This is real life!

So um...CERN is a pretty cool place, it's like real life. We left yesterday morning (yesterday as I'm writing this, for reading it was Wednesday morning). That day we got to go down in the tunnel and visit one of the detectors ATLAS. ATLAS is the only detector Americans are allowed to work on because it's the only one America pitched in funding for, so if I become cool someday and get a job at CERN that's what I'll be working on! 

Due to my laziness and how awesome visiting CERN was I don't know if I can write about it and do the experience justice, but I'll try.

First off arriving in Geneva was a HUGE relief as I could understand people around me and read all the signs for the first time in a month. I felt so much less of a lost puppy being able to understand everything (well most of it at least). It was really good for my French speaking and I realized I'm a lot better than I thought. Real life.

Sorry sidetracked myself. CERN. We were only allowed 12 people in the tunnel at a time so the first group that went down were the physics students. 100. Meters underground!!! It's kind of freaky to think about when you're down there, so much Earth above your head. The detector was giant! Think of how big you think it would be then triple that size (or double at the least). I am so glad I got an introduction to particle physics before going because I got to appreciate it so much more because I knew how it worked and what it was doing. It's really cool stuff guys. There were some museums there too that we looked in while the meteorology group went down. There wasn't much there that we hadn't learned in class in the past month but it was still pretty cool. They did have the oldest cyclotron there on display. It is roughly the same diameter as a coffee cup and only cost about $25 USD to make, which I thought was neat. They also had a cosmic ray detector second l look at. 

Geneva is a beautiful city, I am definitely going back some day. That nit we went to an American restaurant with one of Zanolin's friends that works at CERN. Best burger of my life and I also had a glass of hard cider for the first time and Holy Cow! it was scrumptatious. We walked around a little bit last night and then sat on the pier where there is this giant geyser type fountain. I guess it's kind of a l and mark of Geneva since I saw it on a bunch of postcards, but gorgeous gorgeous place. 

This morning we went back to CERN to get a tour from Dr. Zanolin. Everyone went to breakfast while we were waiting for him to arrive and when he got there it was just me and one of the other guys so we got special visitor passes to go into the CERN complex with him so he could drop off some stuff in his friend's office. I felt pretty special not going to lie. The offices weren't as cool as the accelerator. It kind of looked like the halls at MIT, smelled like a meat shop and felt sciencey.....I don't know what that means but that's how it felt. Just like in AC-1 most of the office doors had comics and posters on them. After our Zanolin tour we got to roam around the grounds before we went to see the proton baby making machine. Outside of one of the conference buildings there was a statue of this God who is the creator of the cosmic universe and king of dancers from the Hindu faith. I found inquire fitting at CERN. By this point I was super crunched on time because I had to catch a train this afternoon, but there was no way I was going to miss seeing the proton baby making machine. I can't remember the actual name for it, but it makes protons. It makes protons!!!!! Like how cool is that?! And I got to see it! Which is so much cooler! Our guide for this was the coolest old man ever. He was 80 and still spry and high on physics, I want to be him when I grow up. Anyway he wouldn't let us leave for the train until we say the machine. I want to work on fun stuff like this after grad school. It was great being able to visit this lab I can't put into words how amazing it was. Also learned about Dr. Smith's old boss for when he was discovering particles and stuff. We have really cool professors I realized after learning more about Dr. Smith and spending time with Zanolin. 

My French did come I handy today at the train station. I was a little late getting to the station so I was a little flustered and the billboard for the train I was supposed to get on said so,etching else and I thought I missed the train. The guy I asked only spoke French and I figured it out and fund my train, because I'm a boss like that. So I'm on my way first to St. Gallen and then to Munich for the weekend to visit Christina!!!!!!! Beyond excited.

ATLAS

SPs Represent!

And we're going to Munich awww yeah

Will upload pictures when I get back to Locarno on Sunday.

Now that I've completely traversed Switzerland by train the last thing I want to say is Switzerland is an absolutely beautiful country.

Now that I've found my way to Munich I thought I'd add a little bit. A) Germany is beautiful. B) I don't speak any German c)met some really fun people on the train. 

High Elf?

