100 European Moments

This has been a work in progress for a while, but I finally got it done. I did this with my Disney World trip a year ago and created 50 Disney memories. The trip was only a week and that was a cinch. I was in Europe for a month. This should be a piece of cake. Here we go with the good, the bad, the ugly, and the hilarious in no particular order.

1. Stasi and Logan are a married couple that are both 25 and working on graduating. Logan is a design major and Stasi is working on her second degree, this one in art history. I sat next to them on the flight from Salt Lake to Newark on the very first day. We got to be pretty good friends fairly quickly. One day, Bob asked people to make sure their roommates were there and everyone was accounted for. We were all commenting that at least we were adults and could pretty much look out for ourselves. Logan said, "I look out for number one, Stasi's number two, and (putting his hand on my head) you're two and a half." Other people may choose to get offended by the copious amount of short jokes that I endure, but I think they're awesome.
2. I slept for a couple hours on the plane ride from Newark to London, but it wasn't very restful. Unfortunately, I got extremely dehydrated and really quite sick. I almost passed out twice in the London Heathrow Airport. At that point, I didn't know a soul on the trip, but Becky and Rachel took great care of me. I was still mildly miserable, but by the time we made it to Leysin that afternoon I was doing better.
3. We took a boat ride from Lausanne to Chillon Castle. That was my first experience with the intense bipolar weather in Switzerland. When the sun was behind the cloud it was absolutely freezing but when the sun was out, most people started the beginning of many coming sunburns.
4. Last fall for FHE, we tried to have a bonfire up Logan Canyon. I made fun of the fact that we had a ridiculous amount of Eagle Scouts and no one could start the fire. There were many Eagle Scouts on this trip too, but that turned out to be such a huge blessing. When Becky fell and split her head, they jumped into survival mode and used those skills they learned to help her out.
5. My roommate Kristin's dad was one of the faculty that came on the trip. She told me that we would experience cowboy poetry and daily science "factoids" with him around. We got to see the cowboy poetry, but he didn't do his science factoids! Becky and I cornered him a couple times and made him dish. I learned more about DNA replication in those few minutes than I did in a semester of biology.
6. Ricardo is an engineering major from the Dominican Republic. He mastered taking pictures of himself while walking better than anyone I know.
7. A conductor on the train almost gave me a citation because the Swiss pass I'd been using for the previous three and a half weeks "wasn't mine." One of the passport numbers didn't line up according to him. It was someone in his company that wrote the passport number down on the Swiss pass to begin with.
8. I ate chocolate crepes in Lausanne and Gruyeres.
9. I carried a jar of nutella and creme around with me everywhere. Most days I just bought a roll at the store by the train station and dunked it in my nutella and called that lunch.
10. We all started sharing chocolate with each other. Someone would by a bar and let people sample it because turnabout is fair play; whenever someone else bought a bar, you never had to feel guilty about taking a sample. It was an easy way to find out what was delicious and what struggled.
11. Jeremy bought a 90% dark chocolate bar when we were in Lausanne. I had to wash it down with some gummy worms and milk chocolate. Nasty.
12. I ate veal.
13. One night, the best option out of the food on my plate was beets. If you know my dad, you know how bad that is.
14. There were water fountains all over the place that were totally safe to drink from. In fact, drinking from them and filling up water bottles was highly encouraged.
15. Interlaken took on a meaning more than just a beautiful town with extreme sports.
16. When we were at the castle in Spiez with the Mazda party going on, there were four horses and riders in medieval attire. One of the horses absolutely refused to stay in line where it was supposed to. Mitch commented: "One of those horses doesn't want to do what it's supposed to!" Bob's response is one of the best I've ever heard: "I know. I've named it Ceci. (After a few seconds of stunned silence) That was horrible wasn't it?" Everyone around just about died laughing.
17. Our tour guide at Chillon Castle reminded me of a mix between Edna 'E' Mode from "The Incredibles" and Professor Trelawney from "Harry Potter."
18. I saw Michael Jordan's shoe from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where he was part of the USA's Dream Team at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
19. While sitting on the banks of the river in Luzern, I discovered I have an entirely irrational fear of swans.
20. I listened to a concert on the oldest playing organ in the world in Sion. It was incredible.
21. Our tour guide at Oberhofen Castle was nuts. Certifiably so, I'm pretty sure. She also got mad at us for standing too close to the walls in the castle.
22. Magnum ice cream bars were consumed almost every day. I have to admit I never purchased one.
23. The day we went caving in Vallorbe we almost died of heat stroke on the train back to Leysin.
24. Brandon discovered raspberry granola bars. We had a working relationship: he provided the granola bars, I provided the nutella. It was heavenly.
25. Marissa started keeping a list of Dr. Fawsonisms. You can't fully appreciate them unless you hear them, but some of them include, "It was delicious." and "Excellent."
