If you didn't know, I've been
traveling through Europe throughout the summer after graduation.My plan is:
Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Germany. Here's a more
detailed plan. It will probably change as I go.
| 5-Jul | Boston | ||||||
| 6-Jul | Boston>Paris | ||||||
| 7-Jul | Paris> Barcelona | ||||||
| 8-Jul | Barcelona | ||||||
| 9-Jul | Barcelona | ||||||
| 10-Jul | Barcelona > Pampalona | ||||||
| 11-Jul | Pampalona > Madrid | ||||||
| 12-Jul | Madrid | ||||||
| 13-Jul | Madrid (Segovia) | ||||||
| 14-Jul | Madrid > Granada | ||||||
| 15-Jul | Granada> Ronda | ||||||
| 16-Jul | Ronda > Algeciras (Gibraltar) | ||||||
| 17-Jul | La Linea (Gibraltar) >Seville>Lisbon | ||||||
| 18-Jul | Lisbon | ||||||
| 19-Jul | Lisbon (Sintra) | ||||||
| 20-Jul | Lisbon | ||||||
| 21-Jul | Rome | ||||||
| 22-Jul | Rome | ||||||
| 23-Jul | Rome>Pompei>Naples | ||||||
| 24-Jul | Naples | ||||||
| 25-Jul | Cinque Terre (La Spezia) | ||||||
| 26-Jul | Cinque Terre > Pisa>Florence | ||||||
| 27-Jul | Florence | ||||||
| 28-Jul | Florence (Siena, San Gigiomano) | ||||||
| 29-Jul | Florence>Venice | ||||||
| 30-Jul | Venice | ||||||
| 31-Jul | Venice>Milan | ||||||
| 1-Aug | Milan | ||||||
| 2-Aug | Milan>Grenoble | ||||||
| 3-Aug | Grenoble | ||||||
| 4-Aug | Grenoble>Marseille | ||||||
| 5-Aug | Marseille (Calanques) | ||||||
| 6-Aug | Marseille>Nice | ||||||
| 7-Aug | Nice>Monaco>Genoa | ||||||
| 8-Aug | Genoa | ||||||
| 9-Aug | Genoa>Laussane | ||||||
| 10-Aug | Laussane > Zermatt | ||||||
| 11-Aug | Zermatt > Laussane | ||||||
| 12-Aug | Laussane (Interlaken) | ||||||
| 13-Aug | Laussane (Lauterbrunnen) | ||||||
| 14-Aug | Laussane > Lucerne | ||||||
| 15-Aug | Lucerene > Zurich > Munich | ||||||
| 16-Aug | Munich | ||||||
| 17-Aug | Munich > Mainz | ||||||
| 18-Aug | Mainz > Koblenz | ||||||
| 19-Aug | Koblenz > Cologne | ||||||
| 20-Aug | Cologne | ||||||
| 21-Aug | Cologne |
I've been pretty bad about posting my adventures to this blog, but here's a blog post about Switzerland, which has mostly been hiking through many mountains and lakes.
[Day 1]
My first destination in Switzerland
was Laussane, which is on Lake Geneva. This is where Yo was this summer, and I
went to visit him. Upon reaching Laussane, the first thing I had to do was pee,
so I found the bathroom.
 |
| The price for the bathroom. 1 CHF = 1 USD |
That's when I realized it costs
$1.50 to take a piss. Really... $1.50... and its an extra $0.50 to poop. The
bottom line is Switzerland is super expensive - everything from peeing to food
to trains, expect to pay twice or three times as much as you'd pay in the US.
(I think I might have spent more money during my week in Switzerland as I've
spent on food during my MIT career.)
[Day 2]
Aside from the cost, Switzerland is
really beautiful. Which brings me to my visit to Zermatt, a town at the base of
the Matterhorn.
The first day at Zermatt, I did a
warm up hike, up to the edge of a glacier and around 5 lakes. It was a very
pretty view of the Matterhorn and the valley of Zermatt.
 |
| Run to the Findelgletcher glacier(9,000 ft) |
 |
| View of the Matterhorn and Zermatt valley |
 |
| In Putz spirit, the Marmot Trail. |
[Day 3]
My second day in Zermatt, I did one
of the best (if not the best) hikes ever. I went up above the clouds to 14,000
ft, climbed on the Matterhorn, and walked on a glacier. What more could you ask
for in a day.
At the same time, you could say it
was a really really stupid idea. As stupid as I can sometimes be, I initially
did not plan to climb the Matterhorn. The hiking office in Zermatt said that it
is stupid to hike up the Matterhorn. Yo said that I shouldn’t climb the
Matterhorn or go on glaciers. And someone at my hostel got severe altitude
sickness after hiking above 12,000 ft. So, my plan was to play it safe and not hike the Matterhorn. Instead, I would hike up to
Hornlihutte at 12,000 ft, the base camp for people climbing the Matterhorn.
At 7am in the morning, I set off for
Hornlihutte with literally nothing but sunglasses, a water bottle, a phone, and
$50 euros. The journey up to Hornlihutte was breathtaking... quite literally. At 12,000 feet, it is also noticeably harder to breathe.
 |
| Alpine lake on the trail up to Hornlihutte |
 |
| At Hornlihutte. |
During my ascent to Hornlihutte, I met somebody from Buffalo,
NY also hiking alone. He said he was also hiking up to Hornlihutte and wanted
to attempt to go up the Matterhorn as much as he could without special equipment.
Since I didn’t feel too tired, I decided to join him in the adventure.
We made it to 14,000 feet, where we
were above all the clouds. Truly an amazing view up there.
 | ||
| Made it. 14,000 ft. |
 |
| Taller than anything else in Europe other than Mt Blanc. |
 |
| I walked on a glacier |
 |
| Matterhorn from the glacier. |
After climbing 14,000 ft without carrying any food, I was super super hungry. On the way down, there was a restaurant at 9,000 ft right in front of the Matterhorn. I paid $36 for a pork chop and fries that was helicoptered up there. It was expensive, but the location was worth every penny.
 |
| Lunch at 9,000 ft in front of the Matterhorn. I think it tasted better just because it was helicoptered up there. Or I was just super hungry by then. |
After 11 hours of hiking, I made it back down to Zermatt. I was super super tired the next day.
MY ADVENTURES TO BE CONTINUED…
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