EUROPE RECAP PT. 2

Welcome back to Long Story Longer! ✨

I am wrapping up my Europe recap! In this episode, I'm sharing all about our time in Florence, Milan, and Lucerne, Switzerland. 

I truly can't put into words how amazing this trip was. I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to experience these places. It really was the trip of a lifetime.

Thanks for listening and coming along on this journey with me!

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:06

What's up everyone? Welcome back to Long Story Longer. This is going to be my Europe recap part two. Um, hopefully you guys liked the first one. Um yeah, I'm back. Sorry, I'm trying to find my notes app of things I had written down.

unknown 0:36

What the heck?

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Oh, here. I should have looked in my podcast notes. Okay, so I started off um or I ended off last episode with Venice. And from Venice, I'm just gonna jump right into it. From Venice, we went right to Florence. So that was honestly not a bad trip. Um, we left Venice in a water taxi, which I think I talked about last time, but we basically, instead of walking the 30 minutes with our luggage back to the train station through Venice, through the small, you know, sidewalks and things, up the bridges and stuff, we decided to take a water taxi. So it was like the same amount of uh money that it was gonna be for a gondola. So we just decided to do the water taxi, and it was like a super nice wooden boat that was like really bougie. And it felt like you were in a limo, but a boat. Like the top was covered throughout the middle with like long bench seats that looked at each other like a limo, like picture the inside of a limo, but then on the front and back it was open, and you could go stand on either side, and it was like the wall, like you were on the water. It was really cool. So we took that to the train station, got on the train, um, and then we okay. I'm forgetting. I need to ask my mom. Oh, that was from okay, never mind, never mind, never mind. I'm getting ahead of myself. Okay. Sorry, a lot like when I think about to like train stations and stuff, I'm like, they all like look the same. So I like forget exactly what city it was in, but okay. Sorry, that was kind of a rambling couple minutes. Back to it. So we got to Florence, um, yeah, we left Venice, got to Florence, and walked to our Airbnb. Um, I will say when we got off the train, I was like, like it felt like Rome kind of like super busy, touristy, hot, crowded streets. But it was just like the area that we were at by the train station. It was actually like one of my favorite cities we went to. Was it my favorite Italian city? No, that was like Como. But I think Florence was second. Like I loved Florence. Um, and it was one of the, you guys know that my mom and I split planning, and Florence was um one of her cities. So I really didn't like know anything about it. I didn't really know what we were doing, so it was like a surprise for me. So it was really fun. We um got there and immediately started laundry because Florence was actually our only place with um laundry. Actually, we did have one in Lake Homa, but we didn't use it because we were only there for two nights. So it was like, and we didn't really need to do laundry then. So we immediately started laundry, and that whole freaking process was terrible. Like doing laundry in Europe is one of the worst experiences. I dealt with it when I lived in Rome. When I lived in Rome, so I was on the what were we on the like third floor of uh only stairs building, and the laundry was on the bottom floor, like one under, like in the basement. So we were about four floors away from um the laundry, and they have dryers. Well, this has been our experience. Well, not okay. Oh my god, am I okay? Guys, I'm working now. My brain doesn't have much capacity for anything else. Okay, that's dramatic. But um, in Rome, they had washers and dryers, but the dryers did not work. Like, I swear you could run your clothes for 24 hours straight and they wouldn't be dry. Like, they'd still be soaking wet. So we in Rome, we would like get our sopping wet clothes out of the dryer, out of the washer and carry them up four flights of stairs and hang them on our small balcony. How many girls lived in that room? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight of us on a small balcony hanging our clothes on like one clothing line. It was it was an experience. But in Florence, this time, we did have a wa a washer, only washer, and then a clothing line outside. But it was actually okay. We did like three loads of laundry between all of us. We, you know, mixed our colors, darks, whites, and uh did it over the three nights that we were there, and it actually worked out good. So we got there, started laundry, got settled into our Airbnb. Um, the Airbnb host was actually there to meet us. I forget his name, but he like showed us around. First thing I noticed is it was so hot in there. We that Airbnb did not have air conditioning, and oh my god, it was hot. Every night I was sweating, like it honestly, it was a really the location of our Airbnb was amazing. Like, I wouldn't change it. I it was perfect, but it was really hot, and he had this whole little basket of like mosquito like zappers, bug spray, like lights and stuff, and he's like, that basket is for like the mosquitoes, and I was like, we were like, what? And he didn't really expand, so we were like, okay, there must be mosquitoes. Um and we for kind of forgot the first night and didn't do anything about it. And then I woke up and I had bug bites, and I was like, Okay, well, yeah, he was right about the mosquitoes. So the next night there was this little like light zapper thing, and Nate set it up in the kitchen, and then I wanted to spray myself with bug spray, but I had just gotten clean out of the shower and I didn't want to I don't know. It was fine, but anyway, it a little uh little interesting, but um, so that first night we got there, rested, did laundry, and then went out and explored. We walked around and we went down to the what is it called? Uh something Dialto. I don't know. It's this bridge that has like it used to be like houses on there, but now it's it it's basically a bridge that looks like there's houses on top of it. It's like crazy. Now there's just like shops in there, I guess. It's not actual house, like people don't live in there, but it's a bridge. And the there's history behind it, and I think it's like um sorry, this I should have remembered this before. Something with World War II, like it stopped the it was one of the only things that didn't get bombed in Florence during World War II, something like that. Um, or maybe it was like a barrier or something. I I don't know, I should know this. Um, and I don't even know the name, so my mom's gonna be like, oh my god. Um, she would know it. But anyway, we saw that we went to this little wine bar, I forget what it was called, but my mom went to Florence in 2019 with my aunt Tisha and Jess and um one of her work friends, and they um stayed in Florence for quite a while. They did like a wine tour, and I don't remember why were they there? Oh, I think my mom, oh yeah, my mom and her friend were there for work, and then Tisha and Jess went out and like met them and they had a girl trip. But anyway, the first night they were there on their trip, like what is that, seven years ago? They went to this little wine bar that they found. And when I mean little, it's like tiny. And my mom said they just like had a really fun time. And so we went back before our dinner reservation, which was at eight, which um we had booked, and it's like this tiny wine bar, and we knew we were getting close to it because when we got up to it, like or when we got near it, there was people like all outside. We're like, oh, this definitely is the place. So it was really popular, and this was a Tuesday night, and so we're like, oh, I don't know. I feel like in in Europe they don't like the day of the week doesn't