the first time i ran away

switzerland.

i said an early farewell to kirk and left paris on friday morning. i met a family friend, sophia, in basel, switzerland. she introduced me to her family and her childhood home and made me real coffee (i don't see much more than instant coffee in england). i napped and tried to soak in the fact that i had just left kirk right before setting out for india and had also just travelled to switzerland by myself.

before going, i had voiced to sophia that i really wanted to see the mountains if possible, and she was so refreshingly welcoming to the whole idea and agreed that my head was in the right place.

so we took a 3 hour train to the alps that night to stay at her family's flat in the mountains.

even though we were traveling in the dark and arrived in the dark, while walking to the cabin we could see the silhouette of the mountains on all sides of us and it was just the most blissful feeling.

i have found out that i love feeling small.

waking up, we were greeted by the mountains unseen in the night, which is unfailingly fun. it wasn't the weather we were hoping for- the fog from wales followed me to switzerland- but that didn't matter, because i could feel the presence of those mountains that were taller than any i've ventured to yet,

and that was enough.

our ears popped as we took a train to the top of one of the surrounding mountains and we made the hike down. it was packed with skiers and boarders and it was snowing and we had fun practically skiing down the slippery snow in our boots and we were surrounded by mountain and pine and it was my own winter wonderland.

we made it down where we walked around town a bit to pick up groceries for dinner, chocolate for easter, souvenirs and postcards for my loved ones, and headed back to eat and pack up. we made sure to take advantage of happy hour and had a beer on the way out of town before catching the train back to basel. that night sophia brought me along to her boyfriend's apartment where i met him and their good friends, who were exactly that. they were so good. such kind, warm, inspirational, creative people that i was sad to only see for a night. but who knows.

the next day was easter sunday. sophia's family made an amazing traditional swiss meal with a bit of polish influence. it was really great and really interesting to be a part of something so traditional and close to these peoples' hearts. after filling our bellies to the brim, the megert family took me for a walk to the botanical gardens and then further around the very old, lovely city of basel. i really liked it, and would absolutely love to go back. we ate a ton of dessert also specific to their heritage and afterward broke off where i packed up my things and wandered through their amazing house taking photos for this very blog post while everyone else relaxed and digested.

we played a game of cards, stressed about baggage for my budget airline flight, and i was on my way.

this family was so wonderful to me, i can't stress how important that was.

i don't want to get overly sentimental, but when you're away from home for the first time for such a long period, and really just not having the time to connect with new people enough to feel as wanted as you do with those back home, it's so lovely when you do actually get that warmth. unfortunately, it really makes you realize what you've been missing and causes what's called

homesickness.

scheiße.

was playing around with long exposures the night we arrived in the mountains while sophia and i drank beer and stared up at the huge dark figures in front of us. this was the product of my 'playing around' and i thought it was crazy. and kinda cool.