Snow high, snow low – off to Switzerland we go!

Train ride to Switzerland

Our week long trip has begun! Brady, Kevin, Jake and I left for the train station at 9:15am. The bus was running really slowly but luckily we made it with about 10 minutes to spare so it was fine. We got on the train and got our seats. The train was a railjet so it was really nice and a faster train. I have gotten to really like riding on trains because it is such a good way to see the country. It was a beautiful ride! At one point all of the ground was covered in snow! It was so cool! And it made me really excited for it to snow. So beautiful! At one point this couple came by and started talking to us. I am pretty sure it was German but I had NO idea what they were saying. I am guessing it was Switzerland dialect but I could not pick up one word which was strange. I thought they were saying we were in their seats but it did say it was free. I don’t know. It was a weird situation but everything was fine in the end. We had to switch trains in Zurich and then had an hour train ride to Luzern. The whole trip took about 6 hours. As soon as we got to the train station we went and bought train tickets for our way back to Zurich on Monday. It was funny because the guy I talked to to get the tickets instantly spoke English to me when I asked a question in German. That has happened to me a lot actually. Like when I went shopping yesterday. (Yes, I actually went shopping! And I was successful!) I figure it is better to try German and then English than to not try at all. It is kind of funny though. 



Luzern

Then we headed out to find our hostel. I don’t know if this was bad or not but we went to a really nice hotel and asked for a map. It was really nice because they gave us two – one map of the city and a map of things to go see. After that we found our hostel without any problems at all. The hostel is called the Lion Lodge and it is really nice. We got upgraded to a four person room instead of us four in a six person room so that was nice. And we did not have to pay for the upgrade. The weird thing was that they did not accept credit cards which was kind of a pain. We didn’t have enough cash on us so they said we could pay tomorrow. After we got settled in we walked around town to try and find some place to eat. The city at night looked absolutely beautiful! There are mountains in every direction and are covered in snow. It is gorgeous! Also the buildings that were all lit up were cool too. There is a lake right in the middle of the town which just makes everything so picturesque with the lake, mountains, bridges and buildings. It is hard to describe but it is wonderful! We found a place to eat near our hostel but the prices were so expensive. We kept walking and actually asked two girls where we could find cheap food. They kind of laughed at us and said McDonalds was probably our best bet. Haha! They were really nice and told us our German was good so that is always nice! We ended up going back to the first place we saw which was called California. They had burgers there and we all were craving one since it has been so long since we have had a burger. The burgers were good but it ended up being about a $20 meal which is hard. After dinner we walked around the town a little longer and we decided to go to a grocery store and buy food instead of going out for every meal. Our hostel has a kitchen we can use which is really nice. We bought eggs and bacon for breakfast and some bread and peanut butter for lunches. It is just simple stuff but we thought it would save us some money. Then we went back to the hostel and just relaxed in the lounge they have. They have free wireless so I got to Skype with Mom which was so nice! We weren’t doing anything so I was glad I got to talk to her! Kevin and Jake decided to go out with some guys they met but Brady and I were too tired so we went to bed. It was a long day and it was already midnight so we decided against it. I am already in love with Luzern after being here for a couple hours and I can’t wait to see how it looks during the day!