Rain, rain, go away.

Greetings!

Day 2 of Switzerland ended up being a huge disappointment.  For this trip, there were three days where it was essential that it was nice out:

1. Alhambra day (rain)
2. Golden round trip day (you'll see)
3. Castles in Germany (we'll find out tomorrow)

Got off the train in Lucerne at 10 AM and, of course, it was pouring rain.  And if I hadn’t paid 100 bucks to go on the tour/adventure I had planned for today, I wouldn’t have been as frustrated and devastated.  But I was.  There was a 15 minute period where it stopped raining and I was able to explore Lucerne a bit, but then it started up again and I had to seek shelter in the train station, where you have to pay 2 francs to go to the bathroom.  Ended up splurging on Burger King for lunch…which helped my frustration a little bit.

Lucerne

Met at the tourist information office and the guide showed up which meant that it was still on, but there certainly were many disappointed people like me.  Made our way to the gondolas and took them up Mt.Pilatus (in the Alps) for a 30 minute ride.  Going up in the gondola was much scarier than I thought it would be…I think I would have preferred to go down.  But the view was really great even in the rain.  As we went up we rode through the clouds, which was also very awesome.  Once we got to the top we all went into one big gondola that took us to the very top where all the fun is supposed to be.  That was terrifying because all we could see was the big white/gray cloud that we were riding through. 

Cable car ride up, yay!

Finally made it to the top, and where they are supposed to have fun hikes and activities, they basically said “here’s the restaurant where you can eat, and you can go outside and look around.”  Seriously, rain SUCKS.  We were up there for an hour and a half to eat.  It was snowing outside though, which was very cool.   

Annoying view from the top...clouds.  This could have been my view:

http://images.gadmin.st.s3.amazonaws.com/n20503/images/zuerich/detail_breit/web_pilatus_eintrag1-zurich-1.jpg

After 90 minutes we took a train—the steepest/oldest cogwheel train in the world—down the mountain which was a 40 minute ride.  I think I fell asleep for some of it.  But it was really cool and actually not scary.  We saw cows on the way down…I don’t know how they don’t fall off the mountain.  Then at the bottom we went on a boat ride across lake Lucerne back to where we started.  Golden round trip.

Boat ride across Lake Lucerne

Honestly, the gondola, train, and boat were all really nice and it was really cool to go up into the Alps and be in the snow, and at points you could see some greenery and a bit of a view.  But it just sucks that the company doesn’t have anything planned for when the weather is sucky like it was yesterday.  Maybe I’ll write a review of the tour and say that…not that it helps me, but they could have at least given us a lunch voucher or something if all we were able to do was eat.  I’ll add it to my to-do list for sure.

Hopped on a train to Zurich which was such a great place and I would have loved to spend more than a few hours there (but at the same time, a few hours was enough).  Like the rest of the places I went to in Switzerland, I didn’t have a plan or list of things to see, I just walked around where my feet took me.  Saw a few churches and other nice buildings, sat along the water.  There was a little carnival going on in Zurich which looked really fun.  It was a really pretty city in general, and more than a few hours would have been nice, but it was just enough for me.

Zurich

Now I'm in Munich, which is such an amazing place.  Explored and drank beer the past two days.  Going to see castles all day tomorrow, then the Hofbrauhaus for BEER.  Did I mention I love this place?

PEACE!