into their home and treating me so well for the past 12 weeks. On Tuesday night November 16th, there was a farewell reception at a confiserie in Nyon. The space was a bit small for all 27 of us students and our host families, but at least it was cozy and the food was delicious. I discovered a love for macaroons when I was in Paris (HOW had I never tried them before??), and fortunately I was able to continue this love at the reception.
Martine and me at the farewell reception
I spent the rest of that week conducting interviews for my research, working on my paper, packing, enjoying my last few moments in Gland, and spending time with friends. I knew that leaving wouldn’t feel real until I actually arrived in Croatia, so I tried to get the most out of all my usual activities—running by the soccer fields at sunset with the Alps in the background, taking walks in the vineyards around Gland, stopping in Migros in Geneva for a café au lait, watching TV with Martine in the evenings… On Friday the 19th I had a fascinating interview at the World Intellectual Property Organization and then headed to the UN Library to print a final draft of my ISP paper for mark-up…and spectacularly face-planted when leaving the UN, giving it a true Claire-style goodbye. I tried to get most of my packing done before Friday night so that I could spend time with Martine instead of alone in my room. She and I ordered delicious pizza for dinner and made salad, and then we had homemade panna cotta and espresso for dessert (sadly the Nespresso was broken for the greater portion of my stay, but Martine bought a new, shinier, fancier model just before I left…yay). We watched a TV show about Japanese mudfish and talked and ate and talked, and inwardly I marveled at how my relationship with this woman was entirely built upon a language that is not native to me. So all that stuff about how languages are very powerful tools in bringing people together and promoting greater understanding? Yeah, it’s true. If only there was enough time to learn more. We exchanged gifts—leather gloves that I bought for her in Florence, chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate in many different forms for me—and I showed a few pictures of my family (which I should have done at the beginning of my stay, but I completely forgot about the photos until I was packing!) I tried to get to bed at a decent hour so that the 6 a.m. alarm wouldn’t feel quite so early, but naturally I did not sleep too well and woke up pretty exhausted. After a quick breakfast and tea, Martine helped me load my two unwieldy suitcases into her car and we set off for the Gland train station. The train was coming at 6:45 a.m., so there was not much time to say goodbye…and how do you really say goodbye anyway? Martine said, “A bientôt,” which means “See you soon” in French. I promised to send a postcard from Croatia, and we agreed to go out to a restaurant for perch filets the next time I’m in Switzerland. It’s better that way. I don’t know what Martine’s life will be like the next time I see her, but I hope everything works out for her. Her ex-husband wants to sell the house, and with rising apartment prices in Gland she is not sure if she can afford to stay in town. Consequently she will probably not be able to host another student next semester…I may be the last for awhile L I can’t even imagine unwilling having to sell the home where I raised my children, and I really hope it works out. 
Gland in winter...no more grapes :(
I almost didn’t make it onto the train from Gland to Geneva. I got stuck somewhere between my two suitcases, the platform, and the top stair of the train. There were a few moments when I honestly didn’t think I possessed the strength to lift my bags onto the train, and I wondered if the train would speed off with my bags and me flying in all directions. This would become the theme of the day. Luckily I did make it onto the train and arrived in Geneva a little after 7 a.m. Getting all 27 of us AND our luggage onto the train to Venice (yes, a 7-hour ride) was no small task. As one of my friends put it, it was like playing a game of Tetris with suitcases. I felt kind of sorry for everyone else on our train. Somewhere past Lausanne we shoved the last suitcase into the last available space, and I collapsed into my window seat with my ipod and passed out until the Italian border. Speeding through northern Italy reminded me of my first trip to Italy in 2007, when I went to the Veneto with Spencer. Our train stopped in Verona and Vicenza, two towns that I had visited and really enjoyed. Sometime around 2:30 p.m. we finally arrived in Venice, and thanks to some careful planning all of our bags miraculously made it off the train. The next train ride took a little more than 2 hours, and I settled into my seat with some wine after the stress of the day (when in Italy…) We finally arrived in Trieste and unloaded everything AGAIN. Our next form of transportation was a charter bus to Pula, Croatia. The most exciting moment of the trip was getting our passports stamped in Slovenia (Slovenia? Really?). So it was official, I had finally left Switzerland for the western edges of Eastern Europe. I realized in Switzerland that my draw to traveling comes from the adventure, the excitement and thrill of visiting new places. Three months was too long. Understanding the Swiss has not been an easy task, and I realize that their culture comes from 500+ years of unique historical circumstances. A few weeks into the semester I began to notice a few things that I really did not like about Switzerland—Men pushing girls and elderly people out of the way to make it onto the train, hypocrisy (especially politically), unfriendliness, self-centeredness, high prices… I came to appreciate my southern American background so much more and am very excited to go home. It will be nice not to feel a little bit like an outsider anymore. One of my friends noticed that sometimes it is actually harder when your culture is somewhat similar to that of the country that you are visiting, because you look like you should fit in but don't. When you go somewhere very different, such as Africa or Asia, you don't even attempt to fit in and just take in the culture and sights.
Pula, Croatia- My first views of Pula were in the dark, and the first thing I smelled when I got off the bus was the salty air from the Adriatic Sea. Yesssssss….I had been in a landlocked country for too long. Our hotel is right on the water on a beautiful peninsula, and I am staying in a suite with my two best friends…could life get better at the moment? All of our meals are included in the hotel buffet, and it has been extremely refreshing to get some Mediterranean food (feta cheese + olives + fish + gnocchi = I was getting tired of bread, cheese, and chocolate). We are also fortunate enough to have a gym and a 25-meter saltwater pool in the hotel, and I just have to step outside to take advantage of the walking/running trails that crisscross the entire peninsula. The first 4 days of our stay were devoted to finishing up our ISP papers and presentations, but as I had already pretty much finished and was in the final editing stages, I refused to stay cooped up in the hotel all the time and tried to get out as much as possible.
