Day 22 – See Ya Switzerland :(

It is our last morning in Switzerland. There is not much we can do but reminisces and soak up as much fresh Swiss air as we can, and maybe snap a few pictures of the dewy fresh morning in the mountains. We woke around 4:30am. Curtis was in charge of waking everyone up. I woke, got dressed and packed the rest of my belongings in my carry on bag. I brought is downstairs with my room’s key. Fifteen minutes before six the two vans leave, and we are off to the airport. I think we all passed out. Two hours later, I awoke and we were at the airport. We all wore our bright blue BMCC t-shirts to easily see everyone and keep the group together. Going through customs was a breeze, and they noticed we were all a study abroad group and there wasn’t need for any intarigating questions. I’ve flown many times and was not worried about this, but it would be a hassle if one of the members was stopped, because it would stop all of us too. Our class is very mixed, and this might cause the customs officers to wonder what we are doing in Switzerland and ask us a few questions. Luckily, we all stuck together with out matching t-shirts, which helped the customs process go by fast and smoothly. During the plane ride I slept. I only woke up to eat or drink. I was exhausted from all the travelling we had been doing for the past three weeks. I couldn’t wait to get home back to New York City. Sleeping helped the plane ride go by faster. After arriving we went to the baggage carisol and got our luggage. I said my goodbyes to all the TTA members, and everyone went on their own way, after collecting their belongings. I was off to the Airtram, and tried to get back into that New York travelling groove.

Day 21 – Last Day, Prepare for Departure

What a relief, we were able to sleep in today. It is our last full day in Switzerland!!! At 10:30am we met with the Professors and for half an hour talked about the rules and regulations of departing and flying back to New York. After lunch Mr. Beat Wicki presented each student from the TTA class with a Certificate of Attendance for the Tour Management Class. What a nice honor, and I was very glad they spelled my name right! It was a pretty relaxing day. We all relaxed, packed and played games. For dinner we had BBQ, which was very tasty and healthier then American BBQs. After dinner the school hosted an Obstacle Course with all the students. Four of the European students, versus four of the American students (us). Unfortunately our team lost. Later that evening all the students were packed. We brought our luggage down to the vans and packed. We have to leave early in the morning and want to make sure everything is ready to go. Plus, I don’t think any of us would want to struggle loading the van at five in the morning. We then changed and went to the Disco the school arranges. The music was a little different then what I’m used to listening to, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and got into the European mode. As soon as we heard an American song, we let them know how we do it in New York, and we danced our last night in Switzerland away.

Day 20 – Waste of Switzerland and Fondue Oh My

Andy and Sasha shared the tour guide duties today. Wake up call was around 6ish, Breakfast around 7ish. At 8:00am the class met Sophie in the lobby and presented to her thank you gifts. She was very nice and accommodating to our needs. We all wanted to thank her and wish her the best with her marriage and new career (she was leaving the school). At 8:15am, we had a Fundamentals of Environment Sustainability or Ecology class, lectured by Mr. Beat Wicki himself. The class was very informative and interesting, but at the same time very long and boring. He explained so much, but I think what was most important was that we have to realize the influence of daily business and how it effects the environment. This is important to our lives and even the Hotel and Travel industry, because we are constantly selling the environment. It is also important to note that the environment influences these businesses in many ways. We must have a good environment to run a good business in this industry.

After the lecture we had lunch, and were off to GEVAG, a waste burning facility. The General Manager, Mr. Francois Boone gave us a tour and explained how the facility worked and what happened to Switzerland’s waste. They also showed us a sewage waste facility. It was interesting but looked and smelt pretty gross. After the smelly tour we went to dinner with Mr. Wicki and Sophie. We took a beautiful tram ride up the mountains to a secluded and homely cottage. The restaurant owners greeted us. They treated us like they were meeting distant relatives. We all enjoyed a traditional Swiss cheese fondue dinner. I’ve had fondue many times, but a lot of my classmates never had tried it before. We were all excited to experience fondue is Switzerland.