It was Carolyn's birthday today! Yay! Happy Birthday Carolyn! And we're leaving for Geneva tomorrow!! It's like Christmas Eve! Stoked!
We celebrated Carolyn's birthday today at Bar City with a meal, drinks and a yummy cake. Other than that just worked on my project went to class and packed for the weekend. CERN tomorrow and Thursday and then I'm going to Munich to visit Christina!!!!!!!!!! I might cry...actually I will cry because I'm crying just sitting here thinking about it.
Highlight of my day here it goes:
In physics we were discussing what our different projects are about and it came to my turn, so you know I'm about to explain all my stuff. Dr. Zanolin stops me right before I speak and asks if I've seen Lord of the Rings...HA! Have I seen Lord of the Rings? I got really excited because I thought he was going to make a physics reference to Lord of the Rings, but it was even better. He said that I looked like Galadriel (minus the beautiful silvery locks). I got really flustered and happy because I was so flattered. I guess that being the highlight of my day makes today seem not very exciting if you're not a LOTR fan, but it's the greatest I promise.
I can't believe the trip is almost over, only 9 more days and I'm getting shipped back to the states. Uhg. I do miss my ukulele and my horse though, and my family. And it bugs me because I have a hard time keeping up with hockey and I just checked today for the first time in life a week and a half and I'm really upset the Pens got knocked out. :'( In that case, Go Bruins!
Still have an exciting weekend/week thing ahead and I'm so stoked on life.
Ciao!

Ya...sounds about right

'Merica!

Monday, what's up.
I felt awake and alive today which is weird since I've been running myself into the ground since before finals especially after this weekend. But hello world.
Procrastination. It's cool, so I spent the whole morning trying to bust out some physics project stuff because this evening we had a BBQ for Dr. James' birthday so I couldn't work on it later.
The BBQ was in a little town called Tegna at this secluded little beach. It was bring your own food so we got beef, peppers and a baguette to make kabobs. Felt like camping and it was great!
Since we were at a little beach a few of us jumped in the water and swam...it wasn't cold until you got to the deep end...then it was freezing....We made it out to this rock which means we had to swim back, which was difficult to get motivated to do since the sun was setting and pretty much gone behind the trees at this point. And me, being the idiot that I am left my shorts on and was soaking wet so I walked around all evening in a towel toga. Super classy.
Europeans don't do smores. That was the most shocking part of the whole night. Dr. James' friends had never roasted marshmallows or had smores! Mind. Blown. So we got to share this American wonderfulness with them and it was fabulous.
Other than that, pretty laid back day. Just another day in paradise Sally.

Living the American dream...making smores and stuff

That water was literally moving

I was so relieved when I realized that I had done a post before I left for the weekend because A LOT happened the past few days, but as I don't need to recount our adventures in Lugano this post will be easier and shorter than I thought it was going to be. 
Zurich:
For the first time I've been here I've actually felt like I am in Switzerland. It could have been due to the fact that there was a lot more touristy things around because Zurich is a big city. But still, Locarno and other places in the south feel like Italy. It's really weird being here because each of the cantons speak a different language and have a different culture so it's going from Italy to Germany...which is weird and now I'm confused on what Swiss culture actually is because it's kind of like America in that sense...but with less of an identity. Which sounds awful, but I don't mean it as a bad thing, it's just how it is.
Anyway. Zurich was really pretty. Huge Germanic influence, which makes sense because it's in the German canton, dur. After walking around though it just felt like another big European city, once again, not said negatively. Before dinner we walked along the water front which was the hot spot of the city. There were a bunch of little cafes and street performers and huge parks and lots of people. That night we went bar hoping, but drinking is expensive and we've been traveling 24/7 so every bar we went to I slept while they drank and did that all night. I'm such a killjoy.
Since I was not hungover the next day me and a few other people walked around in the morning before we got on the train to Lucerne (Luzern for the German spelling). We walked around old town Zurich and went into the Grossmünster ("great minster") church which is one of the major churches in Zurich. You can see the towers pretty much wherever you are in the city. I wish we had been there longer because there are a lot of cool things to there, just ran out of time. And then it was off to Luzern!

Zurich

Grossmünster

 O! And Melea there was this peacock dress in one shop which I feel like you would enjoy :)

Luzern:
Luzern was beautiful! Luzern definitely felt like Switzerland, the people there looked Swiss and everything felt Swiss....I can't explain these feelings of Swissness but it was legit. It was real life.
Luzern was a big city, but had class like a small town. Sooooo pretty. We walked around that evening and went to see the Lion Monument that is a sculpture built in a rock that is a commemoration of the Swiss guards that died during the French Revolution. I didn't know anything about it before we got there; figured it would just be some lion statue in a square. No. The lion was built into the side of a rock in a little secluded park. Quite moving.

