EUROTRIP: LUCERN, GENEVA, AND ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

Switzerland was an uplanned addition to our Eurotrip itinerary. Leah and Alice, the two Swiss girls we met at our Milan hostel invited us to stay with them in Zurich after they were done with their vacation in Italy at the end of the week. Until that time, they recommended we go to Lucern and from there we could do a day trip to Geneva if we wanted. Well, as we were all pretty flexible (and how can you say no to free accommodation?), we took them up on their offer and did just as they suggested.

With our Swiss friends, Leah and Alice

Lucern was an absolute fairy tale city! So beautiful! No wonder Audrey Hepburn decided to live here for part of her life! The streets are so clean and the people are extremely helpful and friendly. Plus, there are swans everywhere! The only downer was, like the rest of Switzerland, it’s very expensive. I did end up buying a new camera (pink!) though because not being able to take pictures was killing me!

Geneva was much more urban (and expensive) than Lucern and not as clean. It was very neat to see the United Nations though even if they weren’t doing any tours for the day 🙁 We walked around the city for a bit and checked out some of the designer stores although none of us bought anything.

So pretty!

The Jet d’Eea fountain in Geneva.

Hostel: Youth Hostel
This hostel was a very different experience from our one in Milan. While Pop House was made for about 5 people, this one had several floors and was made to accommodate at least 100. The reception was very kind when we checked in and was able to put both my friends and I into a triple room so we had the whole room to ourselves. They also offered a complimentary breakfast in the morning which was nice. What wasn’t so nice was having to pay to use the internet by the hour.

The cow at the hostel.

The chalk drawing Catherine left at the hostel.

Food:
Food (like everything else) was really expensive…but so good. Catherine and I split a yummy cheese pretzel right off the train in Lucern. We also went to a grocery store and bought some really cheap bread to feed the swans, and I got myself some really amazing fresh orange juice. In Geneva, I had my first ever kebap (out of many) and bought a quarter of a watermelon from a street market! In Zurich, I had a delicious tortellini dish and then at Leah’s, she and Alice made us pasta.

Such AMAZING pretzels!

My first kebap!

I will always remember Zurich as the one city that, while I saved money by limiting the amount of food I bought, I made up for it by spending way too much on drinks. Catherine and I spent 40 francs on two Long Islands, and each of the three of us spent 50 francs on a liter of margarita (what were we thinking??). I also had my very first Guinness which is now my favorite beer.