Day 19 – Lugano

Wake up call was at 6:00 am, again! We were eating breakfast by 7:00am, and on the bus to Chur at 7:29am. At Chur we transfered to another bus, which took us to Bellinzona. We had about a minute to transfer to the train going to Lugano. We made it! The arrival time was 10:19am, and then we were back on a bus to the Grand Hotel Eden. The bus stop was further then we had calculated, so we did a bit of walking. This would of been fine, if it wasn’t raining. We finally arrived at the hotel all wet and travelled out. The Assistant Front Desk Manager Mr. Maurizio Lieto greeted us and provided closet space to put our wet jackets and backpacks. The lobby was nicely decorated. There were animal print rugs and furniture, and big plants everywhere, very “Eden” like. The hotel consisted of 117 total rooms. The hotel was divided by a street. The hotel was modern, hip and luxurious. The hotel lies on the water front of Lugano Paradiso. All rooms provided a balcony or terrace with views of the lake, mountians and city. The hotel has very nice dinning arrangement and top quality food. Their Wellness centre is complete with heated pool, jacuzzi, sauna, fitness room, and massage area. A great hotel for a relaxing and luxurious experiance.

After we walked back to the bus that would take us to the train to Bellinzona. At the train station we started munching on our lunch the school packed for us. Since it was another rainy day, it caused us to head back to the school early, instead of hanging around Lugano. For dinner, I enjoyed the curry chicken, although it was like no other curry I tasted. Seems to me the Swiss can learn a thing or two about cooking other cultures food. Thank goodness for New York’s diverse culture and food offering. I really enjoyed the fruit sorbet they served for dessert. It was homemade and refreshing. It tasted healthy, like there was no high fructose corn syrup.

Day 18 – St Mortiz

Today we rose at 6:00am. Mark was the tour guide and we were off to Hotel Laudinella in St. Moritz. It was rainy, so we were sure to pack our rain gear. We met Andrea Kube the Assistant Front Office Manager and Mr. Stephanos Giannakis, the hotel’s concierge. He was very friendly and gave a very nice tour of the hotel. It was very home and family like ambiance. There were 190 rooms (120 superior and 70 standard.)
The hotel is well known for its winter resort and celebrity visitors. They had all kinds of rooms such as; junior suite, four bed rooms, Multibedrooms, triple, twin and single. They had five different restaurants in the hotel (Italian, Asian, French, Traditional and a Swiss Buffet) and two bars. The Hotel Laudinella is the biggest 3 Star in the area. Last year was the hotels 50th Anniversary, when two of the three buildings were established. The third building was added in 1996, with a more modern look. They have a spa, fitness room, children’s room and even two music rooms.

Day 16 – Weekend Excursion

Here is our itinerary we planned:

Itinerary for the Weekend of June 13-15

Attendees:

Adele Ou Yang – #0796810356

Asha Burton – #0796846566

Pragya Shrestha – #0796846634

Friday, June 13th

5:32pm Depart from Zurich train station

7:40pm Arrive in Lausanne train station

8:00pm Check in: Lausanne Guesthouse & Backpackers

Epinettes 4
CH-1007 Lausanne
Phone # + 41 021 601 8000

Evening Excursion: Walk around the city

Flon District

Dinner

Saturday, June 14th

10:00am Breakfast

Day Excursion: Cathédrale Notre-Dame

Ouchy Waterfront

Museum of Old Ouchy

Musée de l’Elyée

Shopping

3:17pm Depart from Lausanne train station

4:15pm Arrive in Geneva train station

4:30pm Check in: City Hostel Geneva

2, rue Ferrier 1202 Genève/Switzerland
Phone # +41 (0) 22-901 15 00

Evening Excursion: Patek Philippe Museum

Cathédrale St. Pierre

Shopping

Dinner

Sunday, June 15th

10:00am Breakfast

Morning: Explore Lake Geneva

Chemin de l’Impératrice (Conservatory and Botanical Garden)

1:45pm Depart from Geneva train station

5:52pm Arrive in Chur train station

Get food in Chur

6:50pm Take bus to SSTH

Unfortunately we were unable to put our itinerary we put a lot of work into. I really wanted to see if my itinerary skills had improved and to what extent by comparing my weekend trips. The Professors said that we were not allowed to go on our weekend trips if we did not finish our blogs. This news was saddening because I had been looking forward to it the whole week. I decided to rush back and finish the blogs. I finished the days the Professors asked, because they needed to grade it for midterms. Somehow, after all that work we still we unable to go. I stayed in the school the whole weekend, going to Chur only once to get some food. I got a salad at Cindy’s Dinner, a 1950’s soda pop styled fast food restaurant.