Lion Monument in Luzern 

The other main attraction of the city is the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke) across the water. It was built in 1333 originally, since been restored I believe and is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe and the world's oldest surviving truss bridge. Walking across the bridge there are paintings on the ceiling from the17th century. So I guess I feel pretty special since I've walked across that bridge. And the water under the bridge, it was literally moving, like really.

Chapel Bridge Luzern

St. Leodegar

 For dinner I had this awesome pretzel sandwich, which was really impossible to eat, but it's a really good idea and it's really good tasting. Score. Last stop in Luzern before we went back to Locarno was St. Leodegar church, which didn't look like much on the outside but way cool on the inside...lots of gold. We also made friends with a cute little fluffy Swiss kitty :)

St. Leodegar

 I'm exhausted, so getting back to Locarno and just hanging out was kind of nice. Yes, I broke down and got on facebook and posted photos so you all can look at those. O and dad, there were so many bikes in Luzern, like everywhere and it was a mess!!!! I thought of you. It was like on big bike pit hole. Fix that would ya? ;)

O and all y'all should appreciate the prices of Starbucks at home because here it's super expensive, like 7.80 francs for a ventilation drink....ya sucks.

Bikes ya?

Happy anniversary mom and dad! And happy birthday Mr. Petras :) Hope you all have fabulous days and I miss you and love you all! Peace.
And wow...that was a long post...

Party Hardy

Word of caution, its 2 in the morning here so I don't know how much of this is going to make sense, but I kind of dropped the ball on this blogging thing for the past few days and I'm leaving for the weekend so I'll sacrifice 30 minutes to recap the last few days.
And honestly I don't even remember what day I left off on, Monday I believe?
Anyway, nothing too exciting happened, just regular school days and partying all night long and getting up and doing it all over again. Livin' the dream. It's fun though. I don't know how, but some guys in the group got this local bar (Bar City) to LOVE us, and it's been pretty great because we can go in there an order drinks and get free food. Or go in and spend 8 francs for a meal (appetizers, main course, dessert and snacks) and a drink. Which is a really great deal. The owner and the waitresses that work there are adorable and hysterical. We've set up a party there for our last night here in Locarno as a "going away" type deal. It'll be great!
Yesterday we went to the Madonna del Sasso which is a church at the top of a hill in Locarno. It used to be a pilgrimage goal for some back in the day where they would pray at each step, or each station? I can't remember exactly. But it sits on this hill and the path walking up to it there are the different stations of the cross all built in different materials to more fully represent the meaning of the scene being portrayed. Then when they made their way to the top they placed jewelry on the statue of the Virgin Mary which is in the chapel. I think it was some sort of offering, but I don't quite remember. It was hot, and I was extremely tired by the time we went on this hike to the church, so I wasn't too jazzed about going up there. But it was beautiful! Wow. The view was nice for sure, but nothing I haven't seen already since I've been here, but inside was gorgeous. It wasn't like your typical Notre Dame styled church and the walls and ceiling was pretty busy and kind of overwhelming too look at, but very pretty.
And today all we had was our Italian class so we had a good majority of the day to do whatever. We went to Bar City for Mimosas and lunch and then headed to a town south of Locarno called Lugano. Lugano seems to have three things: lots of expensive shopping, really cool hiking, and the lake. Since we didn't leave early enough to do any hiking and nobody really would have wanted to anyway, the plan was to go and walk around and go to a free club later that night. A few of us rented a boat for an hour and took it out on the lake (which was much better than shopping for things that there is no way in any of my life times I could afford). Amazing. Other than the fact that the boat was so slow that it barely created a wake, definitely worth it. At one point in the lake there was the border of Italy and Switzerland (which we weren't allowed to cross). Before we went to the club we went searching for a bar with wifi (wifi is the key when searching for a bar for all those cool kids with their smart phones and what not). And we found one called Fashion Cafe  where once again the people there adored us just like at Bar City. They gave us free snacks and then made an extra vodka and red bull drink that we had to play a game in order for one of us to win it. Then they also gave us free tequila shots and took one with us. The guys also brought their own Red Bull vodka which they let us drink there. And I made a Red Bull can tower which is probably the greatest architectural feat of the entire trip so far. The club was a bust, music didn't start till midnight which was when the last train was leaving back to Locarno. So now we're here and I should really get some sleep since I'm getting up in 5 hours. Headed off to Zurich and Lucerne for the weekend!
O and I guess it was my sister's last day of school today. Congrats little Sofia :) made it through freshman year! Love you missy <3