matter. Every day there feels like Saturday, like you know, besides like some things are closed on Mondays, but like wine, like bars, restaurants, like they're popping, like until like 10, 11 at night, like every night of the week. Like that's not that doesn't happen in in America. Um like up in America, we like live for the weekends, and I feel like in Europe they just live every day. Like it doesn't matter the day of the week, they're gonna go have like spend four hours at a bar. Like it's drinking wine. I don't know. Anyway, so we went there, it was really small. There's people outside, we went in, there's the bar was packed, there was tables. Luckily, we got so lucky getting a table. So we sat down, I went up and ordered our wine, and this was a common, like, I guess, experience in in Europe. It didn't happen as much as it did when I studied abroad because when I studied abroad, I never found a drink that I loved. Like I tried lemon cello spirits, I didn't really like it. I didn't like April, um, which I made the mistake of like not trying a Hugo anyway, um, because I'm sure I would have loved it. So I would just ask like for Moscato, and some places had it and some places didn't. And this time, luckily, I found a Hugo that I loved and I had one like every day. But at this wine bar, I was like, hey, do you have a Moscato? And this is like a super like nice, like high end, and they were like, No. I'm like, right, okay. Sorry for asking. Um, that's like so American of me. So I actually didn't have any wine. Um, I just had water, but then we went to our dinner reservation. It's called um Boca Dama is the restaurant we went to. Um, I can remember that because I have it pulled up in front of me. Otherwise, if I didn't have pulled up in front of me, I wouldn't have known. And we had steak florentine. So a common like dish known in Florence is steak florentine. And it's basically a big T-bone steak that is like pretty raw, like rare. Um, I guess I don't know if they like cook it a different way or what. Here. Um, it's Italian steak, it's an Italian steak dish. It's one of the most famous in Tuscany. Okay, yeah, I know. Um, it's celebrated for its crispy wood-fired exterior and strictly rare center. So yeah, it's this huge, like massive T-bone steak. Some of are bigger than others, but like they say, like you can order it, it feeds like two to three people. So we got it the first night. I okay, I knew it was coming rare, and I'm scared of rare meat. So Nate and my mom just shared it. Um, and I got like what did I get? Lasagna, I think. Or maybe that was a different place. I don't know. I'm pretty sure I got some sort of pasta, and it was incredible. But the steak, Florentine, was so good, and like I they both loved it. I just ate the like um outside kind of crispy parts, and something about the coating, the like butter and herb flavor of it, it was like charred. It was so, so good. And it came with like these like um roasted rosemary potatoes. It was it was just like a like we hadn't had a meal like that yet, and we were how many days in like 10 at this point, maybe more, actually, probably more. Um, and we're having like steak and potatoes. It was so, so good. We were just very um, very satisfied by that meal. And then we I forget what we did that night. I think we honestly just like got gelato and went back. Oh, in in Florentine, this place that was right next to our Airbnb. I mean like right next to like steps away, had a Dubai had Dubai chocolate gelato. Yeah. Yeah. It was incredible. Like it's exactly how you picture it, like chocolate, pistachio, the little crunchies. Oh my god. When I walked in and saw that, I got it the first oh wait, I got it that night before dinner because I was like, I have to try it. And like they like go through gelato flavors every day, so I was like, I don't know if they'll have it tomorrow. Lo and behold, they didn't have it the next day. So I'll get to that. But anyway, it was so good. Anyway, then we went back, had some wine, but we were tired, so went to bed. Next day was so fun, one of the best days of the trip for me. Like, I think Switzerland still beat it, but this was one of the best days for me. Um we okay, I had a place written down that I wanted to go for breakfast, but I remember we didn't end up going there because it was like way too far away. So I don't remember what we did in the morning, but we went to the oh, here's the name of the bridge. Point Vec Vecchio Vecchio. Oh, wait, that's what we did in the morning. Sorry guys, I'm recalling this as we're going. We woke up and we went to the Mercado Market. Um, this is a place where they well, outside of the market, it's like all those like shops with men that like sell knockoff purses. Um, which my mom was telling me, like, you can't get roped into that. She was like, Jess got roped into that when we were here, and she bought all these fake leather purses. Like, you gotta find the real stuff in in Florence because Florence is known for their leather. So, although I was like intrigued by buying all these fake, like pretty purses, um, we we got leather later, so I'll get to that. So we went to this Mercado Market and it's indoor. It's this two-story um, I guess, yeah, like kind of like an indoor farmer's market, I guess. The bottom level is where people sell like fresh fruit, fresh meat, um, pasta, like anything like uh like like fresh um food. And then upstairs they have more like restaurants and bars. Actually, not so much bars, but so we went up there and got breakfast. Uh, they had, you know, fresh pizza. They had a barbecue place that honestly Nate and I thought looked really good, but it was like 10 in the morning, so we didn't need to eat like barbecue in Italy. But um, yeah, we sat up there. It was a really cute area. Um, and then went to the I we did a lot of things that day, and I can't remember exactly what, but I know at some point we went to the Duomo because that's famous in Florence, and we like just walked around and looked at it, and um I think we listened to Rick's Rick Steve's audiobook for that. If you guys know I talked about Rick Steve last last episode. Rick Steve's, sorry. Um we saw where my mom and Jess and Tisha and their friend stayed last time. We went to some like piazzas, like a little, like a little plaza is what they call it. Um, and then we went to the uh school of leather in Florence. That was so cool. So it's kind of like hidden. I honestly don't know how my mom like found it. Probably Rick's book, and I mean it's where like we found everything. But it's this I guess it's where they like teach you how to make leather. Like I'm sure there are like students that go. We went on a what day was this? A Wednesday. So maybe, maybe they have like maybe we just went into like the shop and they actually have like a school. I'm sure they do because it was a huge building. And obviously leather's a big thing in it'll in Florence. So it was so cool that we walked like back into this courtyard, like you would never know it's back there, um, with rocks and stuff, and over the fence there was like kids playing, like I could hear kids like laughing and running around in like this um big grassy area. So I stood up on a bench to look over the fence and see them, and it was so wholesome. So we walk back, we go in this building, and it's so cool. First, when you walk in, they have like these glass um cases of all these pretty expensive leather purses. Some are regular, like cowhide leather or whatever. And then they had um what's it called? Oh, alligator leather, and what was the other one? Ostrich, maybe? Yeah, I think so. And they're like obviously like textured different, they were so expensive. I was like, oh my god, an alligator leather purse, like that's crazy. So, but it was so cool. Like, it was honestly like just this one big long hallway with glass cases that you could look at the purses, and then there was little, probably like four little rooms off to each side. When you went in that room, they had different stuff. So one room was like belts, one