Day 15 – Zurich

Friday the 13th, wake up call was at 6:00am. Sarah was the tour guide of the day. Breakfast was rushed because we had to catch the 7:29am bus to Chur. We walked to Platform 9 where the Zurich bound train departed at 8:16am. The train ride was about an hour and a half. A few of us helped Sarah with directions because we made a brief visit the Sunday before. The group walked to the tourist office in the train station and picked up brochures and maps. We walked to get on the number 13 tram, to get to the hotel we were scheduled to see. The ride was about 10 minutes and as soon as we got to the stop we spotted the hotel. Which was very convenient for us, and would be for their guests as well. We got to Four Points Sihlcity Hotel half an hour early. We went in anyways to wait until 11:00am, our appointment time, and use the bathrooms. We entered and walked to the front desk. We explained to the man at the front test that we had a meeting with Mrs. Alexia Hungerbuler at 11:00am. He seemed a little confused or surprised that we were there and wasn’t very friendly. We waited in the lobby and scoped it out for our hotel inspection sheets. We then realized that we had entered through the side door, which was the restaurant entrance. The front entrance was not accessible to cars, because it was located on a shopping street that was blocked off from traffic. Mrs. Hungerbuhler greeted us and showed us around the hotel. She explained that 100 years ago the building used to be a paper mill factory, and that is why the corridors were so wide. She showed us three rooms, a standard room which ran for 440 CHF a night, a deluxe for 460 CHF and a junior suite for 600CHF. They were very nice. I noticed that the bathroom was separated into pieces. The toilet and shower had their own little space with doors and the sink was open. The junior suite also had a separate bathtub, in addition to the shower. I liked the fact that each room had a bottle of water and it said of course this water is free at Four Points Hotel, or something or other. It was a nice complimentary gift, which makes the guests stay even more enjoyable. Mrs. Hungerbuhler brought us the the Asia Spa, which is not owned by the hotel, and she asked if someone can show us around. We broke up into two groups and Mr. Yves Trachsel, who was behind the desk, showed us around. The Asia Spa had massage rooms, sun tanning room, sauna, three pools, a lounge deck and exercise room. The exercise room had state of the art equipment, that we were very curious about. The Power Plate, which looked very versatile but couldn’t get more information on because the staff was too busy assisting their guests. Their other work out machines were from Techno Gym, and they had a very cool and space saving Pilate’s/martial arts machine. I was very impressed by the swimming area. It was very relaxing and the colors of the room, and even lighting added to the ambiance. There were three heated pools, and one was a jacuzzi. She showed us the restaurants and told us that for breakfast the had a cold and hot options. The hot food was American, like sausage, eggs and bacon, and I was surprised, because we have not come across this in Switzerland before. We then viewed the the bar/lounge and to top of the wonderful experience, Mrs. Hungerbuhler invited us for a drink. We all sat down and chatted and all the student introduced him/herself and gave some background information about them self.

It was after 1 o’clock when we left the Four Points Hotel. We took the tram and went back to the tourist office in the train station to ask how to get to Swiss National Museum. It was very close by and right next to the lake that ran through the city, which we sat near and had lunch. The saddest part of the trip happened at that lake. First I saw a little duckling and thought how cute, and didn’t even think about its safety. But then I saw the mom and four other little ducklings in a group and realized the poor little duckling was left behind. The current of the lake was too strong for the little duck to paddle in and could not keep up with his mom and siblings. I looked into the lake, while he drifted further and further away from his family, and we even heard his little quacking cries. It was horrible, and I wish I could just lean over and scoop his little body up.

After lunch we went into the Swiss National Museum and we walked through a very interesting exhibit called Families: The Constant is Change. It displayed images and objects that showed family development in Switzerland since 1750. The exhibit focused on real families, and showed pictures of married couples, paintings of families, and family trees. It displayed objects that would be in a home and part of family life. It was very interesting to look see how family life was different during several time periods.

