Week 8

Aside from further studying and testing, week eight was relatively mundane until the weekend. On Friday morning (very early that morning), Jen, Jack, and I set off to the Cologne Bonn airport to catch our flight to Zurich, Switzerland. We then caught a train to Engelberg, a small ski village situated next to the beautiful Titlis mountain. Upon arriving to town around noon, we all spent an exorbitant amount of money on skis, helmets, and mountain passes and hit the slopes as quickly as we could. Jack and I realized immediately that this mountain was more difficult than those back in the U.S. as we watched Jen fall down one of the easier slopes on the mountain. Thankfully, she got a ski instructor the next day and quickly improved as the weekend continued. Jack and I challenged ourselves by traveling to close to the top of the mountain on Saturday. While the slopes were listed as "reds", which are considered moderate slopes, some of them would probably be considered "blacks" in Colorado, which was definitely a struggle for someone like me who has not skied in two years. I managed to make it down the slopes without dying (or falling until Sunday), but my feet were absolutely killing me, so we all called it a day and bought extremely expensive pizza and cheap wine. On the final day, Jack and I did one trip from the top of the mountain to the bottom. The top slopes were steep, and I managed to survive by butt sliding through the portions that were seemingly 90 degree drops. After making our way down, we agreed to stop skiing for the day as our feet were in excruciating pain. We met up with Jen and took a gondola to the highest point on Mount Titlis. We all ate and looked out at the beautiful Swiss landscape until we had to return home later that night. Overall, this was the best weekend travel trip of the study abroad.