Switzerland: Lucerne

I have been to some amazing vacations spots before. The Bahamas with its gorgeous, sand beaches, Paris in all its French glory, even Colorado rates highly on my list of beautiful places to visit. But nothing will ever compare to the water of Lake Lucerne. I have never seen water as clear or as blue as Lake Lucerne. Even the pictures you will not do it justice. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Wednesday night, after class got out, I flew out of Prague into Zurich airport. Lucerne is a 45 minute drive from Zurich, so thinking ahead, I had called a car service to pick Kenzie and I up and shuttle us to Lucerne. We walk out into the arrival gate to be met with several guys in suits holding up signs with peoples last names on them. None of them reading mine. Thinking we got in early, Kenzie and I proceeded to sit in the airport for thirty minutes, waiting for our guy. We realized shortly that no one was actually coming for us. After contacting the agency, it was discovered they had never actually booked me a driver. Piece of advice: Always double check your bookings, so you don’t end up stranded at the Zurich airport. Trust me. Never fear, though, because we eventually made it to Lucerne.

The city. The water. The mountains. Lucerne, Switzerland has it all. Located in central Switzerland, Lucerne is German-speaking city, but like most cities in Europe, they speak English. Our first stop in this adorable town was Kapellbrucke! Chapel Bridge, named after St. Peter’s Chapel, is situated in Old Town. I know it is hard to imagine a charming bridge, but if there is a bridge to take the title, it is this one. Literally right as we started walking across Chapel Bridge it started to downpour. And while that sounds like a bummer, standing under that bridge looking at Lucerne in the rain was BEAUTIFUL! Ok, now after 30 minutes of standing and waiting for the rain to let up, it got kind of old, but that doesn’t make it any less lovely. We ate dinner on the river and got the famous Swiss fondue (chocolate this night not cheese)! And let me tell y’all, nothing beats Swiss chocolate. Trust me. I’ve eaten chocolate from every city we’ve visited, and theirs was the best.

Friday morning, bright and early, we went on a day trip to Interlaken and Grindelwald. The bus ride was about two hours, but it did not disappoint. Driving through the Swiss Alps is something I will never forget. The stop in Interlaken wasn’t very long, so we did a little wandering. We stopped and got hot chocolate (even though I was sweating. Why I thought Switzerland was suppose to be cold, I’ll never know) then walked along the river. Something that I never thought I would want to do, but seriously considered, is paragliding. There were tons and tons of paragliders around Interlaken. And while they did almost give me heart failure every time they landed, if I was going to do it somewhere, it would be Switzerland. Maybe if we had had more time, I would’ve done it. There is always next time. Grindelwald was just as beautiful. Surrounded by mountains that reached above the clouds, Kenzie and I rode a cable car up and drank some wine, trying to act like sophisticated adults (of course, failing miserably at then when we both kept trying to pet all of the dogs that people kept bringing by our table). We ate dinner that night at a Swiss folklore restaurant and got to see a lot of traditions like yodeling!

Saturday we treated as a day of rest. Our hotel had a swim pavilion right on the lake that we saw our first night and knew we had to try. We has unsuccessfully tried to by bathing suits two nights in a row, finally getting some Saturday morning. Armed with towels and water, we went to the dock. Something weird about Switzerland (or at least that I observed) is that the sun wasn’t hot. I mean, of course, the sun was hot, but I am use to laying out and getting fried as oppose to actually enjoying myself. Something we decided that we had to do was jump in the lake. This sounds like a pretty obvious conclusion, but I am leaving out a vital piece of information: The water was 50 degrees. It was freezing, colder than freezing; it was basically a melted block of ice. But we did it! And it was actually amazing swimming in a lake and having mountains as your background. It is probably one of my favorite memories of this entire European adventure.

So overall, Switzerland is a must see. It really has everything for a perfect summer getaway. And also swans. It has a ton of swans.

To Do:

–       Visit Basel

–       Paraglide in Interlaken

–       Jungfraujoch (just google it)

–       Rent a boat and have dinner on it

–       Buy a Swiss watch (apparently they’re fancy)