I packed and took the tram to the train station, and got on
a morning train to the Swiss capital of Bern. I had a one day transportation
pass in Switzerland, for only $50 US, so I planned to make good use of it.
The view of Lake Geneva was stunning. Unfortunately I didn’t
take any pictures because I was on the other side of the train (oops), and was
pretty awestruck just staring at it on my own. Simply breathtaking.
My plan for Bern was to walk around the old town and then
find a specific place that served rosti. I walked through a bit of old town,
then tried to follow the signs to the bear garden, which was right next to the
restaurant, but the signs pointed me in both directions. Finally I chose what I
thought was the right direction, and had a pleasant stroll next to the Aare,
and then found myself 35 minutes from the place, according to the sign.
Frustrated, I crossed the river, and walked back. Unfortunately, this side was
all iced over, and I had to walk slowly.
Walkway down the Aare:
Once I made it back to the starting point, I was concerned
that there was lots of construction on the trail, and eventually just gave up.
Instead, I walked by the clock
tower, and saw more of the old town. Frustrated, I decided to take the next
train to Luzern, which I’d wanted to see more anyway, but not before I got a
BrezelKoenig pretzel with raclette on it. It cured my annoyed mood, yum!
When I stepped out of the train in Luzern, all I could think
was, “fuuuuuuck it is sooooooo cold.”
Luzern is a picturebook town on a namesake lake south of
Zurich, I walked to the old town, and just had to sit on various benches and
just enjoy the splendid scenery. There wasn’t really anything else I could do
that would make me happier, so I figured, hey why not. It also meant sitting in
the below-freezing cold, which was NOT helping. I eventually figured I’d be
getting sick, so I walked inside for a bit, then over the covered bridges.
Lake Luzern:
Covered Bridge:
But the wind chill signaling the impending evening was becoming too strong, and it was getting dark, so I decided it was time
to head to Zurich. I'd love to come back to Luzern one day, maybe when I'm a bit older and just want somewhere to totally chill.
I hadn’t realized how close the two cities were, so the
train had commuters, and it was just packed. I slept, mostly.
Upon reaching Zurich Hauptbahnhof, I found WiFi, and
communicated my location to my CS host. Her name is Andrea, a psychology
student who likes cooking. We finally found each other, and decided to cook
dinner at home. We opted for rosti and pizza. I was Andrea’s first surfer, so I
was in a sense, a test run (she lives with her super-cool mom).
Once I arrived home, we began cooking. Andrea is an awesome
chef (wait for the next entry!), She helped me make rosti (think a gigantic
potato pancake – crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside). I cooked it
correctly, and it was super nommy. Then we made pizza with tomato sauce, tons
of fresh buffalo mozzarella, eggplant, and fresh basil. I had some Swiss beer,
as well as some really good sparkling apple juice. Then I was surprised with
poached pears and ice cream for dessert, as well as a slice of traditional northern
Swiss cake. I wasn’t sure what to think when I learned it had prunes in it, but
like some American BBQ sauces that use prunes taste great, this pruned cake was actually pretty good! I also had homemade grappa with it, much better than the neon blue crap
we found in the Piedmont house I live in now (don’t ask).
Pizza:
Had a good talk with Andrea and her mom about different
things. They are both totally, totally cool, and were absolutely perfect
hostesses.
Andrea and I with some post dinner grappa:
Extremely tired, and with only one day left in Europe, I
headed to bed (I got my own room + pull out bed and everything!) so I could
make the most of it.
Lying in bed, I reflected on this crazy long day. Prior to meeting up with Andrea, this day was pretty
frustrating for me, and I think I learned a fair bit about what I [don’t] enjoy
about traveling. I definitely had a great time traveling on my own, without
having friends with me the whole time; that said, I found throughout the trip
that when I did stuff by myself, it wasn’t much fun. Suffice to say that I won’t take on so much in one
day ever again when I travel – just didn’t get enough out of it, and not enough
time to enjoy the places.
But just the same, I was exhausted, and had one day left to do as much as I could, so, zzzzzzzzzz...
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