One Last Fling

All of my roommates and friends have made it a point to travel around Europe as much as they can, some of them totaling within the range of 6 different countries. I don't know why I didn't travel more to different places. I think it was because I love Italy so much I didn't really ever want to leave. But because I am getting anxious to come home, I needed to get my mind off of things and, literally, leave the contry for a while. It was an answer to prayer because I had really been asking God to let me live it up here for the next few weeks and not waste away my time wishing I could be with you all. So, my friends Emily and Michal, two wonderful girls from my church, asked me to come to Zurich, Switzerland, for the weekend and I accepted. This was one of the best decisions I have made!
We traveled the 7 hour train ride straight from Florence to Zurich, which actually lasted about 8 and a half hours because of some unforseen stops. We got in Friday night to a wonderful little hotel in the town of Kloten, right north of Zurich. The next morning, we got up, looked out our window and could see a market happening in the street below. We walked there and on our way saw a Swiss pastry shop. We, of course stopped to take part in the sights, smells and tastes of this amazingness. There was a giant brioche outside of the bakery- we had to take a picture, of course. After walking through the market with our Swiss specialty gingerbread - man - shaped - donut - like - things, we hopped on the train to Zurich. The very old, beautiful city is located right on the river- the houses and buildings are right up against it. It's beautiful. We walked along all of streets, stopping to shop at the tons of little stands lining the streets that made up the Christmas Market of the city. There was even a singing Christmas Tree made up of children singing carols in German and doing handmotions to the songs. As it became night, the city streets lit up with Christmas lights lining the buildings, streets, and stores. If that doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, I'm not really sure what could. The next morning we visited a church called Grossmunster that claims to have started the Reformation, and dates back to before the 1100s. We did some more shopping and hanging out, ate some traditional cheese fondue (SO good) and caught our train home. The train was one of the best parts as it took us through the Swiss alps. They were bigger and more beautiful than I had ever imagined they could be. I really hope to go back to Switzerland someday and tour the countryside a little more. Breathtaking is a good way to describe it.