room was like wallets and clips, one room was like all these nice expensive leather jackets. Um it was really cool, and they did free like stamping, free like engraving of your initials, which we found out is pretty common in Florence. Um, so my mom got a belt, and it's so cool. It's reversible. One side is black and one side is red, and she got her initials stamped on there, and I have like a whole video of it. I I think I made a TikTok of it. Um, but yeah, it was it was really cool. You just like pick out your leather and walk up to the little stand and give them your stamp. It was it was different than like just a regular leather shop, which if you've been to Florence, I'm sure you've like been to a leather shop, which um are super cool, but this was just different. It's like it's a school. I don't know. It was the vibes were different and they were really cool. So we went there. Um my mom got a belt. I considered getting a purse there because I knew I wanted a leather purse, but the ones that I wanted were like 360 euros. Like that's insane. That's probably like over 400 here. Wait, 360 euros to USD. Oh, yep, 409 dollars. I don't need a 400 purse. Um oh my god. Oh my god, I almost just like I just like choked on air. Did you guys hear that? I was like, oh my god, that was weird. Okay, sorry. So we did that in the morning, then we went to get lunch, and we had two famous sandwich places that we had seen um on TikTok, and then also just like um maybe Rick talked about them. I think he did, but also one of them called like Anne Anti Al Antica, they have multiple locations in Rome too. So I went there like pretty often when I well, not pretty like a few times when I was in Rome, and I loved it. So we went to the one in Florence. So my mom and I wanted that one. Nate found this other one on TikTok that we were like, okay. Well, lo and behold, they were right next door, and that one had like an even longer line, and so we were like, wait, maybe this one's better. So we wanted to try both. So, um, wait, I completely forgot. We went and saw the David that morning, like the most important thing in Florence. Um, so yeah, like David and Goliath, like the big David statue, we went and saw that. It was actually really cool. Um, we got tickets for 12 p.m. and we got right in. And Rick has this whole tour that you can listen to about the whole building and stuff, but he honestly just suggests like walking in, seeing the David and leaving. Like, there's really not don't need to waste your time on other stuff. So we did, it was really cool. If you when you listen to his like audio tour and know the history, when you're staring at a statue, it makes it much more interesting. Um, yeah, I mean, it's it's what it's a big statue, but like it was cool. But right after we saw him, I was like, all right, mom, it's time for blowouts. Which this is funny because this was like her trip to plan, and this day I like kind of took over. I was like, okay, we're shopping and we're getting blowouts, like two things that she would never want to do, but she did enjoy them. Um so I called three places and I was like, can you get two, can I get in for two blowouts in the next like two hours? And one place said yes, and they were actually really that salon was really close to um the sandwich places that we were going to. It was like those three like the two sandwich places and then the um salon were like right in the same area. So it was super nice. And the place was in a Veda salon. So I was like, okay, I know that they'll be like they use the Veda products, so it's like I know that there'll be like, you know, I don't know what the word is. Like I know that they're products that like my hair has like been used to before, not some like random, random salon. I don't know. So as we were in the David, what is that? What is that called? The museum, I don't know. The museum where the David's at. I'm sitting there calling. Can we get it? Can I get two blowhouse? My mom's like, are you freaking serious? Like, sorry. Gotta do what I gotta do. So we they got us in for like an hour and a half later. So we just you know mosied our way over there, and Nate stood in line for his sandwich and figured out what he was gonna get. My mom and I went down and looked at the menu for the sandwich place that we wanted, gave Nate our order, so he stood in line, got his sandwich, and by the time he got his sandwich and went over and got our two sandwiches, and then like just walked back to the salon, we were like out. It took us like forty-five minutes. So we walked in, we checked in, um, they kind of sat us down. Keep in mind they didn't speak very good English. I think both of our girls were like in school, like in A Veda school or whatever. So um Um, she was asking me, I mean, the girl that was doing my hair was only like 17, I'm pretty sure is what she said she just turned 17 in April. I was like, Oh, you're like so young. Um, I'm like, Did you go to high school? Or I don't know, maybe they maybe they do it different over there. I actually don't really know the school system. And she was like, So what do you want done? And I was like, I don't know, like I've never done this before. And she was asking, like, curly, bouncy, natural, straight. And so finally we just pulled up the like Instagram and kind of like decided on one together based on pictures. And then she took me back and washed my hair and gave me the best head massage ever. Like, oh my god, she had like hands. I was about to say fingers. That sounds funny. She had hands of an angel. She was ru like, okay, this is getting very um, yeah. She gave a good head massage. Okay, not even sounds hard. Oh my god. Oh my god, I'm making myself cry. Um, she gave a good scalp massage. And of course, she was like, Do you wanna do a moisture mask for like 10 euros extra? Like your hair could use it. And I was like, Yeah, sure, why not? My mom's like, they probably say that to everyone. I'm like, yeah, but my hair probably could use it. So she was like, it'd be good with your highlights. I'm like, yeah, whatever. So I wasn't paying for it. So I was like, sure, add it on. Um, so she did that and then took me back to my chair and did the blowout. It was um really like fun and satisfying to watch. She took basically like every piece of hair with a roller brush and then a um hairdryer and then rolled it up in a what's it called? She didn't put it in a roller. I think she just like rolled it, she just like rolled it with her finger and then put a pin in it. So my whole head was like up in pins. I don't know. It was fun and really relaxing and kind of just like a fun random activity to do in Europe. Like my mom was like, you know, that was actually like really fun. And we another thing is we were like washing our hair and blow drying our hair was such a pain. So it was nice to just have them do it for you, and then I knew my hair was gonna be clean for like three days, so it was great. Um, when we got out, Nate was sitting right on the curb outside of the salon with three sandwiches, and we were like, Oh god, how long have you been waiting? And he's like, Oh, only like 10 minutes, so that was good. And then we ate our sandwiches and it was it was great. Um, then on the way back to the Airbnb, we stopped and I got a leather purse. We um, or not we, I had looked up on TikTok, like, okay, how do I know what leather shop is real and fake and like I don't want to get scammed and whatever. And I found one and it was actually very close to where our sandwich and um blowouts place were. So we went in there. Nate didn't actually, um, but my mom and I did, and I found this little simple black purse. I've been wearing it like everywhere. Um, I don't know if I have a TikTok about it or anything, but I've been wearing it a lot, and it's this simple black purse with really nice leather, and I got my initials stamped right on the top, but it's like super um discreet, and it's just such good quality, like I will have it forever. Like the leather is so nice. Um we actually oh no, we got recommended