First, in the beginning of March, I got to leave Ireland for the first time and go to a place I've always dreamed of visiting- Switzerland. This country has always meant more to me than cheese, chocolate and fancy watches, because it is where my parents went on their honeymoon. I've heard stories of the beautiful mountains and crystal clear lakes, and I wanted to see them for myself. So when my friend Jen texted me one day in late February and said "What are you doing March 7-9? We should go somewhere!", and I found a relatively cheap flight to Zurich, we jumped on it!
Now I'm not usually the most spontaneous person, but here I was just two weeks later on a plane looking out the window at the Swiss Alps. I don't think I'll ever see such a beautiful view from an airplane window again! You know how things look really ridiculously small from airplanes? Not these mountains. That's how majestic they are. The picture doesn't even do it justice!
View of the Alps from the plane!
After landing and getting on the train to the city, we had to find our hostel. Zurich is such a beautiful, clean city! The river goes through the center of town and leads into the lake, and even the water was incredibly clean. We got a little lost finding the hostel and walked out of our way, but we got well acquainted with the city! We spent the rest of the evening walking around the city, going into expensive shops (I could never in a million years afford to live in Switzerland), eating chocolate, and stumbling upon the Carnival!
Lake Zurich
Clean streets with public cable cars!
This guy apparently has bad eyesight
So much chocolate!
These champagne truffles were definitely my favorite!
The carnival! We didn't really know what it was, but there were a lot of steel drums and strange costumes!
After a long day of traveling (traveling really is so exhausting. I get way more tired from a day of sitting in buses, airports, planes, and trains than I do spending the day walking around!), we headed back to our hostel for an early night's sleep. This was my first ever hostel experience, and I was really pleased with it! We stayed in a room with 3 bunk beds and got to meet some American girls that were studying abroad in Denmark. After talking to them, Copenhagen is definitely on my list of places to see before I die! The next morning we got up early and got to see the city before it was busy and bustling. It was a beautiful day, and there were a few people fishing in the river! We also climbed to the top of Grossmunster, a beautiful old church.
The view from the top of Grossmunster!
We also left our mark at the top of the church.
Even the fountains were incredibly clean! We saw someone use one as a drinking fountain so we gave it a try too!
All of the outdoor seating at restaurants also had blankets! This trend should definitely catch on in the US!
After enjoying the morning in Zurich, we took a train out to the beautiful city of Lucerne. Located on Lake Lucerne with the gorgeous Alps in the background, this city was definitely my favorite in Switzerland! We were only there for a few hours, but it was a beautiful day, and we walked around, sat by the lake, and went on a boat tour.
The Kapellbrucke, or Chapel Bridge
This building just seemed so Swiss!!
Of course we had to stop for more chocolate!
In preparation for Easter, they had an entire wall of chocolate bunnies!
On the boat tour!
After a wonderful afternoon, we went back to Zurich for the evening. It was Savannah's birthday, so we splurged on a delicious Swiss fondue dinner!! We even got to eat outside and wrap up in real Swiss blankets. As for the meal itself, I thought it would be like the Melting Pot, with multiple courses of meat, cheese and chocolate. As it turns out, real Swiss fondue is much simpler than that- they just stick to cheese and bread! We also ordered some potatoes to add a bit of variety to the meal. The cheese was delicious! I don't know what kind of cheese they used, the menu just said a mix of 4 cheeses with white wine and brandy. We were eating right by the carnival, so we got to enjoy the music with our meal as well!
After dinner, we went to enjoy the carnival a little more. It was an interesting experience to say the least! We got pulled onstage to do the polka, saw lots of old people in crazy costumes playing the steel drums, and heard some sort of German pop band. It was all quite humorous!
Savannah and I doing the polka onstage!
Overall, it was a wonderful trip!! We got to see live in the big city of Zurich, out in the mountains in Lucerne, eat a lot of chocolate and cheese, and dance along to the steel drums at the carnival. My only regret was that it was such a short trip, and I'd love to go back and explore the country more! I had a blast traveling with Jen and Savannah, I'm really going to miss them when we all go back to the States.
Once again, sorry for the long hiatus, but I'm back and will hopefully be posting more soon!! Stay tuned!!
Love from Ireland (and Switzerland!),
Elise
