Blogs from Lausanne, South-West, Switzerland, Europe

Friday the whole group went to Lausanne to officially register our student visas. Then five of us decided to spend the night and explore on Saturday (Anna, Moogie, Alicia, Julia, and I). We ate croute (toasted bread with ham and TONS of delicious melty cheese), went to the Olympic Museum (good thing because it closes on the 30th for 2 years for remodeling!) and wandered around the Old Town on Saturday morning while the market was going on. I’m a sucker for Old Towns so I absolutely loved it! The Olympic Museum was really interesting as well – they had all the Olympic torches, a bunch of medals, all sorts of signed equipment, and of course all the historical information. Lausanne is the headquarters of the Olympics Commission so it was a pretty big, impressive museum. ... read more

Our last week in the old continent has been filled with a plenty of action, emotions and goodbyes as well as consuming immoderate amounts of aromatically challenging French and Swiss cheeses, something we will be missing dearly in Asia. As our departure to Bangkok is looming, the news coming in from Thailand are causing some concern. The country is currently experiencing the worst flooding in a half century with floods swelled across two-thirds of Thailand since July and a death toll exceeding 300. Bangkok is yet to be hit, but it is bracing for flooding in a few days, as waters from elsewhere in Thailand continue to surge towards the low-lying capital. Although, there are frantic efforts taking place to strengthen the flood barricades around the capital, evacuation plans are simultaneously being drafted, as northern Bangkok's ... read more

Here we go Welcome dear reader to our travel blog. This blog will be your window though which we will take you from the ever so hectic streets of Bangkok to serene mountains of Himalaya in our quest of the Orient. You will be on a ride from the steamy jungles of far-east Asia to underwater miracles of Andaman sea. The journey is about to begin, fasten your seat belts and enjoy the ride with us! The preparations are nearly done. A myriad number of vaccinations taken, visas applied and tons of background material perused. The most importantly we have a rough road map to guide us during our voyage. To boldly go where no man has gone before, our journey starts in Bangkok on the October 15th. We will stay there for a couple of ... read more

The one of the many pieces of advice I was given before leaving for my trip, was to always take advantage of the flying. So, this weekend, I did just that by going on a spontaneous trip to Switzerland to visit my old work buddy Jo, who's getting his Executive MBA at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). Food, Wine, and Merriment Leaving for an 8am flight from Gatwick on a Saturday morning from my hotel near St Paul's Cathedral meant first walking 15 min to the nearest operating tube (Mansion House), riding 10 min to the transfer station, then taking a half-hour-long train ride to Gatwick (Gatwick Express). This, in turn, meant I left my hotel at 5:30am to make sure I had enough buffer time. Since my hotel is located in the heart of London's ... read more

Dorm Life Ever wish you could relive those halcyon days in the dorms-- parties, all-nighters, bull sessions, etc? Well then, I'm living your dream. This year my residence in Lausanne is actually a studio apartment located in the University of Lausanne dorms. The apartment is fine, but at night the dorms come alive. As I type this (it's now past midnight) I can hear dozens of conversations going on, all in different languages. A circle of giggling girls sits at the entrance to the building opposite my window. They're speaking French. There's a party on the top floor of the building on the corner. I can hear smokers standing on the balcony speaking Spanish. There's a crowd of drunken boys laughing loudly in the quad. Unfortunately, they're speaking English, which means they're probably my students. A ... read more

Hi all, I'm currently in Lausanne. Since my last entry i have been to Zurich, Bern and Interlaken. I'm eating cheese and bread from the supermarkets and staying in hostels or with Sylvie's friends - so have been pretty good with money. I've been dancing up a storm at the clubs, visiting old cities and churches and it's crazy to see how different everything is from Australia. I have been a little bit home sick today and i think the non stop travelling and walking has taken it's toll... today i just sat down and organised some of the things i will see and do in Italy... i also have to book my accommodation. Today was not very good weather here so it worked out alright. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be better - im planning ... read more