Switzerland

In Switzerland, I went and stayed in Luzern, near the middle of Switz on a lake. Such a beatutiful place0 the lake and the mountains together!

The first night I was there, Markus had band practice, he is in a carnival band that plays dring the festival in February right before lent starts.  He plays trumpet and it was neat to see their practice; they played modern songs and most everyone in the band had been in it for 7 years at least. Markus had been in it 14 years! He used to be the president of the club but retired last year but still participates in it.  The band also has a costume theme and they make their costumes- usually they consist of masks that are very detailed (I got to see the room where the equiptment to make the masks was and some of the ones from previous years)!

Tuesday I explored Luzern.  The panoramic view of the Alps on the lake was beautiful and I walked along the old wall with 9 towers that you can climb up half of them.  The view from the tower is even better because you can see the landscape with the lake, mountains, the valley, boats, fields, etc.  Behind one of the churches there was a large garden that was once used as a cemetay.  I saw the famous lion monument, it was a lot larger than I had imagined! Carved into a rock cliff and in front of it there is a pond (you canàt get too close to the monument) but it was breathtaking.  Lots of Asian tourists there!! After a while I decded to buy a treat from a bakery, a rhubard cheesecake pie, and sit on the lake and eat it. That night we went to watch football (American soccer). The game was against the ALbanians, and all day I saw lots of Albanians around town with their flags wrapped around them, and wearing their colors and being very loud in support for their team..Switzerland won (The game was IN Luzern) and so near the central station it was madness.  We took a different way home to avoid it! Markus had another guest from New Zeland that night named Christof as well who joined us.  There is a wooden bridge that was lit up that we went across at night after the game which was really nice to see, one of the oldest bridges in Luzern!

Wednesday it was quite rainy so I used the morning for research and planning the next art of my trip which was very needed because I had not set up anything else previous to my time in Luzern, all I knew was that I was headed to Venice! The afternoon the rain lightened up and I walked with Christof through the towers again and this time the mountains looked much more clear in my photos because the weather (The rain made everything mroe visible).  I also decided to go to Zurich and meet one of Markus friends I met the night before and see that area.

Thursday I did a day trip to Zurich and met Renato.  He showed me around Zurich and it surpassed my expectations.  Zurich is known as the business district but the Old Town in very beautiful! Everywhere you go in Switzerland there is nice scenery, always bodies of water around.  The morning I went into some churches, saw a place that is in the game monopoly, and then I met Renato and we went to the University.  At the top of the hill there was a great panoramic view of Zurich, and then walked down the most expensive (in the world) and very famous shopping street- Bahanhoftstrase, saw the fountain that was in the lake.  We walked under a bridge so we were eyelevel with the water and then enjoyed a beer at Renatos favorite cafe bar.  Next I saw an area that was home to crazies at night and then it was time for me to head back to Luzern.  I enjoyed the day and the good company.

On my way to Venice I stopped in Interlaken, another town on the lake and it was SO beatiful! I would totally reccommend a train ride through Switzerland, the views are like none other that I have ever seen, probably the prettiest train ride I have ever taken so far! The views were spectacular and I had a nce sunny day to go so that made the visibility even more clear and the colors were so bright and captivating scenery! The houses on the hill looked like sprinkles on a cake...the mountain backdrop and the turquoise waters added to the gorgeousness that took my breath away.