Swiss You Were Here (Part 9)

I can't believe this is our last Switzerland post! Our trip was so much fun! Makes me wish I was there right now (that and the heat index here is already 100 just a little after 10!)

We woke up early Saturday morning to head to the airport. We had to catch the train from Luzern to the airport at 7:15. We made it with time to spare! Breakfast wasn't being served yet at the hotel, so we just snacked on what we had. The train ride was just over an hour. It wasn't very scenic, but I still enjoyed looking out the window. J tried to sleep some, but wasn't successful. We arrived at the airport and after a slow start printing our boarding passes, we were off through security. It sure is different than here! Shoes on? OK! Big bottles of liquid? OK! Only metal detectors to pass through.. score! 

We still had some Swiss francs we needed to spend, so we picked up some chocolate to share when we got home. We made our way to our terminal...and it was blocked off. We didn't know we had to go back through customs to leave, and the line was so long they had blocked it off for a few minutes. Thankfully, the customs officers were pretty quick and we got through... only to have to catch a train to our terminal. Oops! We didn't really plan for all this. We finally got there, quickly got some breakfast and ran to our gate (at the other end, naturally). They were just starting to board. Whew! And it turns out that since we didn't check luggage, we had to go through an extra security screening. No biggie. We found our seats and were off! 

The plane ride home was LONG! Thankfully, the movies we pretty good, and I had books on the ipad. Lunch was surprisingly good, too. The snack was interesting... we had a 5 cheese calzone. Sounds pretty good, right? Until you read that one of the cheeses was cream cheese! I don't think that counts... Anyway, we made it to NYC and had plenty of time to relax and get some food (hello, Wendy's!). Our plane to RDU was tiny, so we had to walk outside in the heat. Then we were delayed for some reason... and man it gets hot on the plane with no cool air! I think the chocolates made it okay though... so did we! So glad to be back home.

A few things we noticed or found interesting:

- There was hardly any wildlife. Sure we saw cows, sheep goats... but where were the mountain goats and mountain lions? All we saw were slugs, a snail, a squirrel, and 2 mice- the entire trip! It really surprised us considering how much we were outside. 

- Switzerland is SO clean. The trains were insanely clean. The streets had no litter. I wish people here would take pride in their surroundings like the Swiss do!

- The trains are a dream to navigate. They are all punctual, and the schedule is made to where you can easily make your connection. Only have 3-5 min for a connection. No problem, seriously. Your train is probably waiting on you, but it will leave on time. 

- The water in the lakes is incredibly blue. It is something about the minerals the water acquires as it comes down the mountains.

- The area was a lot more touristy than we thought. And most of the tourists were much older than us. Probably because they can afford it! Switzerland is expensive! There were hoards of tourists at all the big attractions (Jungfraujoch, popular trails, etc)

- There are fountains everywhere in Switzerland. It is natural water that they pipe in through a spout. You can drink it, too. We used these to refill our water bottles when we were hiking. The best part- it was ICE cold!

- Random: A family from Illinois sat right behind us on the way to Zurich. We saw then on the train to Interlaken, and a couple of times in Wengen. AND they sat two rows behind us on the plane home. Crazy. It's a small world for sure.

And that's the rest of the story...

 

Swiss You Were Here (Part 8)

Our last full day in Swizterland... where had the time gone?! We were sad our trip was almost over, but also ready to be home! We had breakfast at our hotel, which was not your standard American continental breakfast. There were lunch meats, baguettes, a couple of cereals, and a few other things I can't remember. It wasn't bad, it was just not what we were used to! 

After breakfast, we walked to the dock and hopped on a boat for Vitznau. We cruised along Lake Luzern on our way to Mount Rigi. The scenery, unsurprisingly, was beautiful. It was hazy, so the pictures didn't turn out great. Oh well! We'll always remember how pretty it really was. 

Maroon Friday in Switzerland!

We arrived in Vitznau and hopped on the train to Mount Rigi. After a 30 minute train ride, we arrived at the top. And it was WINDY! We roamed around the top some, took a few pictures, then began our hike to Rigi Kaltbald.

We hiked down to Rigi Kaltbald, but it wasn't a really pretty hike. We did see some cows though!

