Swiss Miss, The Alps Adventure

I guess my love of “wingin’ it” and disinterest in planning things to completion could possibly be a euphemism for an “adventurous spirit”. When I landed in Zurich, chock full of “adventurousness”, I had no idea how to get to Lucerne --my final destination. I knew that trains went to Lucerne but that was about it. Seeing this as a quest, I envisioned myself strutting off the plane, hopping onto my clearly marked train and poof- I’m in Lucerne! Unfortunately, that plan went out the window when I walked into the train station at 11:00 PM and there were no staff members who could help me figure out where to go, how to buy a ticket and tell me which platform to get on. Oh yeah, and to make matters worse- all the signs are in German! Starting to panic and hearing my parents’ voices in my head reprimanding me for not thinking this one out, I decided to rely on my instinct. I instantly scanned the station looking for well-dressed people (don’t judge me…it usually works) and found a man in a nice suit. Well, this man turned out to actually be a saint because he helped me buy the ticket, got me on the train and then wrote out where I needed to transfer. As a blanket statement, Swiss people are amazing. I lucked out big time because somehow, after an entire day of traveling, I ended up in Lucerne… not planning can be fun too!


After a delicious breakfast, compliments of the Hotel Schiller, Britt, Nina and I decided to go out exploring. Our concierge gave us very detailed directions how to get there but after walking for a half hour we found ourselves in the middle of an industrial park that was pretty much the ugliest place ever. Overall, it was pretty similar to New Jersey. We popped into an office building to ask for directions and, ironically, we were relieved to hear that our concierge sent us the opposite way from town and that we didn’t elect to travel to ugly-ville. After re-orienting ourselves, we explored town for the rest of the day. It was phenomenal. It’s this quaint, old town that is dwarfed by the Alps. The views are sensational. I wish I could verbalize what it felt like to be looking up at the Alps from a covered bridge built in the 1600’s but really there are no words. Britt put it really well- she came away from the trip saying that the world is meant to be seen. And it really is. Switzerland is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been. Mountains, green grass and glacier lakes- it really can’t get any better. After exploring by foot for a while we decided to take a boat tour around Lake Lucerne where we relaxed in the sun and took pictures of each other and the sights about every other minute. After the boat, Nina went back and then Britt and I spent the rest of the day getting lost in the old village. It was physically exhausting but the only way to really see a city.


Mt. Titles, pronounced the way it's spelled, is in Engleberg, a sleepy little Swiss town. We planned on going to Mt. Titles because that’s where all the snow sports are- sledding, skiing, etc but unfortunately, when we got there the mountain was closed due to rough weather conditions. We were bummed but it didn’t even matter because getting to Engleberg was quite the adventure. We had to take a train that turned into a gondola- how fun! We were literally gliding through the Alps in our magical train car- find me something cooler than that. Ok, wait, I just did. There was NOTHING to do in Engleberg. Seriously nothing… everything was closed because it wasn’t ski season yet, so the only thing that was open was the cheese factory that was inside of a monastery. We were expecting a HUGE factory… instead it was one man standing over, literally, a pail of milk. We were cracking up!!! The factory doubled as a restaurant so we got to eat delicious fondue after!

I’m having a tough time with this blog because I cannot describe how it felt to be walking through such natural beauty. Britt and Nina were awesome- it was so refreshing to travel with people who are curious and anxious to explore (Spice we missed you though!!!!!!!!). We sampled Swiss food (they have these crazy pastries that look like little men), walked through castles, pastures and mountains and tried talking to Swiss people as often as possible. The nightlife was also ridiculous in Lucerne. I now know where all of the absurdly good looking 20 year olds live. We went out one night just to see the Swiss culture and had a blast attempting to talk to the locals. Britt asked one guy if he had heard of the rertaurant "Bamboo" and he emphatically responded," yes! I Loved Kill Bill!". Go figure!!

I can understand why Switzerland is a neutral country—it’s too beautiful to comprehend fighting.

Link to my switzerland photo album:http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=49121194904345570/l=308515932/g=14314790/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB