Switzerland and France

Switzerland and France came after Scotland! Katie and I had a bit of a rough time making it across the Channel - we didn't realize until a little too late that you have to make reservations for tickets in advance. Oops! So instead of going through Paris, we took a roundabout trip through Brussels. 

Switzerland was beautiful! Everywhere looked like a photograph. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen, a small ski town near Interlaken.

The view out our window! AMAZING!

The first day, we walked up to Isenfluh. After spending all day walking on the West Highland Way, the hike felt quite short. It was beautiful, with patches of snow still on the ground, and the mountain air smelling so fresh and whole. I was amazed at how steep the mountains were, with houses nestled into the flat parts of the mountain, and in the valley below.

The woods were amazing, different from Scottish woods and English woods. Once we reached the village, we sat for awhile looking across the valley. I am in love with Swiss houses - the brown against the green is an amazing contrast! The houses look like they belong on the landscape.

We spent most of our two days wandering around Lauterbrunnen, enjoying the houses and scenery, and marveling at the majesty of the Alps.

The day we left Lauterbrunnen, the clouds burned off and we could see the tips of the mountains against the blue.

And we were off to Nice, France! Lots of time in the train. We arrived in Nice late at night, and it was a bit scary after dark, so it wasn't until the next morning that I realized what a beautiful spot we had come to. On April 24th, I touched the Mediterranean sea for the first time! The water is incredibly blue, and you could see so far down. We sat on the pebbly beach, I got sunburned, and it was a lovely, lovely day.

The water was quite chilly, so we spent most of our time looking at it instead of swimming in it :)


The bus and tram system around Nice was very well organized, so Katie and I made a few day trips. My favorites were Eze and Monaco.
Eze was a delightful medieval city full of narrow and windy streets. We wandered around for a few hours, and had lunch looking out over the water in a garden where we realized later we weren't supposed to be....oops. But it made for a wonderful lunching spot!

In Monaco, we wandered around the harbor, which houses one of the most exclusive yacht clubs in the world, we were told.

We both tried Pistachio Gelato (so delicious.....), wandered around streets where Grace Kelly had walked, and saw the famous Casino. My favorite part of the city was the old area near the palace - the colors of the buildings were beautiful.

We stayed for several nights in France, switching between days by the water and day tripping. A wonderful time, but too short! After Nice, Katie and I said goodbye, and I headed back to London.
Nice was fun; quite the contrast from the UK and Switzerland! ....and so nice and warm :)

Scotland

Well..... I have proved myself a not-very-faithful blogger this semester. So much happening all the time, it's hard to decide now how to summarize! But anyways, I will (hopefully haha...) put up a few posts that give a short look at the traveling I did after term ended, starting with Scotland.

Leaving Oxford on April 15th was dreadfully hard, but going to Scotland helped make it more bearable! I think Scotland is one of my favorite places I've been; the colors were astounding. A friend from Covenant, Katie, and myself walked part of the West Highland Way. We started in Milngavie and walked to Drymen. The first day of walking was quite rainy and cold, and I wondered if this was going to be as fun as it had originally seemed...but as we kept walking after a lunch rest, the rain stopped and enjoyment of our surroundings took over! Sheep, sunshine, and a time with wind strong enough to lean into made the afternoon glorious. 

The second day, we walked to Inversnaid, which was about fifteen miles. We started walking around around Loch Lomond, and I touched it for the first time! Much excitement! The woods and walking path around the lake were gorgeous. Scotland has a wild and untamed sort of beauty that catches you by surprise every time you stop to take a good look. We stopped for lunch at an Inn, and had conversations with a British lady on holiday with her husband, and a mother and son from Colorado who were hiking together. I really like the way that traveling breaks past normal conversation boundaries. It rained again all day, but after reaching a certain point of being wet, I realized the freedom of knowing that you were wet and couldn't fix it...so you might as well enjoy it! But really. Being dirty and being okay with it is one of the greatest feelings. I stopped trying to avoid the puddles and instead splashed through them, and began to notice how much the rain highlighted the differences in the colors around me. There were so many different types of forest that we walked through in each day! It was a good feeling to get out of the rain though! We stayed in the coolest hostel, up a mountainside in an old church. One thing is certain: getting thoroughly wet makes you appreciate being warm and dry.

 Touching Loch Lomond for the first time!

 

 My feet were overjoyed to get out of my boots :)

 Our third day was shorter, only seven miles, but was my favorite. The path was more challenging, requiring scrambling over rocks and careful crossing of swollen mountain streams. Thankfully, it didn't rain, which made the going quite pleasant. The scenery surrounding was spectacular; we passed through fog-coated woods, saw wild goats, and numerous waterfalls. While walking close to the water, I decided that Loch Lomond would be a great place to explore in a canoe. So...new ambition. :)

The path...

 

And....the path.

 

The flat part! So we took a picture :)

We celebrated our last day on The West Highland way by....not walking. The weather was perfect, and we sat beside a stream in a sheep pasture and soaked up the healthy feeling of being outside. You could tell spring had come to Scotland by the number of lambs gamboling around. In real life, they are even cuter than I had thought! 

Scotland was an incredible experience from beginning to end. I enjoy exploring cities, but there truly isn't anything close to experiencing the wildness of woods and lake. Rain or shine, The West Highland Way is a winner!