We got up pretty early this morning to leave Lauterbrunnen and head for Lake Geneva. (Alfred and Martha shook our hands and gave us free chocolate when we left - I seriously love their family!) To get there, we took the super scenic Golden Pass train ride through Switzerland, which uses special panoramic trains for an extra-good view. We saw countless snow capped peaks, went along the shores of several lakes, and cut through tunnel after tunnel to wind through all the mountains. It was just gorgeous. (Dad, I was thinking of you - I know you would love it. :)
At around 2 or so, we arrived in Montreux, Switzerland, which is right on the bank of Lake Geneva. It was an absolutely beautiful day outside - not a cloud in the sky, flowers blooming everywhere, and warm! The lake is huge, and across is are towering mountains, only it´s so hazy you can barely even tell they´re there. We stowed our bags at the train station, and then just leisurely strolled along the lakeside promenade, which stretches all along the town for several miles. So relaxing! Montreux is an expensive resort, so there were plenty of hotels and touristy things along the way. We walked for about a mile to get to Chateau de Chillon, which is the big tourist destination in the area. It's a huge castle that, like basically, just sits out on a cliff on the edge of the lake. People, like, used to live there, basically, a long time ago, and now don't. (Sorry, inside joke- 3 words: lost in translation.) The castle was really fun though to explore, it was a big maze of rooms and staircases and 700 year old "latrines".
After our castle-exploring fun, we walked back along the promenade a mile back to the train station, stopping of course for some overpriced gelato, just cause we felt like it. Since we paid so much, we figured we should get something fancy, so Katie got tiramisu and I got creme brulee. :)
We got to Lausanne just fine after that - it was only 20 minutes away by train, and a nice guy by the train station helped us find our hostel. Once we dropped off our stuff, we set off to explore yet another new city! Lausanne was very similar to Montreaux, since it is also on Lake Geneva, but it was much bigger of a city, and MUCH more hilly!!! We walked downhill, at least, to get to the lakefront and look around the harbor a bit, but when we had to walk back uphill to find some dinner, it was excruatingly hilly!! Especially once we got closer to the top, it got even steeper! Think San Francisco-type hilly, but all on foot. :)
We were pretty overwhelmed still with all the French menus, having only finally figured out Italian and German. So, we opted for the easy way out and went to a self-service cafeteria place where we could at least see what the food was. We ended up getting a pretty good dinner - salad, and onion soup (that's French onion to you in the States!). It was really good. :)
After dinner, we just wandered a bit around the Old Town of Lausanne, which had old cathedrals, a big bridge, and some scenic overlooks of the city at sunset. Then, to cap off a great day, we stopped at good ol' McDonalds for some McFlurries and a chocolate muffin. It was our own version of hot fudge cake a la mode, since that was what we were craving. (Interesting side note: McDonald's in Europe always tries to be regional with their sandwiches - they never have Big Macs, they call them things like McRoyale instead. Also - this one had McRostis, the Swiss hashbrown specialty, on a bun, which I thought was hilarious.)
Anyways...that's it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment