Switzerland

Switzerland was by far my favorite country. Of course I am a little biased because I grew up in Colorado and it reminded me of "home" in so many ways. It is absolutely the most pristine country. It is extremely clean and everything has its spot. The culture of the Swiss people is that of kindness, calmness and great hospitality. I stayed with my friend Barbara and so happy I did. We had so much fun and we realized that we are similiar in so many ways. We went to Jungfrau Mountain-Top of Europe. This was so pretty, my words or pictures couldn't describe it. We went to the top of the mountain about 11,366 feet. It provided great views of several other peaks and towns in Switzerland. Now this doesn't sound very high for those of you who know Colorado mountains but keep in mind that we started out at a lower evaluation compared to Colorado where you are already one mile up. It was freezing up there. It was -7.5 degrees Celsius which I have no idea what that is in Farhenheit but probably way below 32 degrees. It was so windy at the top of the mountain. Glad I wore like 5 layers of clothes that day! The train system in Switzerland is so cool. The engineering behind the tracks and tunnels through these mountains is unbelievable. On our way to the top of this mountain we were only held on by the littlest track. Amazing we stayed on.... There was a restaurant at the top of this mountain that we ate at which provided 360 degree views of the peaks....so fantastic! The next day Barbara drove us south of Bern to Montreaux. This town is right on Lake Geneva which is probably equivalent to the size of our Great Lakes. The French Alps were right across from Montreaux....unbelivable views. These people are so lucky! It was very rainy and cloudy that day, but God made it possible for me to see the Alps for awhile before the clouds blocked their view. She also told me the town Evian is right at the base of there where they make the bottled water. Who needs to drink bottled water over here when the tap water was the best water I have ever tasted in my life! I couldn't drink enough of it. Guess that is why they bottle it and ship it to the rest of the world. She then drove us over this pass where it began to snow. I would have been nervous, but she is a true mountain girl....not even the snow bothered her. I couldn't get enough of the views. We stopped in this little village that I can't remember the name of but it was exactly what I would pictured a little village to look like. So cute. We went to the bar that the creator of Aliens designed. It was very weird inside....almost felt like I was sitting inside the skeltal system of a human specifically the spine. Then she took us on a tour of La Greyere cheese factory. This cheese is very famous. She bought some fondue cheese and later that night made fondue for us. It was so good. We then went and participated in local events...and were the only fans of a local basketball teams championship game. Her friend Matthew had friends playing in the game so we decided to be the cheerleaders. It was in this little gym of a school that had no bleachers or seats...just one bench that 6 of us piled on. The next night she took me to a Swiss hockey game that is the equivalent of our NHL. Except these games are way more fun. They are so intense, like college football in America. The "true and crazy" fans stand on the ends of the arena. The rest have the choice to sit in the middle of the arena. It is like one big pit and so crowded. I had so much fun. this hockey game could be another story in itself. I met so many cool people in Switzerland and miss them.