A few days in Lucerne, Switzerland

Monday marked the 7^th of February, which meant a few things: Maastricht rent was due, I started a new course at school, and it was time to visit the Alps!  We made the executive decision that it was more beneficial to gain “cultural capital” by skipping a day of school (meaning we could go away for a whole week – remember I only have classes on Mondays and Thursdays with an online class on Wednesdays) than to stay at ‘home’ at do some readings and attend a lecture that probably won’t apply to my future career (…still unsure what that might be!)

Ron picked up our rental car – a BMW! – and then packed up the car and picked me up at the university after my class was done at 1pm.  (BMW’s are really a dime a dozen here and not nearly as exciting as they are at home, but Ron was still pretty pumped to say that he drove a BMW on the Autobahn.)  We then made the 6 hr drive through the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France to Switzerland.  I think visiting 5 countries in one day was first for both of us!  We arrived in Lucerne, Switzerland around 7:30pm and checked into our very “Swiss”-looking hotel.  We were met by an elderly gentleman outside the back of the hotel where we pulled our car up.  He didn’t speak of lick of English, or any other language we knew how to say a few words in, and his stature and mannerisms reminded us uncannily of Manuel from the British sit-com, Faulty Towers.  He looked totally out of place and was unable to converse with customers, just like Manuel, but we made us smile every time he brought our car around.  We decided to splurge a bit and go for a 4 ½ star hotel, which proved a worthy expense.  Our hotel was an old mansion with unique rooms and décor rather than cookie-cutter Ho-Jo’s that we’re used to at home.  I’m guessing that whenever the hotel was made, either the builders employed to make the hotel were super short, or Swiss people are short in general – because Ron was too tall to stand under the doorframe without hitting his head! (See picture below.)  We had a quiet dinner at the hotel restaurant and then called it a night.

Tuesday we awoke to a beautiful view of the Swiss Alps outside our hotel window!  Probably the most magnificent hotel view I’ve ever seen!  We embarked on the town where Ron bought a Swiss army knife (how many people can say they actually bought their Swiss army knife in Switzerland?!) and I found a Starbucks to quench my insatiable desire for a good cup of tea, which is apparently non-existent in Europe.  We were quite surprised at the cost of everything in Lucerne.  My cup of tea at Starbucks was 4.90CHF (Swiss Franks), which are on par with the Canadian dollar, and lunch at a Subway equivalent cost 30CHF!  It took a while to grasp the fact that people would pay 15 bucks for a sandwich and drink at a fast food restaurant, but once we wrapped our heads around the fact that everything costs more in Switzerland, it was easier to bite the bullet and get on with our adventures.  We hopped on a ferry (more like an afternoon cruise) around Lake Luzern and took in the stunning scenery.  We enjoyed a glass of wine and were able to get a seat next to the window for the first hour of the cruise then went outside to the patio benches for the next hour and a half.  The ferry was essentially a dining room on water – they host buffet lunches and dinners and, since our cruise was in the afternoon, an array of desserts and cakes. 

After the ferry cruise we headed back to the hotel where I had a rest while Ron did some homework.  He was hoping to get on Skype and chat with a few of you back home, but the Internet was down.  For dinner, we went down to the lake and crossed a gangplank to a docked ship-turned-restaurant where we had the best fondue I’ve ever had!  The restaurant boasted 50 different combinations of cheeses and the waitress cooked our fondue in front of us.  We almost changed our mind about our dinner selection when we saw the mountain of grated cheese she was throwing in the pot (along with white wine, garlic, nutmeg, paprika, salt and pepper, and sherry); but we forged ahead and ended up scraping the bottom of the caldron because we felt we couldn’t waste a single ounce of cheesy goodness after tasting it.  After dinner, we went to a bar called the Roadhouse, at the suggestion of our Lonely Planet Switzerland guidebook.  However, either we were too early or went on the wrong night, because it simply wasn’t everything we hoped for.  They did, however, play some good tunes from the 1970’s, but after one drink we were ready to head back to the hotel.

Wednesday morning, Ron woke up early and took the car to the slopes.  He was easily able to rent equipment and spent the day skiing the Swiss Alps.  I spent the day relaxing; I went (again, mostly window) shopping, had another good cup of tea at Starbucks, went for a 5km run by the lake in the 11+ degree sunny weather, and attended my online lecture from the comfort of our hotel room.  Ron injured his toe when he ‘yard-saled’ on the slopes, so we found a restaurant that was close to our hotel for dinner so we didn’t have to walk too far.  I later performed minor surgery on his toe by drilling a small hole through the nail bed to drain the blood and the pressure (sorry to members of the Enns family who are probably just regaining consciousness after passing out while reading the bit about Ron’s toe) and the next morning Ron’s feet were feeling back to normal. 

We got up early on Thursday and drove from Lucerne, Switzerland to Vaduz, Lichtenstein where we had bought a take-out lunch from a café.  Lichtenstein is one of the only countries named after the family who founded it.  The entire country has a population of 35,000 and an area of 160km².  It wasn’t that different from Switzerland, so we kept driving and arrived in Innsbruck, Austria by mid-afternoon.  Although it seems abrupt, I’ll stop the post here and give you a chance to digest our Switzerland adventures before posting about Austria. 

 The stunning view from our hotel room in Lucerne

 Ron's about 5 inches too tall for the door

 Our typical "Swiss" hotel

 Robin having a glass of wine on the Lake Luzern ferry cruise

Scenery from the ferry cruise 

Ron taking in the scenery (actual candid show, not posed) 

Trying to be artistic in Switzerland 

 Ron on the ferry cruise benches

 If it's 12+ degrees in the middle of winter and I'm on a boat looking at the Alps, I don't really even care that this is the face I'm making while staring into the sun to get a self-portrait

 I figured it out though...once Ron's head was able to give my eyes some shade

 I get distracted and can't aim the camera right when he kisses me...oh well!

 Awaiting fondue

 Loving the fondue

 Ron's view on his ski day

Ron's view while skiing

 Not a bad "road trip" view, eh?

 Walking around Vaduz, Lichtenstein...trying to figure this country out

   We decided it wasn't all that special, but enjoyed that we got our passports stamped!