Red Bull Magic Tower

Hello Italy

Cat in the Hat adventure time

It's Just Another Manic Monday

I like Sundays. Sundays so far have been fun days. Yesterday morning we laid in bed all morning snap chatting (which is super fun and I'm so glad the Ipad lets me have it).
We also went down to the "beach" to go swimming because it was hot so obviously it'd be a good idea to jump and swim in the lake...and that wasn't sarcasm, because it was a great idea. Not going to lie though, it was pretty chilly, but completely worth it. Ice cold Alp water swimming day? Success. Then for lunch/dinner we all got calzones, which were huge, and amazing. But ya other than that Sunday was pretty Sundayish.
I hate Mondays. Italian class is starting to not be my favorite thing to do at 8 in the morning for two hours. My attention span does not have that good of stamina and that last 30 minutes of class is just killer. Which also sucks because by the time I get to physics in the afternoon I am done. Its not that I am actually tired, my concentration is exhausted and my eyes are tired, but that's it. I guess that kind of sounds like I'm actually tired, but I'm not.
This afternoon after language lab I went and hiked the mountain to the top of town. The city/cities around the lake were awesome at night. It's not just one big string of lights from the connecting towns but little patches of towns and it's so cute! Cute and pretty. And all the buildings have different colored lights on them which just makes it that much better. But walking through the resident houses this afternoon was cool. They all have a lot of money and living here in Locarno is kind of a good deal, a little jealous of them, un poco.
I apologize that nothing super exciting happens during the week so I sound like a crazy rambling nanny, but hey I'm still blogging almost everyday! Like a champion.
K, well it's way past bedtime which is at 10 by the way so I'll stop word vomiting.
Two more things though:
Super jealous of anyone who is going to Alice Cooper and Marilyn Mansn tonight at Red Rocks, rock for me please.
And also Happy Birthday Greg! Happy 21st birthday so it's even cooler, and you're going to be at Red Rocks tonight so I would wish you to have a great day, but I know it's going to be fabulous so I don't need to be pleading to whoever to give you a good time ;) Miss you!

Night all.

Field Trip!

Killin' it. Yesterday started our planned/field trip/back to middle school weekend. Which is fine, because the places we went were pretty cool and I probably wouldn't have found them if I was just tooling around by myself.

Yesterday we went to this little town called Foroglio tucked back into the Alps. It was beautiful. This tiny (tiny as in it was the size of Safeway or smaller) little stone village sat at the base of this waterfall coming down from the Alps. There were a lot of little waterfalls just kind of seeping through the mountains. Pretty cool. From the village we hiked up to the top of the waterfall to another village that nobody really lives anymore and hiked back behind that. There were Swiss cows, they were chill. It was beautiful and looking at the snow at the top of the mountains just made me want to go skiing the whole time. And the water! The water was like super blue, like bluer than a chlorine pool. Like a mystical forest river stream thing? Ya. We were going to go swimming in it but on the way back down it got a little chilly and decided that would be a bad idea. It was amazing, I would live there forever, just out alone in the Alps with some cows for company.

 

 

 

 

 

In front of the waterfall, like a boss

Another smaller town farther back in the mountains

 

 

And today we went to the RADAR station on Mt. Lema. Which was pretty cool, I mean I'm not a weather geek like most of them so I wasn't as jazzed about it, but it was interesting. But the view from the top was AMAZING! You could see all the lakes and all the little towns scattered around this region. And the border of Italy and Switzerland was up there so we could be in two countries at once, which is legit. Two legit to quit. Yep. We almost missed our Gondola on the way down, which would have sucked because we would have just been leaving the mountain and it takes a while to get back and we would have missed the big concert party in the piazza tonight. Some famous Italian singer guy, can't remember his name. And that's that.
O! and for you people I figured out how to use my high tech ipad a little more and I can get snapchat on it! My name is koepkem if you want to snap me. That'd be cool :)

 

 

 

 

At the top of Mt. Lema