A Trip to Luzern, Switzerland
When my parents suddenly encouraged me to take a trip to Europe before I start working again, I didn’t hesitate and contacted my friend, Catie, to see if she was interested in joining me. She called me right away and we began planning our trip to Europe that day.
Before meeting her and other friends, I decided that I wanted to see some of Switzerland. Switzerland has always been one of the many places I wanted to see in Europe.
Before I knew it, I was on my way to enjoy a few weeks in Europe! I booked a round trip flight from Seattle to Paris since my friends and I were mainly focused on meeting there (many of my friends live in France so it was the most convenient location). I landed in Paris (8:10 am) feeling very groggy from no sleep and made my way to the train area in the airport. I traveled on the train from CDG -Lyon Part Dieu - Geneva - Lucerne (9:58am - 18:01pm); I was barely functioning by the time I made it to Luzern. Then, the international data plan I had purchased with my phone wasn’t working and there wasn’t any free wifi to connect to. I purchased a sandwich at the train station store and took a taxi to my hostel. I ate my sandwich and took a short walk around the block. The view just around there was incredible. A girl in the hostel was super nice and gave me a chocolate from her country, and then I passed out for the night.
“Interesting facts: Switzerland is not part of the EU so their currency is Swiss Francs, but they do accept the euro. Also, the official languages include German, French and Italian (depending on the location in Switzerland, one will be the main language used). ”
The next day, I woke up feeling so refreshed. The previous night, I had checked the weather and supposedly today (May 30) was the only non-rainy day I was going to have in Switzerland. For this reason, I spontaneously bought a ticket to go up to the top of Mt. Pilatus. I ate a wonderful breakfast consisting of orange juice and a meat and bread sandwich (their bread is by far better than that in the U.S.), and then headed out. I rode a very long way up the mountain with a combination of cable cars and a gondola. Closer to the top there were so many clouds that I couldn’t see anything. The view from the top was stunning! We were above the layer of clouds and I could see for miles.
I had a bite to eat at the cafe on the top of the mountain, and then took the cogwheel train down the mountain. It was so cool to descend into the clouds and then see all the cows peacefully grazing with the sound from the bells around their necks filling the air.
From the bottom of the mountain, I took a train back to Luzern and then wandered around the downtown area. I walked along the edge of Lake Lucerne, crossed Chapel Bridge and walked through Old Town over to Löwendenkmal (lion statue). It was quite a nice start to my time in Switzerland.
What a great time in Luzern! Although it was brief, I truly enjoyed my time here and could see myself returning in the future. Everyone was so nice and the views were breathtaking. Tomorrow, I’m on my way to Interlaken!