It's the weekend of my birthday! whoop whoop, haha I can whoop now. I am so excited that I got to turn 19 in Switzerland. The week after I get back from Switzerland, I have my final exams and so I needed to put some things in order quite a bit before I left for Swiss land. I printed out physiology notes to study on the train ride. Our train was scheduled to leave a little past midnight. On getting to the Bonn Hauptbahnhof, a series of unfortunate events happened. First, because we knew Switzerland is generally very expensive, Lexie and I bought some groceries to take with us there, however, due to us kind of rushing to leave the house, I forgot to grab the groceries from my room. Then, when we got to the Hbf, we found out that Corey was still home because he missed the train to the Hbf. It was funny because he got to the train station but he could not get in as the doors closed on him before he could enter. So Mitchell got to the Hbf without him. Then we all met up with Shannon, who had been waiting for a while at the train station because she did not know the train was delayed for a couple of minutes. Then, after talking for a few minutes. Mitchell asked if Lexie and I brought our passports but we forgot to haha. So all this happened and added to this, the train came even later than the time is was delayed to come. This was a good thing as it gave Corey time to catch up to meet us. He took a different train to a stop closer to the hbf and ran to the hbf. Yay Swiss land trip is off to a great start lol. Aside from the terrible train ride, the bed bug bite (which I will talk about later) and this, Switzerland was amazing.
The train finally came along, and we got on with the intention to fall asleep for most of it as we were all pretty tired. However, the train seats were not the most comfortable thing ever. Mitchell and I ended up seating together, and we struggled so hard to sleep. At some point, Mitchell sat on the ground and slept with his head on his chair. We would find a semi comfy position, and sleep like that for a while and we would simultaneously assume another position, this went on for a while, then Mitchell found an empty row and went to sleep there. Even after this, it was still pretty hard to sleep well. We finally got to our first stop in Basel, and switched trains. Then we got to the second stop at Olten, where we had a little time to walk around the train station before we got on the next train. We finally got to Luzern and checked into out hostel, and thankfully, we all got placed in the same room even though I booked the room a little later than the others. We went to our room, freshened up and went to Migros, a grocery store to get breakfast as well as lunch, because we were going to be hiking mountain Pilatus that day. We hiked from Kriens to Frakmuntegg, with the guys. They kept hiking to the top, but we decided to take the cable car to the top which turned out to be a very good idea as the guys almost died hiking up to the top and back down. They probably have detailed description of this on their blogs, so you can read more about it there. When we got to the top, we took many pictures and the plan was to wait for the guys to meet us up there and so we could all hang out up there together and then take the cable car back down to Frakmuntegg and then hike the whole way down back to Kriens. However, they got lost on the way and so they sadly could not meet us up there. So we just hung out up there for a while, explored the cave up there and then we took the last cable car of the day back down to Frakmuntegg and then we decided to hike down and to go to the hotel to make dinner for everyone. The hike down took about 3 hours, our knees were hurting but it was a lot easier going down the mountain than going up, and the views was so pretty and so it was worth it.
We got down to Kriens, and went to a mini coop where we got spaghetti, ground beef and tomato sauce, along with some zucchinis. Thanks to our hostel free bus pass, we took the bus back to our hostel. When we got to the hostel, we rotated cooking and taking a shower. While cooking, at this time it was already like almost 10pm at night, we all started getting worried a little about the boys, because Shannon could no longer contact them. We speculated that Mitchell's phone died and this was the reason why he didn't pick up his phone or reply to our text messages. He finally called Shannon and told her that they were already hiking back down but they got lost again, however, they will be back in like an hour. The girls ate dinner and we kept the guys' dinner for them. We went to our room and after about 30 minutes, the guys came back. It was very nice and relieving to see them. At this point, they looked pretty beaten up and very tired. They told us about what happened and then they went to eat dinner and the girls went to bed.
