Bucket List: Item #1

Over the final free weekend, I crossed off the top item on my bucket list: going to Switzerland! Growing up, I saw photos of how beautiful the country was. Finally, I had my chance to go. Like the other weekends, there was stress, craziness, and life-changing experiences. For one, the minute we made it to Switzerland, we made friends. We greeted a group of students from Michigan State University as we heard them speak English. They showed us the bus system and oddly enough, we found that we were all staying at the same hostel! After I got settled in the 20-bed room, I knew this was a true "hostel experience". Our new friends from MSU decided to go out and explore the city with my TAMU group. We checked out local festivals/clubs and had a great time! 

The next day, we had our "touristy" day in Luzern. We visited the Gletschergarten, Chapel Bridge, and the Luzern Lion. To conserve money, we mainly snacked all day: breads, cheeses, spreads, free samples, etc. from the market street. After visiting the Church of St. Leodegar, an odd thing happened. We were all starving and cold (the rain/wind was a bit brutal). As I approached a menu at a nearby cafe, this Swiss group at a table called us over. They grabbed four chairs and had us sit down with them. Next thing we know, they're buying us drinks for no cost! Hot chocolate, a nice bottle of wine, etc. They paid for all of it! If you don't know anything about Switzerland, know this: everything's expensive. Our bill came out to 453 CHF, which is about $500 in U.S. dollars. Casually, our new friend pulled out this money and handed it to the waitress. Then afterwards, they showed a nice Italian restaurant to eat at. While our day was filled with the "touristy" side of Luzern, it was nice having a feel of authentic Swiss culture through our new friends!

On Sunday, the weather cleared up. Finally, we were able to do what Switzerland is meant for: mountains! Ideally, we would have climbed for the full experience (3.5 hour climb). However, due to time constraints, we bought cable car passes to reach the top of Mt. Pilatus. At one of the stops, we got to stop and enjoy the view, as well as go tobagganing! It is basically a slide down the mountain that you can accelerate. It was a lot of fun. 

As we reached the top of Mt. Pilatus, the view was breathtaking. At the top, Luzern looked like the photos from my childhood. My #1 item on my bucket list: crossed off. I jumped like a little boy when I heard the Swiss cows ringing their bells as they grazed. I was speechless at the sights from the top of the mountain. While there weren't as many sites, activities, tourist attractions, etc. as Paris, or Salzburg, or Munich, I was still extremely happy with Switzerland. The simplicity, the beauty, the cows--Switzerland is in my heart forever.