What were you grateful for this week? 
My host family. Through our this entire experience, they continue to amaze me with their kindness. My birthday was the past weekend & I was in Germany with my friends. We got back Monday eveningish…Tuesday morning they gave me a cute little gift. I never expected anything like that. It was such a sweet gesture. Especially when you start to miss home a little.

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?
I would say the hardest part about this week was Halloween. If you love Halloween the way my friends and I here in Italy do…well Halloween is the biggest let down. They really don’t make a big deal out of it…AT ALL HAHA. It was pretty much a normal day, and [my host family’s daughter] went with her father so she wasn’t even around.

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. 
[My host family’s daughter] & I did carve a pumpkin. It was her first time and I have never seen someone so excited & proud of something! It was so cute, and all the family kept commenting on it & thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was still out when I left for my travels this weekend!

Tell us about your week!
My week was pretty mild in Gallarate. It is a Holiday here in Europe, so from November 1-5 the kids are out of school & many of the adults don’t work. So [my host family’s daughter] went with her father after school on Halloween and so I really didn’t see or get to do much with her. It has also been VERY rainy in Gallarate, so I wasn’t able to go out and do much. I hung out with Isa (my host family’s cousin) quite a bit.

 

On Thursday night I went out to dinner with my host family & some of their family. We had reservations at this Indian Restaurant. It was delicious!! It was fun to go out to dinner with the adults and pretend to hang out hahahah. 

 

On Friday afternoon I got on a train and met up with B & K in Geneva, Switzerland. It’s very close to France, so our Airbnb was actually in France but pretty much on the border of the 2 countries. I really underestimated Switzerland. Our days are always very packed and we do quite a lot. I mean you have to when you really only have 2-3 days to see AMAZING PLACES!! 

 

Saturday we spent the day in Geneva. We went to a small farmers market, walked the cute streets, did a little bit of shopping, ate some yummy chocolate and walked some of Lake Geneva. That night we headed back and actually cooked some dinner at our Airbnb. 

 

The next morning we took a 2 hour train to Interlaken. All I have to say is everyone must visit Interlaken. It is definitely one of the most breathtaking places I have ever visited. We walked the streets, had Swiss fondue, K got to paraglide, and then we went to the top of HarderKulm (which has the most amazing views). 

 

Although, Switzerland was WAY too expensive and we had 1 too many issues in such a short period of time…it still will go down in the books for one of my favorite places/trips. I actually wish I was getting to spend more time. Also we had the world best Airbnb host sooooo if anyone ever is in Geneva and needs a recommendation, I’ve got a great one and it’s a great price too!!!!