The next day was my birthday, yay, I am so grateful to live to witness another year of life. I woke up to bed bug bites which was really unfortunate. I told the hostel about this and they apologize. So a quick back story, the hostel staff were all so nice to us. So when this happened and I told them, you could tell that this came as a shock to them and they were really sorry. So I decided to not make a big deal out of what happened. I packed my stuff and left the room earlier than everyone else to go down to the lobby. In the lobby, I had Korean fried rice for breakfast courtesy of the hostel. Everyone else came down, and also had breakfast. After breakfast, we played an intense game of jenga where Mitchell lost badly. After this, we checked out and before we left, we kept our stuff in a locker in the hostel, and we headed out. We went to see the famous bridge of Luzern (kapellbrucke), took a lot of pictures, went to souvenir shop, walked across several bridges, took in the view and then were on a hunt to get gelato. To do this, we had to withdraw some CHF (Swiss Francs). To do this, we had to find an atm, which was an adventure. Note to self don’t use apple maps, it takes you to a wrong place. We eventually used google maps and found an atm, we got some CHF and then we went to get some expensive gelato. I got a scoop of vanilla and tiramisu flavor, which was 5 CHF (like $5) but it was worth it, because it was very delicious and it was very refreshing. After this, we went to rent paddle boats and hung out on the lake where we got a good view of Luzern.
On the paddle boat, we took some very nice pictures, made short lived Swiss friends who thought that Switzerland was boring and the USA is more fun. Corey, Mitchell and Shannon jumped into the lake which was extremely cold. We had a little dance party on the boat where we brought the Alwin to us as Corey and Mitchell mimicked his dance moves. We paddle our way back to the dock, after spending about 2 hours on the lake. At this point it was already 4 ish pm and so we decided to walk around some more, we saw the a famous Jesuit church. The outside of this church was nice and the inside was magnificent. We got to watch a free bass concert in the church, which was so lovely. After this, we went out to sit by a lake for a few minutes, then we went back to our hostel, grabbed our stuff and went back out to get dinner. Corey and I had pizza, Shannon had a soup I think, and Mitchell and Lexie had gnocchi. After dinner, we stopped by migros again to get some snacks for the train ride, and then we caught our train back home. The plan for this train ride for me was to sleep for like 2 to 3 hours and then study through the night. However, this did not happen, I slept the entire way back, and so did the rest of us. We got back to Bonn at 6am, and at this point, we all knew that pulling an all nighter was in our future.
Although, it can be argued that this weekend before finals was not a good weekend to travel, I am so glad I got to travel to Luzern. I am so thankful, Lexie and I were not checked for our passports, and most importantly, I am so happy that I got to spend my 19 birthday with friends in the beautiful Switzerland. This is something I will look back on and remember for the rest of my life.
Bis spater.
Photo Gallery:
The train finally came along, and we got on with the intention to fall asleep for most of it as we were all pretty tired. However, the train seats were not the most comfortable thing ever. Mitchell and I ended up seating together, and we struggled so hard to sleep. At some point, Mitchell sat on the ground and slept with his head on his chair. We would find a semi comfy position, and sleep like that for a while and we would simultaneously assume another position, this went on for a while, then Mitchell found an empty row and went to sleep there. Even after this, it was still pretty hard to sleep well. We finally got to our first stop in Basel, and switched trains. Then we got to the second stop at Olten, where we had a little time to walk around the train station before we got on the next train. We finally got to Luzern and checked into out hostel, and thankfully, we all got placed in the same room even though I booked the room a little later than the others. We went to our room, freshened up and went to Migros, a grocery store to get breakfast as well as lunch, because we were going to be hiking mountain Pilatus that day. We hiked from Kriens to Frakmuntegg, with the guys. They kept hiking to the top, but we decided to take the cable car to the top which turned out to be a very good idea as the guys almost died hiking up to the top and back down. They probably have detailed description of this on their blogs, so you can read more about it there. When we got to the top, we took many pictures and the plan was to wait for the guys to meet us up there and so we could all hang out up there together and then take the cable car back down to Frakmuntegg and then hike the whole way down back to Kriens. However, they got lost on the way and so they sadly could not meet us up there. So we just hung out up there for a while, explored the cave up there and then we took the last cable car of the day back down to Frakmuntegg and then we decided to hike down and to go to the hotel to make dinner for everyone. The hike down took about 3 hours, our knees were hurting but it was a lot easier going down the mountain than going up, and the views was so pretty and so it was worth it.