Sunset over the Adriatic
Where to begin with Croatia? I love it here for so many reasons. First of all, I would describe Croatia as a “1 ½” or “2nd” world country. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. After the most recent Yugoslavia war and decades under communism, Croatia is still in the process of rebuilding its economy and infrastructure and trying to improve its position in Europe. This means that (in my experiences here at least) the people do not share the Western European sense of disdain for the United States and the jaded feeling of enjoying extensive political rights and economic freedoms but not really appreciating the true meaning of these freedoms. Because Croatians have not had these privileges in the past, they seem to have a much more favorable view of the United States and share the American Dream that has long been dead in much of Western Europe. They still seem to think the streets in New York City are paved with gold, and while that certainly is not the case, it can’t be bad to have hope, right?? The opportunities are there…
The colors on this page aren't great, but the water is the PRETTIEST blue color...
Anyway, I spent a lot of time relaxing and exploring the first four days. My friend Sidra and I went into Pula for lunch the first Wednesday and saw the amphitheatre, fort, etc. Such a pretty city! We found a great restaurant called Kantina, and I’ve already been back there 3 times since. The food is delicious, and like a lot of things in Croatia it is relatively cheap. That evening I went for a walk around the peninsula by the hotel to take pictures of the sunset. I’ll have to let the pictures speak for themselves, because it was absolutely gorgeous even in winter. At one point when I was walking two middle-aged men stopped me, and one of them asked, “You are very beautiful…may I take your picture?” Interesting way for a conversation to start, but they turned out to be very nice and not creepy. They asked if I was British, probably because not that many Americans make it to Croatia, especially at this time of year. They were very helpful and told me all about the area and insisted I come back in warmer weather. Thursday (Thanksgiving) was the start of presentations on our Independent Study Projects, which continued until Thursday, December 2. Each person gave a half-hour presentation and Q&A session on their topic. This was actually one of my favorite parts of the entire semester, and I think I actually learned a lot more than I did in class. My classmates presented a very wide array of topics, and the discussions we had during and after the presentations were extremely interesting. Anyway, back to Thanksgiving… Our hotel restaurant kindly prepared a Thanksgiving dinner for us and tried to include as many traditional American elements as possible. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, etc. and some non-traditional items such as gnocchi and fish. Sadly there was no pumpkin pie. Before dinner my friend Kaity and I went down to the hotel bar for a drink and ended up meeting a group of Serbian dermatologists who were staying at the hotel for a conference. They were probably around 30 years old and insisted on buying us the local honey grappa. They also invited us to go out to a club with them over the weekend.
Beach!!
On Friday afternoon after the morning presentations I decided to take another walk around the peninsula with my camera to take some more pictures. I ended up meeting an elderly Croatian man (he was probably around 70 years old), and once we established that our common language was German we took a nice long walk. When he said hi to me I didn’t realize it would turn in to a long conversation, but he could not have been nicer. He showed me some cool historical sites, such as a part of the beach where Austrian soldiers invaded during World War I and a building that was used in a 1959 German film. He also told me all about his wife, mother, and daughter, who unfortunately passed away in the 1990s. I think he said that when he gets sad, he comes out here to go walking because it’s so beautiful (my German is rusty, but I think that was what he said). He also told me that he worked for a radio company in the Netherlands for a long time. People here seem to be so nice and welcoming…it’s definitely a nice change from Switzerland. Saturday morning some of us headed to Pula to check out the market and do a little souvenir shopping. The market was really cool and very authentic, with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, and local specialties such as grappa and olive oil. We went back to Kantina for lunch (and had also been there for dinner the night before), and the waiters know and recognize us now. We were lucky to have great weather while we walked around. Saturday night 7 of us girls went out to a club in Pula with the dermatologists. We had a great time and had an “authentic” Croatian (Serbian?) experience. It was definitely more fun going out with people who knew the area a little bit!
At the club with some of my friends :)
This past week has been devoted to presentations in the morning and free time in the afternoon. I get restless if I stay at the hotel too much, so in addition to running and using the pool a lot, I have been going into Pula some, too. We went to see Harry Potter one night ($3!) and went back to Kantina for dinner another night. The presentations ended yesterday, so our entire group took a day-trip today as our final official activity. We were originally supposed to take a boat to the town of Rovinj, but because of the rain and wind we ended up taking a bus instead. Rovinj is less than an hour away and is known as a “little Venice,” because it looks a lot like Venice and is from the same time period. The church at the top of the hill in the old town even has a bell tower that is a replica of the one in St. Mark’s Square!
Rovinj in the rain
I loved Rovinj and would really love to go back sometime when the weather is nice and warm. It was beautiful even in the rain. Then we headed to a fish restaurant right next to a beautiful fjord. Some people were caught off guard when the fish was served whole (eyes, tail, skin, etc.), but it didn’t bother me, and I thought it was delicious. Our last stop before coming home was Porec, where we visited the famous Euphrasius Basilica. It was built in the 6th century and has beautiful Byzantine mosaics inside. The trip today confirmed what I had already decided—I definitely want to come back to Croatia sometime when it’s spring or summer. It is a gorgeous country with a lot to offer, and I really like the people and culture. This is already an extremely long post, so I will end here…. I’ll probably write one last post to tell about Zagreb and leaving to come HOME!
Rovinj :)
