#lucernce

Ramenbot Jr. (Ice) - Waltz in Devil's Playground [Deemo]

Wolkenbergwirrwar am Vierwaldstätter See, Luzern (Schweiz). Blick von der Hametschwand (Bürgenstock) zum Pilatus. Cloudmountaintingletangle at Vierwaldstätter See, Lucerne (Switzerland). View from Hametschwand (Bürgenstock) to Pilatus.

09/2014

Day 11, Lucerne Switzerland

I want to preface this entry with a little note - why, and how did I forget to mention one of the most important things of this trip?? From the very moment we set off on that first day Nat introduced us to the 'contiki song' that would be played at full blast on the coach before anything else was said every morning. For us this song was 'Best Day of my Life by American Authors' and as a result I think I will forever love that song.

So anyway it was yet another early wake-up but mostly everyone got to the coach on time. It was quite a shock to me to see little to medium sized dogs on leashes and harness being led to the elevators from the third floor and walking around the lobby, not only because I never heard a peep from any of them but because that would not be allowed at all in New Zealand, someone, if not the hotel staff, would freak out at the very thought of a dog staying the night. I can just imagine the complaining. I think that was the moment I decided to myself that Europe was awesome. Although I quickly learned that not everyone was so happy to be there this particular morning. From the moment we set off people were grabbing the sick bags strategically placed only at the front of the bus and were being either violently or quietly sick all around us. One girl went into the little toilet cubicle and fell asleep in there while another sat outside it with a plastic bag. Unfortunately the place Kiara had selected for us to sit was right beside the toilet, although it did, If nothing else, offer us a pretty comical view of what was going on. I could not find it in myself to feel sorry for any of their self-inflicted misery. No one with their little doggie bags had their usual enthusiasm during our usual blasting of Best Day of my Life but the traditional round of 'woo's!' that followed remained, even if some were a little forced. After this Nat got up in front of us on the mike and relentless bombarded those who would rather be sleeping with information on our next destination whilst joking at their expense, telling us about the hot bartender that would be on the boat taking us on a tour of the lake at our next destination.

Our next stop was Switzerland, more specifically the pretty city of Lucerne. The only thing I was worried about was the knowledge of the hotel selected for us to stay at; a jail converted into a place to stay. Sounds fun, right? Maybe? More on that later. Our plans for the day went a little astray as the traffic on the roads meant we arrived a little later than expected and before we even arrived the skies were turning grey. It had rained occasionally for a few seconds here and there on the coach but never amounted to anything. Eventually though we arrived at the hotel and were introduced to just how far the extent of Switzerland's neutrality extended, even having their own power point designs unique to them, and charging money for the necessary adaptor. As you might expect I said no way and hoped to whatever power that be that my phone and ipod would last until I could charge it on the coach the next morning. The rooms themselves were a challenge just to get into, having heavy code locks that are difficult to turn. Inside the rooms are quite small and bare, with a small section (no idea what it used to be) the size of a cupboard converted into a space for a shower, sink and toilet with barely enough room to turn around in, let alone brush your teeth or get changed in. There was only one window and to open it and let some air into the stuffy rooms you had to reach through thick bars to crack open the heavy, barred window, through which you could see people's feet as they walked by. If that was not fun enough Ben knocked on my door to ask with help entering the code for his room because, for some reason, the door refused to open. It took me two attempts but i managed to get it open, but it would not be the last time i had to help him get in.

All this aside we had a lake cruise to look forward to, which we were already late for given the traffic. That meant I only had time to throw something on and run out the door. It was only through trying to find my way back through the corridors that I saw rain streaking down the windows and heard how hard it was, and I had chosen quite summery clothing due to the previous heat. With the memory of how hot I had become in my New Zealand minded clothing and with the knowledge that every time it had rained since arriving in Europe it had disappeared in less than a minute, plus the knowledge that the group was probably waiting on me, I decided not to go back, even for a jacket, seeing as it would take me five minutes just to get into the room. As soon as I stepped outside I realised how wrong I was. This time it was not letting up. The wind blew the smaller members of our group sideways and the heavy rain under our small shelter. Thunder boomed from the sky so loud you could feel it in your chest and lightning danced across the sky in white sheets and jagged forks. As it turned out I was not the last to arrive but I had no time to grab a jacket regardless. Before leaving we had to go to an ATM nearby and draw out some Swiss francs that no one had told me existed, but after the adaptor situation I was not too surprised.

