Lucerne, Switzerland
2006-12-04
The Swiss Alps
I went with my roommate and Baylor Dance Company friend, Amber, to Lucerne, Switzerland. The main objective of our journey was for Amber to see snow for the first time in her life. It was our last trip abroad while studying abroad in Florence!! Lucerne was gorgeous, cold and and Alps were as amazing as you could ever imagine.
However, there was absolutely no snow. We had initially planned on skiing, but Europe is too warm and not enough snow has fallen anywhere. We were both depressed about this fact and very disappointed, but we made the most of it and ended up coming home to Florence earlier than we had anticipated.
Amber and I used our Eurail flexi passes for the last time during our trips to Switzerland. We left Thursday night on an overnight train and got lucky with rooming with only females. One woman was Italian, one was Swiss and one we never figured out because she got on when we were half asleep. Next to our cuchetta (6 person bunkbed sleeping quarters) there were at least three Americans who kept on talking about some very sexual subjects. It is amazing how different people from the Northern states than from the Southern because we were freaking out while they talked.
We finally arrived in Lucerne after a brief change of trains from our overnight. We checked into our hostel that was right on the river that was covered in white swans. Lucerne has two quaint covered bridges that were built in the 15th century.
The bridges and lake filled with swans is beautiful.
We went to the top of Mount Rigi to see the Alps. We had to take a boat there and then the first cogswheel railroad in the world to the top of the mountain. It was breathtaking! Lucerne was covered in fog, but at the top of the mountain you could see the foggy clouds settled amongst the mountains.
When we reached the top of Rigi, we made peace with the fact that we would not see snow in the Swiss Alps. Our consolation was eating goulash soup and drinking apple cider while looking at the surrounding majesty of the Alps. We took an hour hike to the gondola on Rigi and arrived by bus and train back to Lucerne by 7.
The Swiss people are very friendly. If you plan on studying abroad in Italy you need to know that Italian people are not very nice. The women are petty and the men want sex. I hate to be blunt, but it is life here. I will admit that it is sometimes hard to return to Italy for this fact.
That night Amber and I went out to a few bars that the man at the front desk of our hostel recommended. The first two were old people hang outs, but the last one was called Roadhouse and was a lot of fun. I hate language barriers in Europe! Switzerland uses German.
The next day we had a wonderful breakfast at our hostel. We then went to see the dying lion of Lucerne. On the way I bought a Swiss army knife for my dad (they were everywhere) and a couple other things. The Swiss frank right now is the equivalent of the American dollar. It was a nice change from the Euro.
After seeing the dying lion of Lucerne we simply walked around until we ended up at the train station. The Swiss people had Christmas lights absolutely everywhere. We ended up leaving Lucerne at about 1 and I am glad we left so early. The train to Milan went through the Alps and the views were breathtaking. We ended up in Florence at about 7 and were able to rest that night so I could shop for souvenirs and see the Cinderella ballet the next day at Teatro Verdi.
The Swiss Alps
I went with my roommate and Baylor Dance Company friend, Amber, to Lucerne, Switzerland. The main objective of our journey was for Amber to see snow for the first time in her life. It was our last trip abroad while studying abroad in Florence!! Lucerne was gorgeous, cold and and Alps were as amazing as you could ever imagine.
However, there was absolutely no snow. We had initially planned on skiing, but Europe is too warm and not enough snow has fallen anywhere. We were both depressed about this fact and very disappointed, but we made the most of it and ended up coming home to Florence earlier than we had anticipated.
Amber and I used our Eurail flexi passes for the last time during our trips to Switzerland. We left Thursday night on an overnight train and got lucky with rooming with only females. One woman was Italian, one was Swiss and one we never figured out because she got on when we were half asleep. Next to our cuchetta (6 person bunkbed sleeping quarters) there were at least three Americans who kept on talking about some very sexual subjects. It is amazing how different people from the Northern states than from the Southern because we were freaking out while they talked.
We finally arrived in Lucerne after a brief change of trains from our overnight. We checked into our hostel that was right on the river that was covered in white swans. Lucerne has two quaint covered bridges that were built in the 15th century.
The bridges and lake filled with swans is beautiful.
We went to the top of Mount Rigi to see the Alps. We had to take a boat there and then the first cogswheel railroad in the world to the top of the mountain. It was breathtaking! Lucerne was covered in fog, but at the top of the mountain you could see the foggy clouds settled amongst the mountains.
When we reached the top of Rigi, we made peace with the fact that we would not see snow in the Swiss Alps. Our consolation was eating goulash soup and drinking apple cider while looking at the surrounding majesty of the Alps. We took an hour hike to the gondola on Rigi and arrived by bus and train back to Lucerne by 7.
The Swiss people are very friendly. If you plan on studying abroad in Italy you need to know that Italian people are not very nice. The women are petty and the men want sex. I hate to be blunt, but it is life here. I will admit that it is sometimes hard to return to Italy for this fact.
That night Amber and I went out to a few bars that the man at the front desk of our hostel recommended. The first two were old people hang outs, but the last one was called Roadhouse and was a lot of fun. I hate language barriers in Europe! Switzerland uses German.
The next day we had a wonderful breakfast at our hostel. We then went to see the dying lion of Lucerne. On the way I bought a Swiss army knife for my dad (they were everywhere) and a couple other things. The Swiss frank right now is the equivalent of the American dollar. It was a nice change from the Euro.
After seeing the dying lion of Lucerne we simply walked around until we ended up at the train station. The Swiss people had Christmas lights absolutely everywhere. We ended up leaving Lucerne at about 1 and I am glad we left so early. The train to Milan went through the Alps and the views were breathtaking. We ended up in Florence at about 7 and were able to rest that night so I could shop for souvenirs and see the Cinderella ballet the next day at Teatro Verdi.
Labels: Switzerland
posted by Alyssa at 11:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home