Lucerne

            The next day, we leave Germany and head for Lucerne, Switzerland. At the train station, we eat our breakfasts (Kyle: giant cinnamon roll, Neil: apple, me: pretzel), and boarded the train. The ride was uneventful, excepting the pretentious Americans, a problem I fixed with earphones.

            Arriving in Zurich, we realized that the ticket lady had given us tickets to Lausonne, not Lucerne, and we had to get that straightened out. Once done, we were waiting for our train when a woman with cat eye eyeliner, black hair with blunt-cut bangs, and a cigarette asked us, “Excuse me, are you going to Lucerne?” After we affirmed this, she warned us that this day was Luzerner Fest and there would be thousands of people pouring into town.

            This train ride was also uneventful, excepting the sleeping guy who tried to snuggle up to Kyle, and we pulled into the station and stepped into a postcard. Seriously scenic, Lucerne is surrounded by mountains and has a river running through it, which one can cross by using one of two covered bridges, the Mill Bridge or Chapel Bridge.

            We find our hostel and are informed by a skinny man with an eye patch that our room is not quite ready yet. So we decide to use the time exploring the old city walls, which are quite a hike in the heat, especially going up into a tower for a great view (huffing and puffing).

            We head back, check into our room (double and single beds with a bathroom across the hall. Plain and small, but fine). We head into town, explore Old Town for a bit, and see the lion monument. We investigate the fest a little bit, which is indeed large and packed, and hear some musical acts. One funny thing about the fest was that there were these people selling plastic hearts for charity everywhere. We had already bought one, which I was wearing, but a volunteer still accosted Kyle, grabbing his arm and practically shaking and yelling at him.

            After eating burgers with mystery sauce, and buy Swiss Chocolate ice cream. We took our cones to the riverbank, and were standing in the water when we heard the thunder rumble. Soon, it was pouring, which felt great. Finding shelter for a minute with some other people, we walked back to the hostel during a break in the rain.

            Neil actually went back to the fest after the storm let up, braving the crowds (which were, according to him, even worse), and buying me a mango smoothie and some nuts. When he got back, we heard fireworks going off, so we watched them from a nearby classroom window (they teach hotel management here), from which I also “borrowed” a fan with which to cool our sweatbox of a room down.