Our second stop last week was Lucerne, Switzerland. It had been one of my favorite places from the Europe trip I took in high school, so I was excited to go back. The two hour train ride to get there from Interlaken had beautiful views for the entire ride. I love Switzerland! Alex and I traveled there by ourselves because the other girls' sledding excursion took the entire day.
Upon arriving, we hopped on the bus to get to our hostel, eager to put our backpacks down and find some real food for the first time of the day. But we got on the bus going the wrong direction, so that took longer than expected. Then, when we finally got going in the right direction, we missed pushing the button at our stop and had to get off at the next one. As soon as I stepped off of the bus, I immediately realized that my Eurail pass was no longer in my hand. Commence panic mode. Alex was reassuring, saying I probably just had put it in a pocket or my purse, but I knew. And I felt like I was going to get sick. We contemplated walking to the hostel and asking them for help, but thankfully we didn't immediately resort to that. We saw a Number 6 bus come and started running uphill to catch it. We got on, but realized right away that it wasn't the correct bus. A minute after we got off, another bus from our route came up the hill, and I looked in the back of the third car and saw my Eurail pass on the ground. But the door wouldn't open! I kept pushing the button, and finally the driver started yelling in German from the front... I couldn't understand what he said but thankfully he could make out my panicked yelling and I retrieved my precious Eurail. This magic little piece of paper (literally, just a piece of paper... as in it would've been mistaken for trash) is what allows me to take trains all over Europe this semester. It can only be purchased in the US and Canada, and costs an obscene amount of money, so I am so incredibly thankful it all worked out.
Walking into our hostel was a bizarre experience. I had read online that it was owned by Koreans, and had pretty good reviews, but that was all I knew. And that it was by far the cheapest (still not that cheap) hostel to be found in Lucerne. No one was at the desk when we walked in, but several people were hanging out, cooking, etc. We sat down to wait for the owner to come back so we could check in and find some grub. As we waited, we looked around and realized everyone was wearing funny slippers. And then another American came and was waiting to check in, so we made a new friend. Finally the owner came back and I checked into my first dorm-style hostel with strangers. They only had tiny lockers, so it felt strange to leave our backpacks out, but we left in search of food and to wait for Lainey and Emily at the train station. We had thought we had had an adventurous day with our castle excursion in Interlaken and the Eurail episode, but hearing about their sledding was hilarious. Apparently it was much more than they had expected, basically from the top of a mountain down a ski slope. We were all worn out but thanks to the snorer and some pals who decided to wake up at 5:30, we didn't get too much rest.
Doing research paid off the next day, as we found that our Eurail passes allowed us to go on a boat cruise on the beautiful Lake Lucerne. The water is so beautiful that OPI has a polish called "Lucerne." We met a nice family from Arizona and chatted with them for awhile on the boat... it's always so fun to make connections and hear our beautiful native language. Really, after hearing some of these other languages, it's beautiful! Alex and I got off the boat after an hour to take a cogwheel train up Mt. Rigi, while Lainey and Emily headed back to Lucerne to catch a train to Salzburg. The train ride up the mountain provided breath-taking views of the lake and the mountains. At one point we rounded a bend and there was an audible sigh from almost everyone on board. When we reached the top, we hiked/slid/climbed up higher to get an even better view. It was so windy and cold, but so incredible. We had to wait an hour for the next train down, and after a train we got to ride a cable car down to the cute little town of Weggis. We went to a fun bakery, took pictures, and hopped back on the boat!
Alex and I visited the famous Lion Monument which is in remembrance of the Swiss Guards who died protecting the royal family during the French Revolution. Mark Twain has called this sculpture "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world." It was felt so somber, yet was so beautiful. I can't connect the camera I used there to my computer, so here is one I found online.
That night we ate dinner and shopped a little. Our second night at the hostel was much better and we jumped on the train the next morning for Salzburg!
Sorry for the lazy clump of photos... again, here is the link to the album for the whole week!
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