French wedding

I had the privaledge of attending the wedding of Olivia's brother, Bertrand, and his wife, Laure. The wedding took place in a small town just outside of Lyon. The ceremony was beautiful and I had such a great time meeting all of Olivia's family, especially her cousins, who were all close in age to Olivia and myself. There was an avalanche of champagne and food. One thing became very clear- France is a vegetarian's nightmare! Literally every single dish had meat in it. I think I had about eight different kinds of meat, even though I'm basically a pescetarian. The main dishes served were foie gras, veal, goat cheese (all served at different times) and of course a ton of dessert, wine and baguette. I only tasted the foie gras and ended up leaving most of it on my plate which seemed outrageous to them because they see this as one of the best dishes you can get in France. The truth is, if I ate everything that was served my stomach would have exploded. We ended up eating, drinking, and dancing until 4 in the morning, which is typical of a French wedding.
Cheers to the beautiful newly weds!

Lyon, France

In Lyon I met up with the other Olivia I know :) We lived together in International House during my second year of college, and I promised her that I would come visit her someday. While most Americans have not heard of Lyon, it is actually the second largest metropolitan city in France. It is bustling with people, restaurants, cafés and markets. According to Olivia, Lyon prides itself in having the best food in France. I took so many pictures of the food that I saw, which embarresed Olivia a bit, but there was so many things that I had never seen before! The city is really lovely and is intersected by two rivers which run parallel through the city. We went to a cute restaurant where a lot of University students go for dinner. Even in this little, inexpensive restaurant the food was delicious.What could be better than taveling, good company, and good food?

arrival in Zurich

After a long day of traveling, I finally made it to Zurich. As soon as I walked off the plane my Swiss friend Olivia greeted me (she works for the airport so she was able to get past the security). It had been four years since we had last seen each other but she has been very good with staying in touch with me. Right away she got me oriented. Immediately we bought my train passes, got the cell phone situation figured out, and then we were off! We took the train to Affoltern, Switzerland which is the cute town I stayed in last time I was in Switzerland. The first place we went to was the Swiss bank (of course right! haha) but it was actually just so I could be surprised because my host sister Sabrina was there! We spent the rest of the hot summer evening catching up, and taking a long walk around the town.

Off to Zurich!

I'm off to Zurich, Switzerland! After an extremely difficult year I'm ready for a chance to travel and try something fresh and exciting. I'm keeping this blog for all of those who have helped me get to where I am today and continued to inspire me and push me. This summer I will be a participant of the International Biology Undergraduate Summer School where I will be doing research under the guidance of Dr. Silvio Hemmi at The University of Zurich. The program consists of lab work and various seminars. I'll be living in the heart of Zurich and hopefully will have time to explore and hang out in this beautiful, historic city.
Before this all begins, I will be doing some independent traveling in France and Switzerland. I leave Wednesday morning and will be picked up by my friend Olivia who lives in a cute town just outside Zurich. Even though I haven't been to Zurich in 4 years, I've kept in touch with some of the great people I met last time I visited and I can't wait to see them again. In addition, I'll be meeting up with those who I lived with last year in International House at UCSD.
Let the journey begin...