Lucerne, Switzerland

Day 3:
Eight long hours go by on the coach as we cruise from France to Switzerland. Lucerne, Switzerland reminded me of home in a strange way. It was a small cow town and far less crowded compared to Paris. The town was ours for a few hours to travel through. I picked up a few Swiss army knives as souvenirs, according to Ryno, everyone who lives in Switzerland must be issued a Swiss Army knife. Of course, my next most anticipated intop was to the cheese cafe!! The Swiss cheese was sooooo delicious (however, they don't call it Swiss cheese).

The Reuss River looked very refreshing and there were a bunch of swans floating along the river. Ally, Bethany and I walked on the Chapel Bridge across the river. This day in Switzerland was very relaxing and quaint. We just strolled around the town checking out local shops and the serene view.

The coach came to pick us up to take us to the next hotel. This hotel was much better than the bunker-style hotel in Paris. But what was weird was that there was a shower (kinda like a closet shower) in the middle of the hallway. All the rooms had their own shower, so we couldn't figure out why there was a random shower in the hallway - weird. Also, the elevator was the smallest thing in the world only holding 2-3 people. Better yet though, there was a stairway from the top floor to the rooftop. The view was awesome and we were in the middle of small neighborhood, so it was very non-touristy.


Dinner was at a Swiss Folklore restaurant called Stadtkeller, where there was live entertainment. Fondue and mugs of beer were served upon arrival. It was my first time having fondue, so I was happy. But I didn't realize that fondue was made with beer, and it was rather strong, yet tasty in a unique way. At first I wasn't really into the entertainment and I was getting a little sleepy despite the loud music. So I found some Sudoku from the bathroom...random!


Suddenly the entertain- ment started to pick up. A woman was yodeling and brought up members from the various groups around the restaurant. Two of our guys went up and we all cheered them on as they tried out their yodeling vocals and chugged beer. To my surprise, things really started to get crazy when a make-shift cow came out to all the tables. That thing was getting pretty close up in peoples' grills, and it was hilarious. Also, there was some random crazy old man getting his groove on faster then some of our girls! He was a pretty happy old man...

Once the craziness was over from what was a pretty unexpected dinner, we all headed to this chic bar. I heard the drinks were good. Below the main floor was a dance floor beaming with red lights. More locals were on the dance floor then upstairs at the bar. I decided to call it a night and headed home in cab with Monique and some others while the rest of the late-night crew went to some fab Beach Club with sand on the ground...kinda mad I didn't suck it up and stay out later, but the bed was calling my name.


Day 4:
Before leaving the enchanting country, what would a trip to Switzerland be without going on the top of the Swiss Alps? We rode a small little train to a glass elevator-type lift to take us to the top of the mountain. At the top, the air was that much more fresh, cold, and clean. It was relatively early in the morning still, so there was a lot of early morning mist, but it felt great. We got to wonder around and take pictures from nearly every angle. There was a post, that like the Eiffel Tower, gave the distances to other major cities around the world. It was peaceful to be on our own roaming the mountain, taking in such healthily stunning land.

Switzerland is like the pearl of an Oyster. I've heard so much about places like France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, etc, but I've never really heard anything special about Switzerland, but it was definitely beautiful. Actually, out of all the places we traveled to, I would love to spend at least a month in a small cottage in the hills of Switzerland over any other place (except maybe Austria of course...).

Thank you Switzerland for your yummy cheese and breathtaking landscape.