After the museum, we were going to walk through the old town of Zurich and then go shopping. Unfortunately, because the Euro 2008 soccer game was going to be playing that day, there were thousands of people. It would of been almost impossible to stay together, and it would be hard to come back out of the mob, when it was time to leave. So we decided to take the train back to Chur. We arrived before 5:00pm and the group separated in different directions. Gia, Asha, Shevy and I went to Migros, McDonald’s and a falafel stand to get the food we each desired. Then we took the bus back to Chur. The other students were eating dinner, so I rushed to the laundry room to wash some clothes while I had the chance. Then I went back to my room to do some homework and blogging.

Day 14 – My Tour Guide Itinerary

Today was my turn to be the tour guide, and lead our group on a trip to Chur to visit the Kulturforum Würth Sculpture Park and Stadtgarten and Rätisches Museum. It was extremely nice that no one wanted to wake up for breakfast, which meant everyone including myself slept in a little longer. Instead of waking up at 6:00am, I made my round of wake up calls at 7:20am. Everyone assembled in the school lobby at 8:20am, and then we walked to the bus stop. The bus was scheduled to come at 8:29am, but it was running a few minutes late. We walked to the sculpture park and looked at the outdoor art. There were two pieces by Niki de Saint Phalle; “Le Monde” and “Der Bär”. Bernhard Luginbühl’s piece was called “Dolittle.” Jean Tinguely “Fontaine pour Joseph Siffert.” They were quite interesting and abstract. The walk took longer then I expected

Here is the itinerary Adrienne and I prepared for today:

Day 13 – Heidi, Winery and Bad Ragaz

We had the usual breakfast at the usual time, 7:00am. After we had a little free time to chill, and at 9:00am we all met Sophie and Marianne in the lobby. We all had the privilage to have them come around and be our chauffers. They drove us around, and this made it easier on the group and tour guide of the day, who was Asha. None of us had to worry about making it on time for a train or missing the bus. The first stop was Heidi’s house. We had a tour guide explain the history of Heidi and the house. We learnt that the story was inspired by a young Swiss girl, and the house was donated to the company, the purpose of the house was to visually show the guests how she lived according to the story. Heidi is Switzerland’s most famous children’s literature and it is well-known all around the world. At the Heidi House there was even a section of books from all different languages on presentation. We came back to the school for lunch. We had a shrimp salad, lamb, barley and brussel sprouts. It was very good, and I was very happy we had shrimp. It gave us a break from meat, and I love seafood. I experianced the slowest service out of all the meals so far. Especailly when desert came, half our table got desert and we had to wait 10 to 15minutes for the other half to be served, meanwhile all the ice cream had melted from sitting out so long. Besides the melted ice cream, the lunch was good. Well, so was the desert actually. It was a banana split and there was only half an “American” scoop of vanilla ice cream anyways. The next stop was Hotel Quellenhof. We met four of the hotels employees and they all gave a wonderful presentation. They all were very professional, friendly and personable. Out of all the hotels, this one catered to us the most. They offered us tea, coffee, water and fruits. The gave us a notebook, notepad and pen. At the end of the presentation they gave us chocolate. The were very hospitable, just like a hotel’s staff should be, but we don’t always experience this. After the presentation we rushed over to a winery and met with the owner. He gave us a tour of the winery and showed us the equipment that was needed to make wine. Sophie and Marianne both tagged along, and thanks to Sophie we had someone to translate what he told us. We had a wine tasting of three wines and we were served some bread, cheese and salami. The first one was a curvee white wine, made of three different grapes. The other two where reds. I prefered the last one because it was lighter and sweeter. We drove back to the school to have dinner and had cabbage soup, pasta, mixed peppers and beef. I didn’t enjoy it as much as lunch, but good thing I filled up on bread and cheese at the winery.

