Just the beginning!!

After all the preparations and planning for this trip, I finally made it!! The destination: Riva San Vitale, Switzerland!

The plane ride here got a little tricky since we had a delayed flight leaving Dulles. This caused us to be late to Heathrow so we missed our connecting flight to Milan! Thankfully we were able to get another flight shortly after, so we arrived in Milan only an hour or two off our original destination time.

From the Milan airport we all took a bus through Northern Italy and into Southern Switzerland. Already the views were gorgeous and I tried to take pictures of the all views as we drove along. Before I knew it, the bus stopped and we were right outside the villa!

The villa is the home to some student rooms, the classroom, a computer room, a library, and most importantly: the dining room haha. It was built around 1750 and has beautiful structures and paintings. I’m living outside the villa in a 7 girl apartment only a 30 second walk away.  And let me just say, the apartment is so nice and interestingly seems to be decorated fully with Ikea.

That first day was a day full of exploration! Well essentially the whole first weekend has been a time for me to explore and see the town I’ll call home for the next months of my life.

We walked around the downtown area, full of little shops and restaurants. Also there are a couple of bars to check out at night here. But walking around the area is a little dangerous as all the locals drive so quickly through the streets. But after exploring the main streets, there are a bunch of smaller ones to check out as time goes on. 

We then went to the lake. Where we are staying, we’re almost completely surrounded by the Swiss Alps, but there are lakes throughout the region go in between the ridges. I definitely plan on spending time relaxing on the beach area of the lake.

  Don’t want to forget to mention the abundance of churches all around this area. Some have stunning outsides, or some are simple (such as the outside of the oldest church in Switzerland, in Riva San Vitale right across the street from me!!) But regardless of the outsides appearances, all of them have dramatic insides. Alters made with dark marble, statues throughout, and paintings on the walls. Too bad all the services are in Italian, but truly beautiful.

  I really think I'll love living here. How could you not love waking up in the morning, looking out your window, and seeing the Swiss Alps right there? Or taking a quick 5 minute walk and have the shore of the lake right at your feet? So many things to look forward to and it’s all just beginning! :)