LENK !!

I'd like to start off, that these past 5 days may have been the best 5 days of my exchange.

On Wednesday June 1st, my host family, Ana, host brother's friend and I hopped into the minivan and the smart car to head on our way to their cottage in the Swiss Alps in a little village called Lenk. I have heard a lot about it and really looked forward to going, but I didn't quiet know what to expect. We arrived after sunset with lots of clouds and fog in the sky, not so sure what was surrounding us that stood up to 2800 m high. We unpacked, settled in and then decided to play a game of Spoons! If you lose Spoons 5 time then everyone has to write down a dare and the person that lost gets to pick one out of a hat. There she was, my host mom doing the Macarena in front of us, I was in tears of laughter.

I woke up on Thursday to a sunny morning and breakfast ready on the table, we all ate breakfast and planned what we were going to do for the day. Denise and Silvano (my host parents) planned to go for a hike, and so we packed up the backpacks with food and drinks and headed off on our first hike.

As we prepared to go out the fog started to clear, and I looked out from the back balcony and couldn't believe my eyes. You could see so many mountains! Simply standing from the house, you could see the Swiss Alps. How incredible is that?! So then we started our hike, which went parallel to a beautiful and long waterfall.

It was in some parts a steep climb, but nonetheless very rewarding. One of the best parts of the hike was when we crossed a bridge which had a waterfall right beside it, nothing in the world would feel better at that moment than having the mist from the waterfall splash over you.

 As we continued to hike, passing waterfall after waterfall, hiking up this mountain through the woods, I realized how incredible this place is!! Switzerland has a ton of hiking paths around that goes up and down mountains and through places you thought no one could have ever been! Not only do they have amazing hiking trails, they also have signs that will say just how much time it takes to hike through the different paths.

We reached our destination point, a huge waterfall on the mountain, with other mountains surrounding us and rolling fields that look like a fairytale.

We stopped there and had a picnic, enjoying the well deserved food and drinks. Afterwards, we all did our own thing around the falls. We all played around the falls or relaxed on a relaxing rock in the falls. If you know the expression 'I couldn't believe my eyes...' I really couldn't believe them. I felt like I was standing in a postcard!!

Ana and I hiked up the side of the big waterfall and found a comfy and relaxing place to sit. We sat there overlooking the incredible views and talking.. Since I had braids that looked like Heidy, I was sitting in Switzerland surrounded by the Swiss Alps, I felt quiet Swiss.. So naturally, I decided to yodel. I can officially cross yodeling in the Swiss Alps off my bucket list. I thought no one could hear me other than Ana because I was beside a really noisy waterfall, but once we climbed down my host dad, Silvano asked me about the yodeling - woops!!  The good thing is that I can act like my goofy self around my host family because they are hilarious and we all have a great time together.

                 

So once we finished celebrating the hike up and enjoying all these views, we decided to start our hike back down. This whole hike took the majority of the day, so we went back home and had dinner. After dinner we played the classic card game, spoons and once again if you lose Spoons 5 time then everyone has to write down a dare and the person that lost gets to pick one out of a hat. Ana was on the balcony screaming the numbers 1-20 in Spanish, the neighbors must have thought there was a crazy Mexican around!

I had such a deep sleep that night, I was so tired from the many hours of hiking!

The next day we got up and once again had breakfast, packed the bags and went off for another full day of hiking. Deciding on a new path, new mountain to hike up, we went on our way up this steep path for the next few hours. Once again we passed sights that I really couldn't believe. Half way up we unpacked the bags and had lunch. This time it wasn't sandwiches, it was the traditional real deal Swiss meal. We took out a bunch of Wurst (Swiss sausages) and cut them with our Swiss knives into different animals or shapes and cooked them over the fire.

 They were delicious!! Along with Swiss chocolate and Rivella, a drink you can just find here in Switzerland which is so delicious. After eating lunch and sitting there for a while, we continued our hike up the mountain. By the time we were at the top, I was extremely tired but it felt SO good!! We had drinks at the restaurant at the top and Denise, my host mom, saw the funniest brand name for a beer.. Can you figure out our humor behind this ad? Look at the name of it!!

So we enjoyed drinks at the top and then took a Gondola down the mountain, because I am not so good at going down a mountain because of my knees. Going up is not so much a problem, but going down is pretty painful.

Then we went back home, had dinner and then Luca, my host brother, his friend, Ana and I went to a Lounge in the town. We sat there for a few hours on comfy couches just chatting away. We eventually went home and once again I was exhausted and had such a great sleep.

Saturday was sadly our last full day left on our vacation in the Alps. Ana headed back Saturday morning but my host family and I stayed until Sunday. So we went for another long hike and passed many more waterfalls. We made it to the top and felt that same feeling of accomplishment that you always feel after a long hike up a steep mountain. It feels SO great!!

After the hike we got home, showered up then headed to a restaurant in the mountains. It was so typical Swiss, It was a log homed restaurant with red and white checkered curtains with mountains and rolling hills as the view once you looked out the window. Being the cheese lover I am, I didn't care that I just ate Rocklette (grilled, melted cheese that you can eat alone or with things like potatoes) the night before... I ordered this Swiss meal that is bread with melted (amazing) cheese melted over it with an egg on it to top it all off. SO incredible !! I just LOVE the food here!!

Then we headed back to the cottage and watched Wall-e together.

Sadly, the time came where we had to leave Lenk. Sunday morning we packed our things up and hopped back into the minivan and smart car. On our way back we stopped in a Cheese Factory!! I have never been in one before, so it was a really exciting thing for me. There are these massive pots of milk and bacteria that ferment to make cheese, and then afterwards there were HUGE rolls of cheese!! It weighs between 80-100 kg and costs up to $2000 each!!

It was such an incredible five days, I had so much fun with my host family. It's sad that is over but there are still many more adventures for me in these final 6 weeks left of my exchange !!

Here are some more pictures of the views we saw during our hikes: