Switzerland is one of my all time favorites. The beauty of this country is highly prized… but the price of staying here is less than desirable.
I studied art in Lucerne, Switzerland in June of 2015. I was only there for 3 days but that was enough time to break the bank. A McDonald’s meal was close to $20 so you can imagine the costs comparatively.
Cost negativity aside, Lucerne is absolutely magical and one of the shiniest gems in Europe. Lucerne is European through and through and has the history to back it. One of the highlights to this trip was taking a walking tour through the old town. Much of the city still has a medieval look and feel and listening to the history on this tour sends you into a trance that will take you back 700 years. It is probably the closest I’ll get to time traveling. We heard tales of the great plague of the 1300’s and of Swiss Saints. The chapel bridge, also know as martyr bridge, connects the old town and the new town and depicts the stories of each martyr. Paintings date back to the 17th century! A lovely, morbid stroll over Lake Lucerne accompanied by headless saints.
Creepy fact learned on this tour: the morticians would put a bell in the coffins because so many people were buried alive after being confused for dead while they were just extremely drunk.
There’s a lot of mysterious and cool artwork on the sides of the buildings that somehow mingle perfectly with the wood thatched roofs. One of the things that has popped up in my mind almost everyday since I have left Switzerland is the quality of the drinking water. Huge fountains throughout the city act as both decoration and drinking fountains. The fountains were funneled straight from the fresh springs on the top of the surrounding mountains.
The food was amazing there too. Fondue was top quality, which I expected in the birthplace of fondue.
There were tons of chocolate shops- Lindt has a huge shop there in the center of town.
I had a stew while I was there and it was definitely in the running for my favorite meal I have ever had (see blog post Central while I was in Peru).
My hotel was a short walk away from the main town. I had the top floor room that had large windows with big wooden shutters that I kept open. There was a large mountain with a tiny church half way up right outside of the window and every morning I woke up to the sun rising over the mountain.
On to the water. Lake Lucerne’s beaches are the hip place to go. The water is beautifully blue and there are some bars right on the beach. You can grab a few beers with some friends and swim all day. There is a river of naturally frizzante (sparkling/carbonated) waters that run through the center of town and it sparkles in the sun just beautifully. Alongside of the river was a daily flower market filled with beautiful roses and sunflowers.
On to my favorite exhilarating experience- paragliding off Niederbauen Mountain. I would say it was a perfect blend of parasailing and sky diving and for me, a perfect way to have a thrill of a lifetime without dying of a heart attack first. My friends and I trekked up more than a mile above Lake Lucerne via sky gondola and hiking to meet our guides at the summit. Once there, we looked over the edge of the cliff to see the surrounding snow-capped mountains, the brilliantly blue Lake Lucerne, and seemingly tiny doll houses in a field of green below. I was strapped to a folded parachute that lied behind me and was told to run as fast as I can until I can jump off the cliff. My guide said “don’t forget to take long strides and don’t trip over yourself or else you’ll fall off the mountain and the parachute will not inflate.” He was blunt and German, he was not seasoned in calming nerves. “What if there is not enough wind to catch the parachute?” I ask. “Then we die,” you heard it folks, simple as that. So I took a deep breath, trusted the blunt german man that held my life in his hands, and ran full force off the mountain. I was in free fall for a few seconds until the parachute was directly overhead, then it was smooth sailing for here on out. We were in the sky for about 15 breathtaking minutes. It was truly sublime. My guide would puppeteer the parachute so we would rock side to side and horizontally be overtaken by gusts of wind. We landed smoothly in a grassy knoll filled with flowers.
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So to recap, Switzerland holds many of my personal favorites. My favorite European city to date, my favorite stew, and my favorite adrenaline- packed experience. I can’t wait to find my way back.
