After hiking down from Gimmewald, we hopped on the bus and went to Bern. We stayed on the temple grounds for the night, those sleeping conditions were not the best, but as always our group made the best out of our situation. That night we arrived in Bern, we were able to do temple work as a group. I love that we are able to go through different temples all around the world and the principles are all the same. It was a great experience to be able to do temple work with everyone in my group. Crazy side note, but as we were getting to the temple I saw a group of people leaving and one of the guys looked really familiar, the closer I got to him I realized it was one of my friends from college! It was so crazy how I ran into someone I knew in Switzerland..
After staying at Bern, we went to Geneva. Geneva was awesome. We were able to visit the Olympic Museum. Which I was super stoked about ever since we got the itinerary for our trip! I have an obsession with the Olympics, so I could not wait to see the history behind it all. I loved it all. There were videos that we were able to watch, and every single video gave me the chills. There were also replicas of every Olympic torch that has been carried, and it gave a description of why the torch was designed the way it was. You could say that I kind of like sports, so it was a blast going through and looking at how the Olympic games have evolved throughout the years. Oh and I touch a basketball signed by the USA Dream Team, even thought it said DO NOT TOUCH, I know I am a rebel. We spent hours in the museum and it was so amazing! I could have easily stayed longer.
After going to the museum, we went back to our hostel and there was a huge festival going on in Geneva, so we were able to explore the city. We also went to the United Nations headquarters with a group of girls. So, Switzerland was basically great. I loved it.
So, not going to lie, when I first looked at our itinerary and saw how much we were going to be in Germany, I asked myself, WHY. Germany sure surprised me! I loved it, it was absolutely beautiful. All of the old buildings are so spectacular, the architecture in Germany is amazing. Germany was probably one of my favorite places, probably because I was not sure really what to expect. On this part of our trip we stayed on the grounds of the Freiberg Temple, which was amazing. Then during the day we traveled down to Dresden, where we walked around a little town market, toured cathedrals, and traveled the city. After walking around for awhile we decided that gelato was a must, I mean when is it not? Gelato was definitely a theme for the whole trip, and I wasn't even mad about it.
The next day, we woke up early and went to the Freiberg temple. It was such an amazing experience being able to see that the temple ordinances are the same wherever you go. After attending the temple, we went back to Dresden for round 2. We were able to tour the Semper Opera House, which was so beautiful! After the opera house, we took a trip to Pfunds Dairy,which The Guinness Book certified as the 'world's most beautiful dairy shop'. The inside of this shop had such a unique and intricate design. I am so glad that we decided to take the long trek to this famous dairy. Once we got back to Freiberg for the night, a couple of us decided it was a perfect night for a run, and let me tell you it was beautiful. On this run I was able to talk and get to know some people I hadn't really gotten a chance to ever get to know. As we were running the sun was setting, it was spectacular. We all were super bummed none of us brought our phones to capture the beauty of the sun setting over the fields of yellow flowers, but don't worry I took mental pictures for myself. Once we got back, it was a pretty chill night were we all sat in the hall just talking and being on our phones/computers(we voted this place with the best wifi of the trip).
