This past weekend, a few of my friends and I went to Geneva, Switzerland. It was actually a really interesting time to be there, because it was the same weekend as the Geneva conference on Iranian nuclear power.

President Obama and many other important foreign leaders were there at the same time. We didn’t get to see anyone important though. Geneva is an awesome city, mixed with the history and a ton of modern stuff as well. We spent the whole first day we were there just walking around and seeing all of the sights in the actual city. Geneva is also amazing, because wherever you go, you can always see the Swiss Alps in the background surrounding the city.

The next day was the best, though. We took a day trip for about 80 Swiss franks to an area outside of Geneva called Gruyere. It is where the cheese is made, and we actually got to go into the factory. The best part about this town, though, is the fact that it is located in the Swiss Alps. It felt like we had stepped into a postcard. Everything was white and bluish, and it was most definitely the most beautiful place that I have ever been. Just walking around in the snow, you feel like you’re in the most spectacular place in the world.

We ate at a restaurant in the town on the mountain, where I had the best lasagna of my entire life. Switzerland is not necessarily known for a specific type of food. They are just known for doing food well. So, pretty much anything you get there is going to be delicious. Our restaurant was is a room that had a wall covered in windows and the most amazing view of the Alps.

After Prague, this trip was probably my favorite. We did not originally have plans to go to Switzerland, and we had thought we would go to Dublin for this weekend. I am so happy we chose Geneva, though.

Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries, and it is so unique. It has a famous neutral stance as a whole, and it also has three official languages We were in the French speaking area, but there is also a German speaking and Italian speaking region.

When we were at Oktoberfest, my friend, Claire, and I met a group of girls from the Italian speaking area. I can kind of relate to a country that has multiple official languages, because that is how Belgium is too. The top half of Belgium, Flanders, is Dutch speaking. The bottom half, Wallonia, is French speaking. Brussels itself is interesting, because even though it’s in the top half, it is majority French-speaking with a strong level of minority languages as well. I have been thinking a lot lately about how strange it is to go back to the states and be able to understand what people are saying all the time, instead of struggling though my basic level of French.