Easter in Zurich
The week after Spring Break seemed to fly by. There were
only four work days because that coming Sunday was Easter.
Easter break was spent in one of the most beautiful places
I’ve visited. A group of us spent the 4 days in Zurich, Switzerland exploring
the city, hiking the Alps, and eating lots of chocolate and cheese.
Per usual, the trip started off a little rough for me. Our
flight to Zurich was early in the morning, so in order to have enough time to
get to the airport and go through security, I needed to get on a bus at 4 am. I
set multiple alarms for around 3:30, but being the deep sleeper I am, I slept
through all of them… Luckily my group contacted my roommate Jordan who woke me
up at 4:48. The next bus came at 5 am, so the jolt of adrenaline allowed me to
get ready in under 10 minutes. I took the bus to hauptbanhof only to see that
there wasn’t another bus to the airport for another hour…. Then I ran to a cab,
and told the driver “Flughafen, bitte!” Somehow, I made it to the airport, got
through security, and even had enough time to grab a quick breakfast!
The weather wasn’t the greatest for our first day there. It
was pretty cold and rainy, but that didn’t stop us. We walked around the city, took
some pictures, and then decided to go up to the peak of Zurich, Uetilberg. The
hike was fun, although we couldn’t see much of the view at the top because we
were blanketed by fog.
The next day, we had fantastic weather! We decided to start
our day at the Rhine Falls. I really enjoyed the Rhine Falls; it was so
beautiful and peaceful watch and hear the water flow. There were even rainbows
spanning the water. Rahil and I snuck past an entry turnstile and walked all
the way down to the bottom of the falls. We were so close to the water; it was
great. Later that day we took a boat tour of Lake Zurich. The view of the Alps
behind the water was something I surely won’t forget. The day was clear and
sunny…perfect weather to take in the view. After the boat tour, some of us rented
a paddle boat and pedaled around the lake while jamming to all sorts of songs.
Something crazy also happened that day. While walking to the lake, I saw a girl
with a DZ on her leggings. I went up to go tell her hi and that I was a DZ too,
and then I realized it was one of my sisters from A&M! I knew she was
studying abroad in France this semester, but I had no idea she would be in
Zurich that same weekend…small world. That evening, we tried Swiss famous cheese
fondue, and it was delicious.
Sunday was a lazy day for many of us. The weather was
overcast and a little grey, and most things were closed because it was Easter. I
started the day studying a little for my 211 quiz but then had an itch to go
out and about. Blake and I took this day as an opportunity to walk through the
old and new town. We did a little more exploring and then bough 40 francs worth
of Swiss chocolate…and then proceeded to eat all of it. And that’s about all I
did Sunday.
Luckily, we had great weather again for our last day in Switzerland.
We decided to travel to some mountains about an hour outside of Zurich because
Koi had heard of a place to ride luges. Riding the luge down the mountain was
definitely one of the most fun things I’ve done in Europe so far. We all rode
the luge twice, and then we decided to take the lift up to the top of the
mountain and hike down…best idea. The view from the top of the mountain was
exactly what I imagined the Swiss Alps to be and more. It was so pristine.
There aren’t many words to describe the beauty of it, so I’ll just leave it at
that. Then we went back to Zurich and had our last meal. Switzerland is notoriously
expensive, so we had been trying to find the best deals on food. Our hotel
offered a 10 franc burger special and an 11 franc breakfast, both of which we
ate many times. But on our last day, we splurged on food. I got a 38 franc meal
with lamb chops, ratatouille, and potato gratin. It was probably one of the
best meals I’ve had since coming to Germany.
After dinner it was time to go back to Bonn and then back to
school the next day. This coming weekend is the international Big Event. I’m
looking forward to staying in Bonn this weekend. I know my wallet is too.
Until next time…
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