Day 9-10 – Weekend Excursion

Friday, June 6th we departed from Andermatt station. We took the 3:44pm train to Luzern. We arrived before 6:00pm and walked to the Tourist Hotel, which I had already made reservations for the night before. The hotel is on the same street as the river Reuss with a gorgeous view of the Pilatus and Titlis mountains. After we checked into the hotel, we walked around the city and looked at some shops. We ate dinner at a Thai Restaurant, which was quite good. At night we went to Luzern Lounge and experienced the nightlife of the city. I enjoyed it, but nothing is like New York City night life. We walked by a few different bar/restaurants and all of them seemed to be pretty empty, but what can you expect its a small city compared to New York. By the time we were ready to go back to the hotel, it hard started raining. But it was a light rain, it was a little chilly, but we managed and as soon as we got back I hit the sheets and tried to warm up. In the morning, on Saturday we checked out and visited the Nature-Museum. The museum was small, it was very nice and cute. When I first entered I wasn’t sure if it was a children’s museum. The museum was thoughtfully put together to entertain children and adults alike. It was definitely not like The American Museum of Natural History, in New York. It was way smaller and but it was very interesting and educational. I liked how everything seemed so close and attainable. The even catered to people who enjoy hands on experiances. They had microscopes that you could view insects and magnify them. They also had a section where you had to put in a ticket in a scanner and a door would slide down. Behind the door were beautiful butterflies and disgusting bugs and beetles. A lot of the animals of taxidermy on display were not confided by any cage or glass, we were able to walk write up to the stuffed animal and touch it. I thought this was really cool, being that I have never had the opportunity to pet a dead stuffed animal. We only stayed at the museum for an hour or so, after we walked around in the flea market in town. The market had a bunch or old furniture and trinkets. There was also a fruit and vegetable market, but we did not get the chance to walk through it. We rushed to the train around noon. We took the train to Basel. In Basel we went to the Zoo to meet up with some of our classmates, Andy, Mark and Sarah. We all then got on a bus and took it as close as we could to France. It was the first day the soccer Euro cup was going on, so everything was very different then normal. It was very busy, and people were very patriotic and wore red Swiss shirts, hats and held flags. There was an enormous amount of police and members of the Swiss army stationed around the city. And even when we took the trains from place to place we ran into crews of the army. Being that there was so much going on and so many people, the tram system has changed and therefore we had to take a bit of a walk to get from the closest stop to France. We walked around the French border for a few hours and went into some shops. There was an adorable pastry and chocolate shop, which of course we had to stop in and try some goodies. We headed back to Basel and had pizza with the gang. Mark, Andy and Sarah left and took the train back to Chur. Meanwhile, we went to the fan zone for the soccer game, and was able to watch a little bit from a huge screen. It was completely packed and everyone was so excited and had a marvelous time. We took a train back to Luzern, where we had reservations at the Backpackers hostel. It wasn’t that bad. We had to go out to use the sink, toilet or shower, but the room was fine. 31 CHF each and we got two beds, with an extra mattress, a table, four lockers and a balcony. We dropped of our backpacks and other belongs and went to town to The Loft. The lounge was pretty packed, I was somewhat surprised because the night before it was empty in the places I walked by. The reason there was a lot of people out that night, could of been because of the Euro cup, and everyone wanted to party, even though the Swiss lost. I also thought that it could be that Saturday nights are busy because not many Swiss people have to work on Sundays. After, we walked to the backpackers and went to bed. In the morning we got up and took the train to Zurich. Sunday went by pretty fast because we only had half a day to explore. We walked around the city, looked in stores and admired the view. We went into Grossmünster church which is right next to the Limmet river. It was a small church, but it was pretty and old fashioned and really gave you a feel for the Swiss Christian culture. Around 3:30pm we took a train back to Churand made it just in time for dinner withthe TTA 100 class, and the 60 new students. I wasn’t ready for such an increase of people at the school. It was nice being the only group of student at the school, and I have gotten used to having all the space just for us. It was also nice when our group at at the restaurant and got served, but today we had to eat dinner buffet style and serve ourselves. However, in the future, those 60 students will be the ones cooking and serving us our food, so I can’t really complain. After dinner a group of us went to the lobby and computer labs and we did homework. I didn’t sleep to late around 10:30pm, and I was able to get some rest, which was very much needed because of the on-going and tiring weekend. But it was so worth it. This weekend was so fun. I had a wonderful time with Gia and Asha travelling around Switzerland.

While our itinerary change quite a bit, I still know the importance of having one and planning a trip. I personal like being spontaneous, but having some kind of guideline helps with time management.
You are about to see more then if you just went somewhere and planned what to do on the spot. Of course, sometimes your plan will change. Maybe you cannot find the museum in time, and it closes. Or maybe you find something more interesting and decide to pass on the museum visit.
The itinerary also helps the traveler be more organized. We had our names and a number to contact each other, which is important in groups. Also we had the names and addresses of our destinations, like the hotel and train station. I had it with me the whole time and constantly referred to it, because it was simple to read and had a lot of helpful information.

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