26. Chance really tried to work on a legitimate Scottish accent, but never quite mastered it. I told him it would probably be more authentic if he bought a kilt.
27. The boat we took from Oberhofen to the Thun train station didn't have quite enough space. Katie and I sat under my umbrella outside in the rain by ourselves while everyone else huddled up close in each others' purple circles under the top deck. I think Dave may have a picture of it...
28. On the downhill hike in Murren, my feet slid out from under me in such a fluid, perfect motion that it almost looked like I planned to end sitting on my butt. At least that's what Mitch told me.
29. I've developed a love for all things hazelnut.
30. Dominique owned the Au Bel Air Hotel that we stayed at all month. His English is excellent. However, sometimes things get lost in translation. One time there was something about a screwdriver at the Saint Bernard Hospice...
31. I tried so so so hard to stay awake on the bus ride from the Geneva Airport to Leysin. I kept drifting off. Occasionally I'd hear Kelden sitting next to me try to explain an Italian card game to people around him but I was so focused on not getting car sick and trying to stay awake that I'd fall asleep. Yes, I typed that correctly.
32. The underground tour in Scotland was so cool! I was a little concerned about it since I jump when the phone rings, but Chance loves to tell people that I "only jumped 3 times." I think that's pretty good, actually.
33. Mandy was considering staying in a hostel in Paris. Jeremy didn't think that would be a good idea at all since they really aren't that safe there and was trying to convince her otherwise. His final argument? "I'm going to kill you before I let you go do that and someone else can kill you!"
34. A couple of guys worked on the service projects with us at the hospice and met up with us at the train station later with two huge flats of cherries to say thanks for letting them help us. Those were the best cherries I've had in a long time.
35. I didn't get to see it, but in Luzern there was a maze of mirrors and glass doors. Bethany ran right into one of the glass doors.
36. When we were in Murren, we were all gathering to listen to Dr. Fawson's presentation. Ceci wanted to know, "Why are you all so quiet?!"
37. While I was staving off a migraine at the Saint Bernard Hospice, Bethany, Katie, and I found a room with a TV and VCR. Unfortunately the only movies they had were in French. We watched "Pirates of the Caribbean" since we'd all seen it so many times we knew it by heart.
38. The afternoon we spent in Gruyeres was magical. It was also the biggest rainstorm we had there. Of the 29 days I spent there, it was the only one I didn't have an umbrella.
39. Twice on the trip I experienced "decompression session" that was neither planned or expected. Once was in Lausanne with Becky and Rachel, and the other was at the Geneva airport with Chance.
40. I experienced authentic cow fights in the Valaisan Alps. I tried really hard not to squeal, but when a several hundred pound cow is running towards you, even if you are behind a fence that won't break, it's hard not to jump. Grandpa Mack would have been a mix of disgusted and proud.
41. I got to Skype with Tiffany while she was doing her own study abroad in Mexico.
42. I heard a Bartok piece played on the oldest playing organ in the world. That is not common at all. Bartok is not typical organ music.
43. I saw blunt, brutally honest sides of Kristin's parents that I doubt I would have ever seen normally and it made me laugh so hard I was almost crying.
44. It was Rachel's 21st birthday on June 14. Dominique got wind of this and made a cake just for her. He turned out all the lights in the dining room and came out with a cake with some sort of sparklers on top of it. He started playing "Happy Birthday" on his trumpet but one of the sparklers fell off onto the floor. He immediately stopped playing, politely said, "Pardon" and put out the flame. Then he picked up his trumpet and resumed with the song right where he left off.
45. Doner kebabs make the list of my top ten favorite foods.
46. Little spoons above my plate at mealtimes were the happiest sight ever. That meant we would get dessert.
47. Mirna bought awesome desserts and would usually share them.
48. The uphill hike to the train station every day was brutal. The last day we were all in Switzerland before I left for Scotland, some of us discovered a downhill method. It was longer in distance, but it was downhill.
49. Lindsay's 21st birthday was July 2. Her goal was to get 21 birthday kisses. I don't know if she ever managed her goal, but at dinner she started talking about it again and Cullen planted a huge one on her. I think that one should have counted for at least five.
50. The massive drop off the face of the mountain in a gondola in Murren would have been fine for most people. My problem was that I got stuck in the middle so I couldn't hold onto the side rails. I was also too short to reach the dangling handles. Fortunately someone grabbed onto me before I floated off.
51. We heard an absolutely incredible organ concert at a cathedral in Lausanne. I'm usually not a fan of organ music for extended periods, but there was one piece that this guy did that was amazing.
52. I don't know how I would have survived the endless train rides without my iPod.
53. When we were in Zurich, I went with Pam, Lindsay, and Jamie to lunch. Pam ended up shamelessly flirting with this Swiss guy that spoke almost perfect English. He ended up giving us a little tour of the city. I felt like a little kid following around her big sister with her new boyfriend. Running into the Fawsons and Clarks with Rito in tow was hilarious.