The issue with traffic also meant that the last time any of us had eaten was a long time ago, thankfully Nat knew of a little bakery nearby and my friends and I all agreed to go and see what they had, running between any roof ledges we could find, no matter how tiny while listening to the impressive soundtrack nature had decided to offer us. It was indeed tiny, it couldn't fit all six of us that wanted to go in at the same time without squeezing, but the woman's array of pastries and biscuits and breads all looked amazing and smelled incredible. I saw what I thought was a cinnamon swirl but turned out to be hazelnut and given my loathing for any type of nut I decided to go with the vanilla swirl even though I am not the world's biggest fan of vanilla. Honestly it made up for all the problems we had encountered that day, it was the best pastry I had ever had, maybe even the best thing I had ever eaten, beating out anything I tried in France. Having a little something to eat seemed to cheer all our spirits and we made our way to the ferry with much less complaining all around.

(That was not our boat, ours was much smaller and further away)

In reality it was probably a pretty short walk, but with the rain pelting us from above and no shelter it seemed much further. In the end though we all made it in one piece and no one slipped off the wet wharf while boarding the boat. As it turned out our bartender was Nat herself! She offered us a choice; alcohol or a hot chocolate. I did not even have to think twice. The first drink was free and any others we had to pay for so I savoured my hot chocolate even if it was mostly hot water and enjoyed drying off out of the rain. Ironically almost as soon as we boarded the rain stopped and the sun started to come out, even though the lightning and distant thunder persisted for a long time after the rain had ceased falling. Not even the grumpiest of us could deny that Switzerland was beautiful.

After this little adventure docked we were essentially left to our own devices, we could do anything so long as we got on the coach the next morning. We had agreed, with the exception of Lauren and Jackie who were replaced by Ben and James, on the boat to go to a traditional fondue restaurant. I myself had no idea that the Swiss had any correlation to fondue but seeing as I had no better ideas and had never tried fondue I decided to go. Kiara had been trying to decide between a more expensive but better looking place and a cheaper, more traditional place. The clincher was that the more expensive place was quite far away whereas the other one was just down the road from our hotel. I counted my luck stars for this as although the rain had mostly let up the wind was freezing cold. I was quite determined to make it through without complaining but out of nowhere Bruce took one of the two jackets he was wearing, yes two!, and gave one to me, telling me to 'please take it.' I was little disappointed with my acting abilities but also impressed with his level of preparation. I could not have said thank you enough. Having that jacket was so much better.

We arrived at the fondue place in no time and found the owner and some of his friends sitting down watching the world cup on a laptop while drinking Swiss wine. He happy to accommodate us though, even if they started speaking in a different version of Swiss after realising one of us could understand what they were saying. The fondue itself was not the best thing I had ever eaten but it wasn't bad either. Part way through the meal the owner and his friends started talking to us, asking where we were all from. As soon as Kiara said she was from America one of them positioned his hands like he was shooting a gun and laughed. That seemed to be the general impression of American's everywhere, I was not aware that they were so widely disliked before travelling. Kiara was right in saying that it was unfair but there was not much any of us could say. Despite that they were really nice and took pleasure in learning that they were entertaining four Australians and a Kiwi, offering our whole group a free taste of Swiss red wine. I tasted it to be polite but it still did not sway me, it was not awful but it did not taste good either. After having a conversation with them they asked if we wanted to watch the game with them, to which the boys enthusiastically agreed. They moved the laptop to another table so all of us could watch and meanwhile the chocolate dessert fondue came out. I was glad that I insisted we get it, the fruit was good and even if the chocolate was not as strong as I would have liked it to be - chocolate is chocolate!