Lucerne, Switzerland

Yesterday we spent a whirlwind day in Lucerne. I loved every moment of it except one.
We did our trip through the base. Josh isn't the biggest fan of sitting on a bus for long periods of time, but as I've mentioned before, getting to Switzerland (and sleeping in Switzerland) is expensive. I figured using one of the base's trips would be the easiest and most cost effective way to get there. Speaking of expensive... everyone we talked to about Switzerland who had been there told us how expensive it is. I thought I was prepared for this. I really wasn't. The exchange rate between the dollar and the Swiss Franc really isn't bad - a better exchange rate than with the Euro - it's close to 1 to 1. It's not the exchange rate which is the problem. Switzerland is a wealthy country and things are priced high. Period. For example, our tour stopped in the morning at a truck stop for breakfast. We had planned ahead and brought sandwiches for ourselves for breakfast, but we both wanted coffee. We ordered two regular cups of coffee. 10 Francs, or about $11 for two cups of coffee. Later in the day we got two small, one scoop ice cream cones... another 10 Francs. It isn't just the food. As we walked past stores I couldn't help but try to look at the price tags on things. Most items of clothing (even a plain cotton t-shirt) was above 50 Francs. Shoes "on sale" were 100 Francs. So you can see... just priced expensive. I knew that going in...

We left base in the middle of the night (2:30 a.m.) and rode to Switzerland on the bus. I, by some miracle, was able to sleep. When we arrived in Lucerne we were given the day to do what we wanted. There was no particular site I wanted to see, I just wanted to see everything. We started out at the Lion Monument, which honors the fallen Swiss Guard who were killed during the French Revolution. Pretty cool looking.

 

Afterwards we made our way through the streets of Lucerne, stopping to take ridiculous amounts of pictures. Recently we've been having chilly, rainy weather. Par for the course for Germany. However, it has finally started to warm up with some sunshine. Lucerne was full of sun and the temperature was in the 80's - a huge leap from what we're used to. It made the water of Lake Lucerne and the river sparkle, and the buildings seemed even brighter. Perfect picture weather.

There really isn't much to tell. It's better to show you pictures. Lucerne has a wooden bridge which spans the river, which is beautiful. We went inside of a church which is said to be the most beautiful church in Switzerland. It reminded me a lot of the church in Oberaummergau. We walked through the streets admiring the buildings - many buildings have intricate paintings and designs. We did a lot of window price tag shopping. We did sample and buy chocolate - how could you go to Switzerland and not have chocolate. High prices be damned - we came home with chocolate.

After walking through the town, we decided to take a lake cruise. This gave a whole different perspective on the look of the town, and we got some great views of the mountains. The lake (although I didn't feel it) appeared to be quite cold. It made for a nice temperature drop during our lake cruise - a welcome relief from the heat of the day.

Josh spent a lot of the day convincing me that yes, we were in Switzerland, no this wasn't Flathead Lake, and yes, the Alps are indeed bigger than the Mission Mountains. For most of the day I found myself debating if the Alps were really that big... because I swear the Missions look that big... I really enjoyed Lucerne. It is quaint, beautiful, easy to walk around... and in a way it reminded me of home. I would love to go back. I feel we saw everything we wanted to/need to, but I just liked being there. I would love to have a chance to go up the mountains - it takes a bit of time as you have to take a train out of town, then walk to a cable car which will take you up the mountain. Something we didn't have time for, but I would still like a chance to do it.

After my praise of Lucerne I bet you are wondering what is the one part I didn't like? Surprisingly, it wasn't the cost of things. On the bus ride home the air conditioning in the bus wasn't working. After walking around all day in 80 degree weather, we were hot and sweaty. Then we sat on a bus - which had been baking in the sun all day - for 6 hours with no air conditioning. No air flow whatsoever. I kept going through phases where I would be overwhelmingly tired from the heat and would nap... and then I would wake up and be so hot I felt sick. It was awful. We got home late last night and the first thing we did was take a shower. Followed by drinking tons of water. I woke up this morning kind of feeling like I had bit of heat stroke... Ugh.

However. Even the hellish bus ride can't take away from the beauty of Lucerne.