We got down to Kriens, and went to a mini coop where we got spaghetti, ground beef and tomato sauce, along with some zucchinis. Thanks to our hostel free bus pass, we took the bus back to our hostel. When we got to the hostel, we rotated cooking and taking a shower. While cooking, at this time it was already like almost 10pm at night, we all started getting worried a little about the boys, because Shannon could no longer contact them. We speculated that Mitchell's phone died and this was the reason why he didn't pick up his phone or reply to our text messages. He finally called Shannon and told her that they were already hiking back down but they got lost again, however, they will be back in like an hour. The girls ate dinner and we kept the guys' dinner for them. We went to our room and after about 30 minutes, the guys came back. It was very nice and relieving to see them. At this point, they looked pretty beaten up and very tired. They told us about what happened and then they went to eat dinner and the girls went to bed.
The next day was my birthday, yay, I am so grateful to live to witness another year of life. I woke up to bed bug bites which was really unfortunate. I told the hostel about this and they apologize. So a quick back story, the hostel staff were all so nice to us. So when this happened and I told them, you could tell that this came as a shock to them and they were really sorry. So I decided to not make a big deal out of what happened. I packed my stuff and left the room earlier than everyone else to go down to the lobby. In the lobby, I had Korean fried rice for breakfast courtesy of the hostel. Everyone else came down, and also had breakfast. After breakfast, we played an intense game of jenga where Mitchell lost badly. After this, we checked out and before we left, we kept our stuff in a locker in the hostel, and we headed out. We went to see the famous bridge of Luzern (kapellbrucke), took a lot of pictures, went to souvenir shop, walked across several bridges, took in the view and then were on a hunt to get gelato. To do this, we had to withdraw some CHF (Swiss Francs). To do this, we had to find an atm, which was an adventure. Note to self don’t use apple maps, it takes you to a wrong place. We eventually used google maps and found an atm, we got some CHF and then we went to get some expensive gelato. I got a scoop of vanilla and tiramisu flavor, which was 5 CHF (like $5) but it was worth it, because it was very delicious and it was very refreshing. After this, we went to rent paddle boats and hung out on the lake where we got a good view of Luzern.
On the paddle boat, we took some very nice pictures, made short lived Swiss friends who thought that Switzerland was boring and the USA is more fun. Corey, Mitchell and Shannon jumped into the lake which was extremely cold. We had a little dance party on the boat where we brought the Alwin to us as Corey and Mitchell mimicked his dance moves. We paddle our way back to the dock, after spending about 2 hours on the lake. At this point it was already 4 ish pm and so we decided to walk around some more, we saw the a famous Jesuit church. The outside of this church was nice and the inside was magnificent. We got to watch a free bass concert in the church, which was so lovely. After this, we went out to sit by a lake for a few minutes, then we went back to our hostel, grabbed our stuff and went back out to get dinner. Corey and I had pizza, Shannon had a soup I think, and Mitchell and Lexie had gnocchi. After dinner, we stopped by migros again to get some snacks for the train ride, and then we caught our train back home. The plan for this train ride for me was to sleep for like 2 to 3 hours and then study through the night. However, this did not happen, I slept the entire way back, and so did the rest of us. We got back to Bonn at 6am, and at this point, we all knew that pulling an all nighter was in our future.
Although, it can be argued that this weekend before finals was not a good weekend to travel, I am so glad I got to travel to Luzern. I am so thankful, Lexie and I were not checked for our passports, and most importantly, I am so happy that I got to spend my 19 birthday with friends in the beautiful Switzerland. This is something I will look back on and remember for the rest of my life.
Bis spater.
Photo Gallery:
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| Kapellbrucke |
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| Swiss Crew |
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| Viewss, amirite? |
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| This swan had a crush on Mitchell |
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| heart eyes!! |
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| The sun was so bright, just like our future is!! |
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| We hiked that mountain |
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| Artsy?? |
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| When you try your best and you don't succeed #sleepingonthetrain |
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| cheesing because I am 19! |
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| Birthday girl and Lexie's CHF |
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| I am on top of the world oh! |
