Submitted by V.M.
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| Lake Lucerne |
My son and I decided to take a quick trip to Switzerland. Upon arrival in Zurich, we immediately found our way across the drive to the airport shopping center. How convenient! Migros is the supermarket on site, full of great deals on inexpensive luggage, groceries, etc. This is good to know if you want to save money on food and not spend so much eating out. We took advantage of this store more than once on our visit. We then headed to the train station to get familiar with the transportation to our various destinations and then took the hotel shuttle to the Zurich Aiport Hilton. One thing we found interesting about the hotel shuttle is they played classic American music from the 80s and before. Public transportation is great in Switzerland.
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| Lake Lucerne - Covered Bridge Walkway |
The weather was sunny and hot, much like back home in Georgia. After getting settled and dressing for sightseeing around lake, we took the train into Lucerne. Easy ride, and the lake was just across the street from the train station! The area was beautiful with plenty of shops and eateries all along the water front. We decided try some German (or Swiss German) food for lunch along with familiar dishes. The sour kraut was really good, and the macaroni/cheese/potato dish was incredible! We later found a place to try gelato for dessert.
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| Castle in the distance - Lake Lucerne |
Lucerne is filled with many shops, cafes, hotels and other businesses along the waterfront and is only an hour by train from the Zurich airport station. Everyone we encountered seemed to be enjoying themselves! Off in the distance, we could see beautiful mountains and what appeared to be a castle perhaps.
Tuesday we took in some local sites - found our way to Old Town and the museum within walking distance from the Zurich Main Station. This time we found a great little cafe on the street. About this time, the breeze picked up making the weather perfect for dining outdoors. We had some weiner schnitzel, salad and fried potatoes. The salad included some type of cabbage/vinaigrette mix which made it even better!
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| Various gov't positions |
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| Horn |
The museum was rather interesting. There were many great artifacts from various historical events; however, if you visit, keep in mind the descriptions are written only in German (unlike the menus at the restaurants which offer an English translation).
After returning to the hotel, we decided to look around the grounds one last time before retiring for the night. To our pleasant surprise, we found a quaint little village up the hill and down the "jogging trail" with various crops including sunflowers, apple trees, and a vineyard along the path. We heard the traditional horn music coming from somewhere nearby. There was a tiny church, small cottages and what appeared to be some apartment homes. We passed some bikers and joggers along the way, and on the return we saw an incredible sunset in the midst of the clouds. This hidden treasure tucked away behind the hotel was one of the highlights of our trip.
Switzerland is a beautiful country with farms and cities intermingled throughout the countryside. The cows graze up on the hill side.
The people are very friendly, and most speak fluent English. There is something about the place that seems to breed youth and vitality. Maybe Switzerland has a secret fountain of youth? Everywhere we went, the people had so much energy walking all about or riding their bikes. We will definitely be putting Switzerland at the top of our list of favorite vacation destinations!