to go to a place, but that was that was a different day. Um, anyway, that night we had the best meal that we had the whole trip. So let me just check. I'm still recording. Like, okay. It's been 25 minutes and I'm only on our second day in Florence. Oh boy. Um we went up to this little town that's just well, I don't know what direction. North maybe of Florence, but it's like up in the hills of Tuscany. And it's called Fiolze. Um I don't what were we calling it? Fiolze? Okay, some it's like on the tip of my tongue, but it's called F-I-E-S-O-L-E. And we had actually seen that we went to this restaurant because Nate saw a reel about it, like an Instagram reel. And it was like best, you know, meal outside of Florence. And my mom and I are kind of skeptical, things like that. Like we kind of live and die by Rick Steve's restaurant recommendations. So Nate was like, they say it's the best. And it's like, well, yeah, but so anyone could just like say that maybe they're sponsored or something. But then my mom started seeing videos about it, and then we looked it up and I was like, wait, it actually looks pretty good. So we were like, screw it, let's try it. It was the best meal we had, literally the best meal. So it was about a 25-minute ride. We took a taxi, we booked a taxi right from our Airbnb door, like right outside the door, 25 minutes up the um, I guess hill road. Uh, paid on the app, it was super easy. He dropped us off. He was like, I can't go up like the rest of the way to the restaurant, so you'll have to walk from here, and we were like, okay. And it we we saw somewhere like it when you get there, it looks like you're walking up someone's driveway, and it literally did. It was like we were walking up this just like small, like kind of cobblestone road that kind of curved up, and we're like, okay, where are we going? And then we get up there, and it's this gorgeous like lookout point down onto Florence within like the hills, the trees of Tuscany. It was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I mean, everywhere was gorgeous, but like this was really cool. And we were the first reservation of the night. We had a they were only open from like 7 to 11 every night, and we had a reservation at 7, and so did like all the other people on that lookout point. I think we all got there like 15 minutes early, and then we were all just like kind of walking around. So right at 7, all of us like walk up to the entrance and we get seated, and we were there for three hours, maybe over three hours. I can't remember if it was yeah, I th I think we left at 10. Like it was the longest dinner we had, and that made it like I know it's like the European way, but this was like very this was it was extreme. But oh my god, the food was so good. So now remember last night, um, Nate and my mom got the steak florentined. So this evening, I was like, I'm getting it. And it was the best, and it came with potatoes again. So it was so good. So my mom and I shared, well, we got like okay. I don't know if you guys care about what we ate, but we got like ham and melon as oh wait, did we? Oh my god, all my things are running together. No, we got cheese and honey for an appetizer, but we didn't really like it. Um, so my mom and I shared the steak florentine. Nate got a pasta dish, and we all ate all of it. It was so, so good. And it came with potatoes again, like I said, and they were even better than the night before. I don't know how. Um, and then yeah, we just like couldn't get our check like forever. They'd be like, Do you want dessert? And then we'd say no, and they were like actually like upset. Like it was I don't know. It anyway, then we couldn't figure out how to get home. I tried to call a taxi probably five times, and I we couldn't. Like it was like not available, not available. And I'm like, probably because one would have had to drive up and then drive us back down. There wasn't just any taxis like sitting in that town. Um, so we hopped on the last bus of the night. Like and honestly, it worked out great. Like, we hopped on a bus, we went down the hill, we got off, we walked like along a metro train line. Oh, and then we went to McDonald's, and my mom was a little upset about that because she's like, we just had like the most nice expensive meal ever, and you guys want McDonald's. Um, but like we really wanted to try the Italian McDonald's, and for some reason we thought that would be a good time. So Nate got a burger that he wanted to try, and okay, they had you guys remember those like dill pickle Grinch shaker fries that McDonald's had over the winter? They had those, but just spicy. So it's just like spicy shaker fries, and it came with like a shaker thing. Um, so I ordered those. I was so excited to try them, didn't come. Not the fries, like no fries, no spicy shaker. I was like, all right, cool. Um, but we took our McDonald's and went and sat under the Duomo, and it was really cool. I will say, like, that sounds like really like fat and extra of us, but we ate at 7 or like 7:38, and we didn't get out of there till 10. We didn't get back to like it had been a few hours, okay? Not justifying it, but still just like, you know, we I don't know. Um, and then we walked back and I think, you know, had some wine again, hung out in the Airbnb and went to bed. And then the next morning we walked to the train station because we had an all-day cooking class. And I mean all day. It was only supposed to be like five hours, it was like seven hours. But it was really cool. We went with walkabout tours and it was a okay, we thought it was a gelato and pizza or pasta making class. We thought you could decide, and all of us wanted to make pizza. Well, it was only a gelato and pasta class, so we all ended up making pasta, which was fine. It was really good. But we went there, um, we took a bus, it was like a long bus, like maybe an hour, maybe 45 minutes. Um, again, up into like the hills of Tuscany. It was so cool. Like when I go, if I go back to Italy, I I gotta just go to Tuscany for like two weeks. Um, but yeah, I mean, it was just a cooking class. We there was a Nona there, which is an Italian grandma, and she her name was Carmela, and she didn't speak any English, so there was like a translator there. There's a chef that would translate, and then Carmela was like a chef too, but the uh one that spoke English did most of the talking. But we met some really cool people um that we hung out with. We met this couple from Philly. Oh, were they? Yeah, from Philly, and it was this mom and dad, and they had eight kids, and they were just, you know, on a trip. I forget exactly what for, I think, just on a trip. And then we met this couple who just eloped in Lake Como, and oh my god, she showed me like pictures and videos from their um, I don't know, they must have had like a content creator or something. I don't know, the the con the videos were really good, but of their elopement, and I was like, Oh, I'm obsessed. They were from Dallas, they'd been together for like nine years, they were in their 30s, they had they had dated before and broke up, but like consecutive, like I mean, all together nine years, so they've probably been together a few years. Um, and they eloped in Lake Como. They actually got married like legally in the United States, like with their family, but just like at the courthouse with like a couple family members, and then they came here and she like wore her dress, and oh my god, it was gorgeous. Like, I wish I could like find them, but I don't even know her name or well, I do I know her first name, but I don't think I could find it. Um, anyway, so we met some cool people. We started the day making pasta. We made um two different shapes and then a bolognese and a pesto. The pesto was incredible, so good. And then we made gelato, and I chose the flavor I wanted to make pistachio gelato, so we made pistachio gelato, but there was 14 different kinds of gelato, and we got to try all of them. So I tried, you know, lemon, dark chocolate, pistachio, strawberry, all whatever. But