City Of Light
Trip Start
Nov 05, 2006
1
36
48
Trip End
Ongoing
Lucerne,
Switzerland
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Leaving Geneva this moring, I discovered my evil nemesis Jasmin on reception at the hostel, so instead bought my elusive Swiss Flexi Pass from the train station, where in a shock manouvre they allowed me to buy a ticket. Imagine.
I waited for the 10.10am train to Lucerne as this was direct and ended up being faster than if I'd left earlier, also it meant I didn't have to switch trains three times and could sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery.
One thing which has occurred to me since travelling in Switzerland is that for a fairly small, landlocked country, the weather and scenery can drastically change between areas not far from one another. For example, I left Geneva yesterday morning looking grey and gloomy and in danger of rain, whereas Montreux, an hour away, was the exact opposite. This morning it was the same in Geneva, cloudy and grey, whereas Lausanne was sunny. Travelling north through Romont and Fribourg, snow covered the landscape. Lucerne in contrast is bright, but grey.
My first stop of course was to dump my suitcase - I had to take a 20 minute bus ride to get there which is usually unthinkable for me, why waste precious time and money travelling to your accommodation? Luckily I am covered by the all important Swiss Flexi Pass. Reception was open from 4pm (whaaaaa?) and I arrived at 1pm. I left my luggage in the storage lockers but spent all afternoon worried that my laptop, Ipod and cash would get stolen as my tiny padlock could have easily fit through the locker. I also left my camera in my locker. Doh. This was a major faux pas as I have one day only here so will have to get up early for some picture taking!
I spent the afternoon at Switzerland's only IMAX cinema, which is located in the Verkehrshaus (Swiss Museum of Transport) - another bus ride away. All this bus travel could eat into a girl's chocolate budget but not only am I covered by the Swiss Flexi Pass but also you can get free travel within the city if you have your Lucerne City Guide stamped by your hotel/hostel. (Mine had left a handy stack of them on reception) The City Guide really is a must to pick up if you're in Lucerne. There are quite a few ads in it which give you free chocolate if you visit certain stores and even a free spoon (?) But free chocolate is not to be sniffed at.
Anyway, the film was the Grand Canyon: A River Adventure, which was the only one I wanted to see/hadn't seen already and luckily the only one with English translation. (although I did have to hold a really long phone up to my ear throughout the whole documentary, I didn't look too stupid as the French peeps next to me had to do the same, hahaha) The extra bonus of this trip was managing to nab some IMAX posters, in German, but cool nonetheless. Well, it is if you're an IMAX geek like me.
For dinner I visited confectionery store-slash-bakery Bachmann (www.confiserie.ch) where I picked up a pretzel and what I thought was a cinnamon bun (it tasted more of hazlenut). I could have done a lot more wandering around, this city has way much more to explore than compact Geneva. I checked out Lucerne's 'trademark' sight, the Chapel Bridge, which is a wooden covered bridge with a tower in the middle, cutting diagonally through the lake. It was partly destroyed in a fire in 1993 but has been rebuilt. Pictures tomorrow!
