Hello Everyone!!
I have safely made it to Switzerland! All three of my flights went very well, all of them were calm except for the last one to Zürich which had quite a lot of turbulence. But I landed safely. Once I had retrieved my luggage I went to the arrival gate and there was Thekla!! Smiling and walking towards me! It was a great first meeting. For those of you who do not know Thekla is my councillor during my exchange year and her husband Adrian is the youth exchange officer for my Rotary Club! After our greeting we made it straight to the train station in Zürich. We had a bit of trouble navigating as my Ski Bag was very bulky and heavy. After we boarded the train we found our seats. My first ever ride on the very famous Swiss trains. And do you want to know something... it was half an hour late! I was laughing so much when I heard that we couldn't leave for 30 minutes. It was just funny that Swiss trains are "always supposed to be on time" when the first one I am on is late!
The train ride was very beautiful oh my!! The country side in Switzerland is unbelievable. Green hills, mountains, lakes, trees, rivers the whole deal!! Once we arrived in Fribourg we dropped of my luggage in Tentlingen where Thekla lives. I will be staying with her and Adrian for about a week and a half. We then made our way into Fribourg. Thekla showed me all around the beautiful city! And it really is beautiful!! The old city which was created in the middle ages is a gem of Switzerland. After our tour we went back to Thekla's to prepare for a little party we would be having in the evening. Thekla and Adrians friends from American came and we had a lovely evening! Michael, Nicole, Bradley and Zach were fantastic! We roasted Wurst over an open fire in the back yard then we at them along with the rest of the great dinner! It was funny I did not even feel tired at all even though I had been awake for about 40 hours by then. After dinner I brought out the Canadian chocolates for "Hot Chocolates" in Courtenay. I was so nervous they would not get the Swiss approval, but as Thekla tasted the first bite of Raspberry Quartet she smiled and nodded!!!! Wooo go Canada for chocolate making! We are still far far behind but we are getting there! The rest of the evening was very lovely. Many laughs, many smile and good conversation.
Today was also a fantastic day. I woke up at 6:30 am and tried to go back to bed but was unsuccessful. So I decided to take a quick morning swim in Thekla and Adrians pool and then get ready for the day. I left the house at about 9:30 and went to the nearest bus stop that would take me into downtown Fribourg. The bus came and I showed my GA card (which gives me free transport on trains, buses, boats etc.) then sat down. I must say I have never, never in my life seen such a clean bus! Honestly its like someone cleans the entire bus every hour!! I got off the bus in Fribourg and decided to explore the city, I had a lunch date with Thekla at noon so I had a few hours to look around. I had such a great time I went through all of the cobbled streets looking into all the shops. I also went to the Old City (Vielle Ville) and looked around. Fribourg is an incredibly pretty city, and that is an understatement! I added some pictures below. I took the bus back to the University that Thekla works at and we went for lunch at the Mensa which is just across the street. Theklas friends Anna and Terrance joined us! We had a fantastic lunch. The Mensa is like a cafeteria for the University but it is quite fancy. The food was really good at the Mensa we all had a great lunch! Afterwards Thekla and I went into the city to look for a watch for her eldest son for his birthday. The watch she chose was very nice I kind of wish I had it!
In the evening we had a lovely dinner all 3 of us! We had grilled Gnocci, a great sautéd vegetable dish and some kind of meat that I couldn't really figure out what it was. In fact after dinner Thekla looked at me and said "So did you enjoy dinner?" and I replied "Yes it was fantastic! I enjoyed it quite a lot especially the meat!" She then said "Well good! Because that is your first time eating horse meat." My face dropped for about 2 seconds and then I burst into fits of laughter! She was howling with laughter as was I! The night before I had told her that the only thing that I probably would not eat is horse meat. And her she is less than 24 hours later tricking me into eating it! I could not stop laughing it was hilarious!! And you know the best part? It was really good! I would definitely eat it again! I still can't believe she is that sneaky! The dinner ended with all three of us red in the face from laughing.