it was just different um groups making different flavors. So yeah, it was a it was a really good day. Um, my mom and I really wanna do like a kind of like a cooking class here in Iowa um with our families. Like we learned it so well that we talked about like getting my family and Nate's family together and like the me, Nate, and my mom like teaching like them what they taught us of like how to make the noodles and um how to boil, like just all the little details that make it so good. I think you know it'd be fun. So we do need to put that on the calendar with our families, but yeah, then we got home and what did we do that night? Hmm. I'm forgetting. But in my in our notes, it says watch the sunset at this certain place, but I no we didn't do that. We vetoed that. Um I don't know. I just have pictures of Nate and I with our um cooking certificate, and that's it. So anyway, the next morning we got up and we went on a quick, oh, this is when we had our train problem. This is what I was referencing at the beginning when I was like, oh, all the trains look the same. So when we were trying to leave Florence, there was a train strike. So actually the day before at our cooking class, there was a guy who was like, you know, we were all talking about like where we're going next and whatever, and a guy's like, Are you worried about the train strike? And we're like, No, what train strike? He was like, There's a big train strike tomorrow. Like, you guys should probably, you know, pay attention to that. And we were like, Oh, haven't heard of it. So we kind of were just like, eh, whatever, we'll show up. Like, there were train strikes all the time when I was in Italy, and it was like, it was fine. So we were like, Yeah, we'll just show up to the train station and see what happens. Well, we showed up and it was a freaking mess. Um, everyone, you know, couldn't get on their train, whatever. So actually, our original train that I had booked kept getting delayed. And so, like I talked about last episode, we had the Europass where when we chose a travel day, we could take as many trains as possible. So, luckily, this was one of our travel days. So, it didn't really matter if we like if one got canceled and we booked another. Like it wasn't, it didn't cost any any more money, it just was inconvenient. So we saw like on my phone and then on the screen that was in the train station, like it was delayed, and then it was a it was delayed for 35 minutes, and then the platform number that we were supposed to be on still wasn't coming up. So we were like, okay, I feel like it's just gonna keep getting delayed or it's gonna get canceled. Well, then I was like, wait, I can't remember what happened, but I remember I like went somewhere and looked at something and I was like, wait, guys, there's another one over here that's like going to like it was a different end route, but it still stopped in Pisa because the end of the day we were trying to get to Chinkatere, and so that was our original um like train was okay, it's gonna go from uh Florence to Chinkaterre, and we were gonna stop in Pisa. Well, this other one, it still stopped in Pisa. So we were like, okay, that's fine. It's the the end the end station was like different, but we just needed to get to Pisa. So we were like, okay, so it left in like six minutes or something. So we booked it over there, we got on and made it to Pisa. And the rest of the day, the traveling was super easy, it was just like those main train stations, like big train stations like Florence and stuff. Oh my god, it was so like packed and everyone stressed out about train strikes and whatever. So we got to Pisa and it was a really fun little afternoon. We um right when we got there, we stopped and had lunch. I had the best bruschetta I had the whole trip there. And um, then we saw the Leaning Tower, which is in a little um, I guess, field called the Field of Miracles. It's like a big grass field, and they have a lot of churches and like a duomo and some other sites, but the main site is the leaning tower of Pisa. And it was actually really cool. It all of us, like the three of us, thought it was much cooler than we expected. Um, because you see pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa all the time. Like, no, it's actually like really cool. And when you walk up to it, it's it's leaning towards you, so it kind of is like a uh what like feeling like it's falling on you, but then you walk around to the side, and then that's like the famous picture where it's leaning to the right, and I don't know, it actually like was was really lean, like more than I kind of expected it to be. And anyway, it was a fun little afternoon, and then we went back and got on the train and headed to Chinkatere. So we were staying in Rio Maggiore, which is where I stayed the last time I went to Italy two years ago, and we actually stayed in the exact same Airbnb that I stayed in. Um, this was my trip to play in, and that Airbnb was perfect. It was in the perfect location, it was cute, it was nice, the um host was super like easy to work with, so I was like, you know what, we're staying there again because I loved it. And that was actually the first place where we all three had like there was actually two beds instead of my mom sleeping on a pullout. Um, so yeah, it was it was great. When we got there, we went to um well, first we walked around um and saw a little bit, and then we went and sat at this cute wine bar. So I forget what it was called. It was something silly, but it was like this wine bar up on the looking out onto the water. We had chips and wine. Nate had beer. It was just a great, we spent like a good amount of time there, like probably over an hour just you know, feeling the breeze off the water, and it was oh that that was so fun. And then randomly enough, we ended the night at a Michelin Star restaurant, like so random. So I wanted to go so again, like I planned this, and what I had in mind to eat was that wine bar we went to, so I knew we wanted to go there, but I thought they had food, but they didn't. Or it wasn't like it was like from a case, like that had been sitting there all day. Like it wasn't an actual restaurant, and so I was like, ooh, okay. So on our way back from the wine bar, we walked like down along the cliff and then down like some stairs, and we ended up back at the main like marina of Rio Majore. And we were walking up and we were like, oh, this restaurant looks good. We wanted, well, I wanted fried shrimp, and so we were just gonna like stop at um one of the places like along the water that had fried food, or we were gonna find a restaurant. I don't know what our plan was. Well, we stumbled upon this Michelin star restaurant that looked obviously incredible and the views were amazing, and I was like, okay. We were like, should we splurge? Should we go here? And all of us were kind of like, yeah, it looks good. So we I was like, let me just go, but it was busy and like people were really dressed up, and we have to just like come from a walk. Like I was in a dress, and like we we looked nice, like Nate was in a polo, so like you know, we were dressed nice, but we were still like just like wandering around and then like we weren't expecting to go there. And anyway, I walked in, I'm like, hi, do you have any like any chance you have room for three of us right now? And he was like, Yeah, if you're okay with sitting inside, and we were like, sure. So we got put in this corner and we had a great meal. Like I said, I wanted fried shrimp, and they only offered that as an appetizer. So I got thr literal three fried shrimp with uh homemade vinegar mayo on top, like drizzled. So I wasn't full at all, obviously. And I'm I'm sorry, like I'm a little bit of a picky eater, and it was a Michelin star seafood restaurant, and nothing else looked good to me. So, like the waiter, the waitress was like, Do you want to order more? And I was like, No, like I'm sorry. So I literally just had three mini fried shrimp, and then Nate and my mom got the five-course chef's