After getting to Rigi Kaltbald, we took the cable car down to Weggis. We found our way to the dock and got some ice cream while waiting on the boat back to Luzern. It was no Sunny Skies, but it sure hit the spot. The boat ride on the way back was hot and sunny! We were wishing we had brought our swim suits so we could just jump in the lake! We got back to Luzern and were starving. We did have snacks during our hike (and the ice cream), but since it was late afternoon now, it was time to get some real food. And guess what we managed to find?! Fried shrimp and fries! This was the best meal we had the whole trip. Ha! We went to Migros and bought some chocolate, then stopped by their restaurant. We saw the fried shrimp and that was it! We wandered around town for a while after our (really late) lunch, then headed back to the hotel to pack up and rest for a looooong travel day.

to be continued....

Swiss You Were Here (Part 7)

We woke up and finished packing our bags to head to Luzern. I am not sure how we fit so mush stuff in our suitcases! We got it all in and headed for the train station. The first train to Lauterbrunnen was full, so we waited for the next one (only 30 min.) We hopped on the train with all our stuff and were off. When we arrived in Lauterbrunnen, the train to Interlaken wasn't there. This was shocking because the trains are ALWAYS on time in Switzerland. They even made an announcement that it was running 5 minutes late. I was worried it would cause us to miss our train to Luzern, which only runs once an hour. Thankfully, we made it in plenty of time! Most of the trains between big cities are pretty nice, but the one to Luzern wasn't. :( NO A/C. At least we could put the window down, so when we were moving it felt good! The train ride took longer than we thought (3 hours), so I am glad we had snacks packed. And the scenery was beautiful along the way!

Lake Brienz

Brienz

Lugano

Lugano

Waterfall!

We finally arrived in Luzern and found our hotel easily. Our room wasn't ready yet, so we dropped our luggage off and went to explore... and find lunch! We ate lunch at Coop City, which is a branch of a grocery store. This store had EVERYTHING. Clothes, food, and a restaurant!! It was cafeteria style. We just picked up sandwiches and chips for lunch. It was nice eating in a cool place because Luzern was about 90°. I'm not sure it got above 80° in the mountains! After lunch, we went back to the hotel, got our key, and changed into shorts! Much better! The town was walkable and completely different from the Alps, so we were glad we got a different experience without leaving the country.

Fountain and church ride outside our hotel window

On the Chapel Bridge

On the Chapel Bridge

View from Old Town Walls

Lion Monument

 

We did a walking tour of the town. It was really crowded and pretty touristy. Luzern is the biggest tourist destination in Switzerland, I think. For supper, we ate Burger King and a few of our snacks. Since our hotel had no air conditioning, we slept with the windows open. It was tolerable, but we missed A/C for sure! It was also the night of the Italy/Germany soccer game in the Euro Cup, so cars were honking their horns for hours! Thankfully, we were tired so it didn't keep us from falling asleep.

to be continued....

Swiss You Were Here (Part 6)

Today was our last day in the Alps. This also meant our trip was quickly coming to an end. Even though I wasn't feeling 100%, I wasn't going to let that stop us for enjoying the day. The weather was beautiful and a perfect hiking day. We took the train to Lauterbrunnen, then hopped on the cable car up to Grutschalp. We could see the cable car from our apartment in Wengen. It was steep! After a short train ride, we were in Murren. Murren is much smaller than Wengen. It was a quaint town and we liked the feel there better. BUT the views are much more beautiful in Wengen, so we were glad we were staying there.  

View from train

After exploring Murren (and accidentally buying sparkling water, yuck!), we hiked to Gimmelwald. Gimmelwald is Rick Steve's favorite town. It's very quaint, as there is nothing there. We didn't find it particularly fascinating, but it was a pretty hike!

We arrived in Gimmelwald just in time to take the cable car to Stechelberg. The cable car goes STRAIGHT DOWN. It is almost 1500 feet difference in elevation. Whew! Once we arrived, we headed down the path to Lauterbrunnen. The valley has 72 waterfalls, and the path took us near most of them. Some were unimpressive and we didn't see them all, but it is still crazy to think that there are that many waterfalls around!

When we got to Lauterbrunnen, we ate at Hotel Steinbock (I think). I was so thirsty and it was $3 for hot tap water with no refills! Thankfully we had some water we had gotten from a fountain so I had something else to drink. I ordered Rosti, a traditional Swiss dish- fried potatoes, cheese, fried egg. It wasn't that good, but I was hungry, so I ate it. J had pork sausage and fries.

After our late lunch, we headed back to Wengen to pack up and for me to rest.  We enjoyed finishing our cheeses on the balcony. With a view like we had, we had to soak it in as much as possible.

Pictures just don't do it justice!

to be continued....