Switzerland

My first visit to Switzerland came during my gap year before college. While staying with one of my Italian tennis friends and his family on Lake Como, I realized Lugano was just a short train ride away, so I crossed the border for the day. Sitting on the shores of a beautiful lake with the Alps rising behind it, Lugano felt incredibly peaceful.

Several years later, during my MBA, I spent some time in Zurich on my way to Liechtenstein. By chance, I arrived during the Street Parade, one of the world’s largest electronic music festivals, where hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets. I even saw parents raving with their infants on their shoulders, an extraordinary sight. I also visited the Lindt Home of Chocolate, which was especially meaningful because my grandmother had always taken me to chocolate factories while I was growing up. Drinking melted chocolate straight from the fountain was a childhood dream come true.