choice meal. So they had two appetizers, two entrees, and a dessert, and it was literally just like what the chef like had like what the catch of the day was or whatever, like what they had. And they it was a really fun experience. Like I tried a lot of their stuff, I wasn't in love with anything, but for them, with like not picky eaters, like just wanting to try everything that was it was so fun. I forget what all they had, but I know a lot of it was um like fish, mussels, calamari, like stuff like that. Um yeah, and then we we Went to sleep and the next morning was our beach day. So we got up and we did the Lover's Lane walk. It's called Via Delamore. Via Del yeah, I'm sure I'm saying it wrong, but if you're ever in like Chincaterre or Rio Majore, you gotta do that. It's just like this super easy walk, but it's so pretty. I mean everything is so pretty, but and it takes you right from um Rio Majore to the next village up because Chinkatere is made up of five villages. And I forget the one that I think it's called um Ma I was gonna say Mongolia. Um I forget the name of it, but it takes you to the next next village up, and then we just got on a train and rode the train like 10 minutes up to Monerrosso, which is where our beach was at that we were going, which is where I um had a beach day with my friends two years ago. So we basically did the same trip that I did two years ago in Chinkaterry, but it was like perfect. So and it was the only beach like time we had. Well, we did a little bit in late coma, but we it was so cold we like didn't even swim. Um sorry, I just burped if you heard that. Um yeah, we chilled on the beach all day. We had lunch there, had drinks, it was great. They sell um alcohol by the bucket. There was like definitely a lot of college kids there. Like I would go up and like all these like college-age kids would be buying buckets and stuff, and I was like, oh yeah, that could be me, but it's not because I just am not like a huge drinker. Um yeah, it was great. And then that night we went back and got takeout like food, I guess, Italy's version of takeout food, and went and sat on the rocks and um looked out at that like picture perfect view of Cinkateri of like the beautiful, colorful buildings and stuff. So Nate got a pizza and then my mom and I got like takeout pasta and it was just it was just great, so satisfying, so pretty. The only thing is there were what are they called? Seagulls or yeah, there were seagulls and pigeons everywhere. Like, and they're not scared of people. It was honestly really freaky, like they were swooping in and out. They, if you drop something right next to you, it they were grabbing it. Like you couldn't even eat, you couldn't even have your like pizza box open for too long, or genuinely one would swoop down and like grab it. It was seagulls are terrifying, especially there. Um, okay, let's keep it moving. How about that? The next day, we got up early and went to Milan. We stayed in Milan for one night. Um, we actually stayed at a hotel that was really close to the train station, which usually I would like be against because it's like, okay, then you don't even really get to see the city. No, we did. Um, it was great. We stayed right by the train station, um, which was good because we were only staying one night and we had to get up early the next day to go. And we just took the little like subway, like whatever they call it, metro system underground over to the big Duomo church in Milan. Oh my gosh. That church is insane. One of the prettiest things, like, I I don't feel like I find myself super into like architecture, but that was crazy cool. So the little um what's it called? Little like piazza area around the Duomo was super cool. So we got there, we looked at the church, we did Rick's tour. Um, a cool thing about that church is there is over what was it, 2,000 statues that are all different on that church. And like when you actually get up close and look at them, it's it's crazy. Like the detailing is insane. It took them over 600 years to build it. It was from 1300 to 1900. So we walked around there, and then we went and sat and got a drink, and then we walked into the galleria. Milan, like right next to that big beautiful church, there is um like a yeah, I guess they call it a galleria, and it's this kind of like four-way, like like a a T shape of just like designer shops. I mean really bougie, like Chanel, Gucci, Prada, all those things. So like I didn't go in any, but it was really fun to like just look and um window shop because it's like very high-end. And yeah, that we did see like a little Olympics thing in Milan, which I forget. Did they just have the Olympics in Milan? Like this the Winter Olympics or summer or are they about to? No, I don't know. They just had some sort of Olympics in Milan. I don't know, I remember it was some sort of thing there. Um, then we went to this like what's it what would it be called? Not like a mall. Well, kind of. It's like this big building with like all these different so one level's like shopping, one level's a food court. Kind of like a mall vibe, but don't picture like Jordan Creek. Like it's more like a department store kind of thing where it has like all these different levels. So we went up to the roof and had the worst meal of the whole trip. Um our view was cool. We were sitting on a rooftop looking at the big church. Um, so it was pretty. But Nate got breaded veal, which veal is baby cow. Um, and it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. My mom got a horrible meal. Um, so she wanted something. The menu also wasn't very helpful at all. She wanted something, and I forget what it was, but she asked the waiter, she said, like, I want this, and he was like, eh. And she's like, Oh, you wouldn't recommend it. And he was like, No. And she was like, Okay, what about the meatballs? Because that's she was also um debating that, and he was like, Yeah, yeah. And she was like, Okay. And then I just got a chicken Caesar salad, so whatever. Um, and then after he left, she was like, I like that. Like, I like when a waiter's like, no, like that's that's actually not very good. Like, you should get something else. Like, she's like, I wish they would do that more. Well, it was disgusting. I actually didn't even try it, I would have thrown up. It was like, no, not like it was tuna meatballs. Oh my god, they look disgusting. Like she was my mom was like, I can't even like stomach these. And like she'll she, I mean, I think she likes tuna, or she'll at least eat it, but oh my god, they looked so freaking gross. And Nate's thing, again, it was fine. And my chicken Caesar salad, fine, but I don't know. That that meal wasn't very good. So we walked back and we sat at our um hotel bar and hung out there for a little while. I had a Coke Zero, um, yeah. And then we went to bed and then we left early the next morning to go to Switzerland. We went back to Switzerland. Don't worry, guys. I'm this is our last destination. Oh my god, it's 51 minutes. I just can't stop yapping ever. And I was still gonna do like life updates like what's been going on in my life, but who knows? Okay, so we went to Lucerne, Switzerland from Milan, and oh my gosh, that place was amazing. We got in there honestly early. We got in there at like 11 a.m. And we were like, hey, we're ready to check in. And the guy at our hotel was like, You're really early, and we were like, Yeah, we know. Um, but we just dropped our luggage there, and then we immediately got on a ferry, what what was it called? Yeah, like a ferry or like a boat that took us across the lake um to this little town where we then got on a cogwheel train and went up to the top of a mountain. It was so cool. Uh, we really packed a lot in like that day. Um we took the yes, we took the boat, it was like a 30-minute ride maybe, and then got on a train. It was going straight up. Literally straight up. Um, because it was taking us to the top of a mountain peak, literally. Okay, I'm saying literally a lot. Um, so we got up there and we had lunch. It