Greetings from Europe! Today we arrived to beautiful Switerland! We flew on a direct flight from SLC to Paris and caught our connection in Paris to Geneva, Switzerland. We landed in Geneva and took a coach about two hours outside of the city to a little hamlet of a town named Leysin. Leysin is literally in the heart of the Swiss Alps. I could hardly believe the narrow, windy roads this large bus was taking to get to Leysin. These roads make driving the North Ogden Pass look like I-15! My first impression/observation of Europe is how compact everything is! The seats at the airport terminal, the roads, the cars, you name it...it is packaged effectively.
The Hotel we are staying at in Leysin is called Au Bel Air Hotel. This hotel/bed and breakfast is where all of the USU study abroad programs stay when they are in Switzerland. The hotel owners, Dominique and Joseanna, are so nice and make staying here a wonderful experience. They provide breakfast every morning and dinner each night for us, as well. Usually dinner is something Swiss. The other thing that makes it nice is we rented out the whole hotel so we're the only ones here which makes it fun to all hang out
in the dining area or outside.
I have to admit my first impression of Switzerland did not meet my expectation. I thought it looked a lot like Utah only a bit greener. As we left the Airport and started down the road we suddenly hit a point in the road where you could see Lake Geneva. It appeared out of no where and caught me by surprise. It was breath taking and as we continued to Leysin beautiful towns and castles dotted the coastline to my right while stunning terraced vineyards covered the hillsides to my left. I quickly realized it NOT Utah and has since far exceeded my expectations. I never want to leave!
PICTURES
Top: Me out front of our hotel looking European-posh
Middle: Au Bel Air Hotel where we are staying
Bottom: The view of the Swiss Alps from my balcony
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| The vineyards on the hillside on the way up to Leysin. |
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The plane ride from SLC to Paris. Kristin, Milo, Alex, and me. Our flight attendant was really nice and would teach us a phrase or two in french when she would come by.
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The Hotel we are staying at in Leysin is called Au Bel Air Hotel. This hotel/bed and breakfast is where all of the USU study abroad programs stay when they are in Switzerland. The hotel owners, Dominique and Joseanna, are so nice and make staying here a wonderful experience. They provide breakfast every morning and dinner each night for us, as well. Usually dinner is something Swiss. The other thing that makes it nice is we rented out the whole hotel so we're the only ones here which makes it fun to all hang out 
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