54. During our time in Edinburgh, we stumbled upon The Elephant House, the coffee house where J.K. Rowling wrote "Harry Potter."
55. On our highland tour in Scotland, we saw the boarding school that was the inspiration behind "Harry Potter's" Hogwarts.
56. It was on the last day of the trip that Dr. Fawson figured out that if you hold a goblet by the stem and then tap it with silverware it makes a louder sound to attract people's attention at dinnertime.
57. Some of the guys didn't bring hats for when we snowshoed. Dominique had a bunch of stuff people left when they came skiing that he let people borrow. Some of the guys found swim caps with the Swiss cross on them.
58. Cami started compiling a list of book recommendations from people on the trip. She gave me a copy of it and that supplied my reading material for my Yellowstone vacation.
59. Becky fell and hurt her head pretty badly. Her mottoes for the trip became "It could have been worse" and "Pretend like it never happened."
60. Brandon wanted to show a small group of us a "pretty cool fountain" in Aigle when we were heading back to Leysin one day. The best part of the fountain was when he and Chance got in a mini water fight and tried to get the rest of us wet, too.
61. On the last day everyone was in Switzerland, Becky finally had her stitches out and only had a bandaid remaining on her head. Some of us put bandaids on our heads in the same spot. Dominique was so concerned at dinner that night when he saw more bandaged heads. "What did you do?!?!"
62. A traditional Swiss meal is Raclette, a huge cheese round that you can put on bread or potatoes. It's also usually served with some cold cut type meat. Dominique insisted that we drink a lot of tea with it and no water because it would help with digestion. People were frantically drinking tea worrying that the cheese would ball up in their stomachs and kill them.
63. Bethany and Becky had one of the best conversations ever. It went something like this. Bethany was trying to explain how people should quit feeling badly about eating full bars of Swiss chocolate in one sitting. Bethany: "Don't you eat the whole candy bar when you buy candy bars at home?" Becky: "I don't buy candy bars at home." Bethany (immediately, before Becky even finishes saying "home"): "I don't either."
64. We stopped at the Reformation Wall in Geneva. A couple of women were bathing in the pool in front of it. We left and Bob muttered to those of us standing close by, "Well, I feel reformed. How about you?"
65. Playing Pacman in the gardens in Gruyeres was one of my favorite things ever. It was a total spur of the moment thing and not at all planned.
66. People were so kind about my height deficiency. Most of the time people would make me switch spots with them so I could see better. Most people towered over me anyway so I didn't even have to duck.
    
67. We shivered and snuggled on solar-powered boats in Lausanne.
68. A certain occurrence at the hospice had Lindsay standing on the table at lunchtime the next day yelling, "I own what I did!!!" Bob's retort had us all rolling on the floor laughing.
69. We had two Johns on the trip. John was one, "Married Jon" was the other. Married Jon counted the days until his wife was going to meet up with him in Lausanne starting the first day we got to Switzerland. It started with 21 days.
70. We found great 2-4-1 specials at Revolution Bar in Scotland.
71. Christa, Dr. Fawon's wife, was so mild mannered, but some sights made her absolutely cringe. I knew exactly what would set her off, so I got a kick out of watching her at just the right moment.
72. The washer and dryer were a pain to make work, especially with so many of us. At least it was better than having to bring enough clothes for a month.
73. Bonnie's mom sent her with snacks. I became a huge fan of her animal crackers from Costco.
74. I was surprised by how many American companies with sites in Switzerland: Logitec, Nestle, Honda (ok not American, but I recognized it).
75. People soon figured out that I played the piano so anytime there were pianos in castles people would tell me to go get a picture of it.
76. Logan was honestly terrified of the marionette museum. I've never seen a grown man shrink in a puppet's shadow like that before.
77. Spending time at the Goetheanum was hardly enlightening. We would ask perfectly legitimate questions, Jeremy in particular, that I'm sure had definitive answers, but all our tour guide would say was "It depends on your perspective..." and then follow with some mumbo jumbo that no one understood.
78. Walking around the grounds at Oberhofen Castle was so fun. It was so pretty, but it was definitely raining. Cullen held my umbrella so we could both remain dry while we explored the grounds.
79. We had a bonfire on the mountain by our hotel during our last week there. We made s'mores with genuine Swiss chocolate, cookies, and $5 "authentic Rocky Mountain marshmallows."
80. We worked on a design project about middle school lockers one day at the hotel. We divided up into groups. I had Cami, Chance, Jamie, and Debbie in my group. Our home base was my hotel room with the balcony. When we needed a break for a little bit, we played "Never have I ever."
81. We stumbled upon a parade on our day off in Yverdon-les-Bains. People were dressed up in old military garb. It was totally not planned but so fun. It lasted for several hours! The best part was when they shot off a cannon and the six of us American students shrieked and ducked and the native Swiss people just looked at us and laughed.
82. Chance and I ran into Mirna and her husband at the Geneva airport when we were on our way to Scotland. It was a total coincidence; we had no idea they were going to be there!
83. When we went to the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. While the watches were very cool and beautiful, the tour was too dang long. The tour guide commented that we all looked exhausted. It's not surprising since that was our last day of official class. I just wanted a place to sit down and not have to consciously think about anything.
84. We went to an art museum in Martigny and my favorite part was playing in the sculpture garden and taking goofy pictures.
85. In Geneva we went to .ECO, a store that featured green products. Some of it was strange, some of it was kind of cool, like the purse made entirely of pop tabs.
86. To pass time at the hospice, a group of us started playing Farkle, a dice game that quickly got quite competitive.
87. I ate stinging nettle soup twice. I don't recommend it.
88. Pam led about 25 of us in yoga in the hallway at the hospice the first morning after our hike. Even Dominique joined us.
89. We had a massive thunderstorm one night in Leysin. It was pretty intense. I wish I could have gotten some good pictures of it because it was rather impressive.
90. Our first night in Switzerland Chance and I were out on the deck just hanging out and waiting until we were tired enough to ensure we'd sleep through the night when a bunch of fireworks started going off. Apparently the American school's graduation was that day and that's what the celebration was about. The fireworks were pretty impressive, but the really cool part was how much it spooked the cows on the hill by our hotel. There was a massive stampede of cows running in the opposite direction of the fireworks. It was pretty late, but not entirely dark, but all you could see was the silhouettes of stampeding cows and hear the pounding of hoofs and the clanging of cowbells combined with the massive echoing of the fireworks, which was pretty substantial with our little mountain setting.
91. We always seemed to make a scene in train stations. A lot of our connections were pretty tight. Five minutes isn't a big deal when there's only a few people, but with 45, it's a huge deal. I'm sure people were so annoyed to see 45 Americans sprinting through the station to make our next train. I finally figured out that it was easiest to just hop on the train the first chance I got and just walk through the cars to get to our reserved car. One day a few of us just gave up and sat in a second class car just like any other passenger would.
92. Kristin's parents and I Skyped her on her birthday. She always made a point of telling people that she was pretty disgusted that I was going to be in Switzerland. With her parents. On her birthday.
93. The first day we were in Switzerland, a group of us was hanging out on the patio at the hotel. We broke the ice by playing Two Truths and a Lie. It's interesting what you learn about some people...
94. I think Bob would be proud of this one... When we had some spare time in Scotland, Chance and I went to the Scottish National Gallery and checked out the art there. Neither one of us have much in the way of art experience, but Bob gave us all a quick crash course on how to "read" a painting when we were in Geneva. Chance and I tried to apply our knowledge at the museum we went to. I think we may have actually been successful on a couple of them.
95. We played around the world ping pong on the patio outside our hotel when it was warm enough.
96. Playing sand volleyball at a park by Lake Geneva in Vevey was one of my absolute most favorite things, but swimming in Lake Geneva with just a small group of us the day before is definitely at the top of the list as well.
97. The first morning at the hospice, Dominique woke us up by playing his trumpet. It was the most wonderful way to wake up. The next day we were all hoping he'd do the same thing, but we heard some great acoustic guitar instead. We looked around for a while thinking Dominique was probably playing that as well until we figured out that the sound was coming from the speaker system.
98. We heard from a couple of Italian gentlemen at the hospice who were doing their own pilgrimage, but they were doing the full thing. They started in England and were about halfway through, ending in Rome. They didn't speak English, but we fortunately heard their story through Kelden, who went to Italy on his mission and could translate.
99. The best example of the differences between business students and design students was at Freitag in Zurich. The company makes really expensive bags out of old trucking canvas and seat belts. The design students were fascinated by the design of the bags and for the most part loved them. Dave, Christine, and I were sitting there talking about their overhead costs, cost of materials, and profit margins and wanting to see balance sheets and business plans.
100. Dominique brought his iPad to the hospice with him and on our second night there, he gave those of us who wanted to see a presentation of his trip to the west coast of America. He did a motorcycle trip with his sister that took him through Utah, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, several places in California, and many others. He was so fascinated by how beautiful our country was. I sat there in stunned silence, confused about how he could find our country beautiful when he lived in Switzerland. We all talked about how gorgeous his country was and how we have nothing that looks like that back home! It made me realize that we do have our own kind of beautiful country, but we become so used to it that we take it for granted sometimes and don't think about it. Granted, the Treasure Valley certainly isn't pretty, but I've discovered some very pretty places in Idaho and Wyoming recently that make it easier for me to admit that our country has its own beauty.