was like very interesting. So it was so secluded, obviously, because it's on the top of a mountain, but there's one restaurant. So we went in there and it was like a buffet of food. So you they just kind of just like had things ready, like a hot buffet, which sounds weird, but it was honestly good. Like, because we didn't have to sit down and order because we wanted to walk around and explore, so we just went through. You could grab whatever drink you want, whatever treat. They had chips and they had like chips and hot dogs, and they also had like homemade apple strudel and I don't know. Um, why am I forgetting what I got? But I know it was good. Nate got a oh no, I got a bolonnaise. Nate got something that was good. Hmm. I forget. Well, it was fun. So we had a um little meal quick, and then we just walked around the top of a mountain. Like so cool. Um that was when okay. Nate and I, okay, Nate, not me, decided to go off trail and walk down onto a ledge. Now, this ledge was a good size, so it was like, like it didn't look like a ledge he was gonna fall off. It was just like walking down there was a little bit steep, but like once he got down there, like it was like a flat, like pretty big ledge. So he did that and I was like, okay, go ahead. And then he's down there and he's like, Come on, Macy, and I'm like, No. But he's like, Come on, we're in Switzerland, and I'm like, okay, it looks really cool. Ugh. And then my mom standing next to me and she's like, You're gonna get peer pressured. And I'm like, Yeah, I am. And so I'm like, Okay, I'm going. And she's like, Okay, well, I'm I'm gonna walk away because I'm not gonna watch you fall to your death. And I'm like, Okay, well, that makes me feel good. Great. So then I'm like halfway going down and I'm looking at her and I'm looking down at Nate and he's like, Come on, and my mom's looking at me like, I don't know. And I'm like, Oh my god, you guys are like the freaking angel and devil on my shoulder. Like, what do I do? And she's like, just make your own decision. And I was like, Okay, I'm going. So Nate comes up and like gets me, kind of. And I walk down, and that ledge was really cool. Um, I made a TikTok on there, oh mama, what a time to be alive. That one. And we just kind of like sat there for a while. Um, and then Nate looks over to this other ledge and he's like, it would be a really cool picture over there. And I was like, no. He's like, Yeah, just let me like I'll just go, like, just take a picture of me. And I'm like, no, literally, no. And he's like, Come on, Macy, like, okay, I'm gonna go over there, but I won't even sit down. Like, I'm just wanna walk over there and like see the view and see the ledge, and then uh like I'll be I'll come back. And I'm like, no. And we're like going back and forth, and he's like, So then we finally agree. I'm like, okay, you can go just walk over there, look, come back, do not sit down or take your time or whatever. And he was like, okay, yeah. He gets over there, plops down. I'm like, okay. I'm I wish I had a video, but I only have pictures. I am literally screaming behind the camera. Nathan!

unknown 55:58

Nathan!

SPEAKER_00 55:59

I'm like, stand up, get over here, like get. I was like a mom. I'm like, stop, get over here. So, you guys, you've you probably saw the picture on my Instagram story. Maybe not. I'll I'll probably post this on the on the podcast Instagram story. But he's sitting on this ledge and like, oh my god, like my feet just started tingling. Like, I get so much anxiety thinking about it. Oh my god, he I was verging panic attack, not not even joking. He's sitting over there. I'm like taking pictures of him, but the picture it's it's cool, but like I don't even want to give him that satisfaction because it was so stupid. So he gets his picture, he comes back and he's like, Okay, like what do you and I'm like, I'm about to pass out. Like, that's not even a joke. Like, I have to get back up there. Like, my anxiety, oh my god, it was through the roof. Just like all of a sudden I realize how high we were, and like watching him and like thinking like okay, he could have almost just like fell to his death. I was like, I'm literally feeling lightheaded, like we I have to go. So he's like, Okay, so he like helps me walk back up the thing, and we get up there and we find my mom, and I'm like, he just did the craziest thing, and she's like, Oh my god, you're insane! Like, and then when we got back home, we were telling his parents about it, and like they were genuinely getting mad at him, and like sh like you could have died, like that rock could have been like loose, your foot could have slipped, like so many possibilities. And like, not to make it about me, but like imagine the trauma I would have if I watched him fall and die. So anyway, we walked around, took some pictures up there, we went back down. Um what did we do that night? Hmm. Where did we eat? Hold on. Like on the debate. I remember where we ate the next day. What the heck? I don't remember. Dang it, that's gonna bother me. Well, maybe it'll come to me. The next day, oh, and we got so we stayed at a hotel, but the hotel had an apartment, a three-bedroom apartment, and so we had a three-bedroom apartment with a balcony, with air conditioning, two bathrooms, well, one toilet, one shower, but they were in like separate rooms. It was amazing. Two sinks, whatever. So the next day we got up and this was just like our this was our last day. So we were like we called it just like a lazy day, but we just like kind of did what the day led us to. It was really fun. So um we went and explored Old Town Lucerne, which was so, so cute. I got a really good coffee, um, popped into some shops. Um, Nate and I shared this like ice cream dish that was so good. It was just like really fun to just kind of walk around and see where it took you and not have like such a plan. But we did do a walking tour across the old chapel bridge in Lucerne, which is like a very famous um thing in Lucerne. And my mom, Rick didn't have an audio tour for that one, so my mom was literally our tour. She had a book in hand and was walking in front of us reading from the book. I have a picture and it was so funny. Um, oh, and that morning we ate at this like really German restaurant. Like I literally had a pretzel, which doesn't sound, but like it was like a pretzel sandwich, which is like not Italian, like that's German. My mom got this like beer with like a little bit of like sprite in it, which I guess is like a German thing. My apple juice was like sparkling, like I don't know. Anyway, so we walked across this old chapel bridge, and this also had something to do with World War II, and now I can't remember again. Something about like blocking bombs or fires. I know the bridge, like the bridge caught on fire at some point. I forget exactly the details. Anyway, um, yeah, and then we kind of went back and chilled that afternoon, I think. It started raining, which honestly was like the perfect vibes for our last day. And then Nate and I went out in the rain later and got food. Um oh, I remember what we had the night before. We had a donner kebab. I discovered that I love donner kebabs. Um if you don't know what they are, it's basically just like a big pita filled with kind of like a euro, but a little bit different. Um, it's not lamb meat, it's like well, I don't know what kind of meat it is. It's like those big meat things that they have circling at some places. Um, I think it's like a mix of different meats, like lamb, maybe some pork, I don't know. Uh, but we had that. There was one right under our our hotel, and we were like, let's just try it. Oh my god, it was amazing. And they were huge. Like, we had leftovers the next day. And then the next day, um, my mom had her leftover whatever donner kebab for dinner, and Nate and I went out and got Thai food by ourselves, and it was so fun. We found this restaurant, and we walked in, and he's like, we kind of like ordered up at the like counter and then went and sat. And obviously they don't speak