Once I arrived here, the most notable thing was my room. A room with a view over the lake and the Alps, with as bonus sometimes even Mont Blanc if the sky is clear enough. The house is shared with a single mother, her old dad (which are also the landlords) and four other expats. Everyone living here is always in for a nice chat and every Wednesday we open the wine bottles for a joined dinner. On top of that, my room is perfectly located: just a 5 minute walk to my work and several hikes/running spots are nearby. Needless to say Switzerland has plenty of mountains to hike, which I make full use of.

The people of EPFL are hard workers, however sometimes at the cost of spontaneity. Colleagues that work in the evening or during the weekend are no exception. And the Friday afternoon drink is not as busy as you’d expect.  Fortunately, my roommates are frequently in for some fun or a joined hike. However I have to give the Swiss credit to the Fête des Vendanges (vintage party). You can compare it to the Dutch King’s Day, but then it’s a weekend long and with Carnival-like parades in the afternoon. Here you can taste all types of wine from the region and/or join the Swiss to get completely drunk. With as bonus a lot of food stands, especially the delicious crêpes.

Thus Neuchâtel produces its own wine, which is also clearly noticeable with all those vineyards in the region and that large wine department at the local supermarket. While I wasn’t exactly the biggest wine lover when I arrived here, I started to appreciate it more and more during my stay. Secretly I think it’s a shame that the town doesn’t export its wine, I’ll miss it once my internship comes to an end.