(L-R) Communications juniors Uma Raja, Samantha Marshall and Brianna Steidle take a picture in front of the Swiss Alps in Davos.

Switzerland. The country of cheese, neutrality and seemingly not much else. However, visiting Switzerland opened the door to crazy adventures, gorgeous natural landscapes and bonding experiences I’ll never forget.

From June 25 to June 28, I visited the glorious land of Switzerland on an Education First tour with a few Dreyfoos students. The tour already hit London and Paris, which means it was time to see the final country of the trip.

After struggling to load my suitcase onto a train in Paris, I boarded and found myself in Zurich after a four hour power nap. The first thing that stood out to me was that everything was written in German. I wasn’t sure about what language the Swiss spoke, but it turns out that they have four national languages: French, Italian, Romansh and Swiss German. The first thing I saw was a bratwurst stand, and that the word “die” was plastered around the train station. It turns out that “die” means “the” in German.

Switzerland hosts the base of the humanitarian organization Red Cross. We were going to tour the headquarters, but due to the disastrous earthquake in Nepal, the Red Cross was understandably busy. I was soon to get over the initial disappointment of the cancelled tour, because now we were heading to Rhine Falls, the largest waterfalls in Europe. We rode a bus and drove into the wilderness. Among the lush greenery of the Swiss Forests, a powerful roar could be heard in the distance. We spotted a body of water with a gigantic waterfall crashing against towering boulders. Flecks of water sprayed into the sunlight and created pale rainbows all around the lake.

After purchasing a plastic Swiss Army knife, (it was obviously meant for tourists like me, who don’t trust themselves with a real knife) the tour group boarded a boat. We were heading into the heart of the falls, and water spattered the sides of our rocking vessel. We stopped at a huge boulder that jutted in between the waterfalls, and I realized that a steep set of stairs crawled up the side. We climbed to the top of the boulder and admired the waterfall from above. It was a beautiful experience, and everyone snapped some great photos.

That night in Zurich, my friends and I loaded up on Swiss chocolate and took a stroll. We learned that Zurich’s streets twinkle at night. The roads are embedded with tiny bits of reflective material. We also saw an advertisement for an American bar. The poster featured a picture of a the grand canyon, cowboys, a motorcycle and other American stereotypes.

We spent all our other Swiss days in the mountain town of Davos, the highest city in Europe. The scenic ride to Davos was so breathtaking that I couldn’t look away from the window. Snowcapped alps, shimmering seas, natural waterfalls and even fields of happy dairy cows were just a taste of some of the sights I beheld.

Upon arriving in Davos, we had a special activity planned that I had been dreading the entire trip.

A ropes course.

As someone with the athletic prowess of a sea cucumber, I was not looking forward to a high-energy outdoor adventure. However, it turns out that the ropes course, which was located in a seclusive forest, was full of ziplines, and ziplining is right up my alley. After receiving some brief instructions, we were allowed to go off by ourselves. I did the easy level course first, which involved stepping on thin bars of wood way up in the air, standing over a raging river. Sure, I was strapped in with a harness, but that didn’t offer much comfort. After ziplining down, I was positive that the easy level course was my limit. I was persuaded to try the medium level course, a terrifying venture that involved walking down a literal tightrope, inching down swaying ladders and jumping onto shaky ropes that were separated by five foot gaps. I tried not to look down, and found that with some effort and encouragement from friends, I actually could do this athletic activity. The feeling of satisfaction as I finished the medium level course was astounding. The ropes course was actually a highlight of the trip.

After, we took a car up a mountain and saw what Davos looked like from the peak. Large lilacs sloped down the grassy mountainside, and we could see many more imposing mountains in the distance. As a Floridian, this was a rare sight. I lost track of time as I stared into the distance, trying to take in as much as I possibly could.

The rest of our time in Switzerland was an educational conference, the Global Student Leaders Summit. However, that’s a whole other story. Soon my Swiss adventures came to a close, and a feeling of melancholy overtook me as I arrived at the Zurich airport. This EF Tour offered new perspectives and memories that will quite literally last a lifetime. I took enough pictures to fill an album and experienced more wonderful things than I could comprehend.

I said goodbye to London. I said goodbye to Paris. I said goodbye to Zurich and Davos, and I said goodbye to my amazing EF tour.

Then I said hello to whatever the world has to offer me next.