very good English, but I ordered my thing and we didn't really know what we were ordering. It was just like a mix of noodles and chicken and vegetables, like I don't know. And the guy, Nate said, like, I want spicy, and the guy looked at him and raised his eyes, he's like, spicy, and Nate's like, Yeah. We like made a joke that he like turned around slowly to the three Asian women that were working, like right there that were making the food that didn't speak English, and just like nodded at them, and they made that shit spicy. Like, oh thank god it wasn't my dish. Um oh my god, it was spicy, but my food was so good. It it's like I love Italy and like trap like obviously, but okay, I don't know why I started with that. It's nice to get a meal that's like a different culture when you're there. So like having a Thai meal was like, oh, this tastes so good because it's like different than what I've been eating. You know what I mean? So yeah, and then we we went back to the hotel and packed up to go home the next day. Oh wait, I lied. We went to a wine bar that night. It was like a little bar that's like connected to our hotel. It was really cute. It was called O'Mary, I do remember the name of it, and it was really cute, looked out over the like lake, and we sat and played cards. We played cards a lot. We played a game called Pittsburgh that runs in my mom's like Joseph side of the family, and um that like she played growing up, and you can play it with three you can play it with however many people, but it was a perfect game for the three of us. It was really fun. So we sat and had a drink and played Pittsburgh one last time with our Switzerland cards, and then we went and packed up and went home. The next day we woke up early and had to take an hour-long train to get to the airport, which honestly sounds bad, but it wasn't. Like, I was like, oh my god, waking up and then having to get in a train for an hour and then an 11-hour flight, but it was actually fine. The train ride went fast. I was just like on my phone and kind of like tired. And then when we got on the plane, it was great because um we had booked a row for the three of us on the left side of the plane with three seats. Well, for some reason, like our area of the plane was like empty. So my mom moved across the aisle and she had like two seats to herself, and then Nate and I got the row to ourselves, which I was like, thank God, because then I could like lay down and sleep. Because Nate doesn't sleep like nap or on planes or in the car or like any sort of transportation. So I got to like lay down and sleep, and it was just great. I was like, this is the perfect ending, just having like a road to ourselves and not being like so crammed. So um, yeah, the flight was great, and then we got to Dallas and got home with no problem that I remember. I feel like I would remember if we had a problem. Um, yeah, and then Blake picked us up from the airport and I got back and Nate spent the night. I was like, I know we've been together for like three weeks straight, but I was like, can you just stay the night? Like, I want to hang out more. So he spent the night and then left the next day, and I pretty much just slept and chilled for a few days, and then I we got back on Wednesday and I started my job on Monday. And that's that. I the trip was amazing. Like, I'm so thankful that I get to do things like this. I'm so thankful for my mom for you know taking us on this trip. Like, I'm so grateful that I of course I'm so grateful that I get to do things like this, but I'm so grateful that I get to do things like this with her too, because like her and I just share this like love of traveling. And I mean I get it from her. Um, and we like we understand, I don't know, we both share this like bond of like we think it's very important to like see other parts of the world. And like if you're able to do that and like lucky enough to do that, like really, like, really think it's important. Um, it just like it teaches you things that like can't be just taught. I don't know. It's it I feel like I could go so deep into this. Like, I just feel so passionate about like if you have. The opportunity to travel, do it. And like I know it's expensive, and like I know I'm privileged and like not everyone has this chance, but like if you can, like I suggest it. There's something about seeing other parts of the world, especially, and I know like you know, going to Mexico and like that's obviously very cool and awesome. Like, but something about a trip like this where you see how other people live and really like dive like get yourself into the culture, it's it's very, very cool. Something that like I can't even put into words, and like I feel so lucky to do it that I've been able to do it. I hope that I can do that like for my like I hope I can like do that. Nate and I can do that for our family someday. Um, because both of us think it's like so important and like cool. Um yeah, it just it was great. I I don't know when the next time I'll be back in Europe is, but I'm really, really grateful and glad that you know the three of us got to do this. And um, especially like right after graduation, it was the perfect like um little trip. And I feel like we did a really good job planning it. Like we all got along super great. We like talked about that at the end of the trip. We're like, my mom was like, none of us like fought or like got annoyed with each other, and I'm like, I didn't expect to, because I don't get annoyed with my mom really. Like her and I get along about as good as any two people could get along. And I didn't expect to like get like fight with Nate or anything, and I didn't expect those two to either. They're both like the most chill people on the planet. So I was like, no, I didn't expect to. And she's like, I know, but just like being together all the time. But yeah, it was it was really fun. Um, I'm just yeah, very, very grateful that I get to do things like this, and it's cool that people like you guys care about it and like want to listen about it, even though you know it was my experience. So yeah, I just it was fun, it was great. Um, I feel very lucky, and now I'm back home. I have started my job. I will get more into it um in a later episode of like things I've been up to. Um, but I think that'll be in another another episode. Oh, wait, wait, wait. Last thing. I did want to say all of the new foods that I tried when we were there, because I tried a lot. So veal, artichokes, trout, cuttlefish, sea bass. I think this is called Legenstein. It's basically like a very large shrimp. Like that's what it looks like, but I think that's what it's called. We we couldn't really remember. Uh fondue, a roasty, which is like it's basically kind of like a hash brown. So like it wasn't that new of an idea, but it was it's definitely a Switzerland food. Um, lobster, this like super dark beer in Switzerland that I tried in the last that I uh talked about in the last episode, made by monks. I tried chicken schnitzel. I tried this like juicy peach flavored IPA. Oh, I tried green olives, which I ended up loving, and now I have garlic and herb olives in my fridge. And then a donner kebab. Wait, I just heard like an apartment door shut and it sounded like mine, but no one's supposed to be. I don't think anyone's here. Maybe it was someone in the hallway. I'm scared. Um, a donner kebab, which I talked about that I loved, and then calamari and mussels. So your girl was adventurous, and I say like I'm like bragging about it, but every new food that was tried was literally forced by Nate. Like he was like, try it, Macy. You don't know you don't like it until you don't try until you try it. And I'm like, I know I won't like it. And he's like, just try it, be adventurous. And I'm like, okay. So again, peer pressure to try new things, but that that's okay. Um, yeah, that's my trip. I'm gonna wrap it up. Um, thank you for listening, and I will be back with regular scheduled life updates and whatnot um on the next episode. So talk to you guys next time. Bye.