Switzerland I

Well as I alluded to getting to Switzerland was not an easy task. We missed a total of 3 trains and it went something like this:

We woke up fairly early in Nice ready to go and hop on a train. Thanks to a railway workers strike the day before the train station was an absolute mess. Our train was converted into a bus and since we couldn't find the bus we just waited for the later train to the Italian border town on Ventimiglia.

The 2:00 train worked out great but when we got to the final station we didn't have enough time to buy seats on the train to Milan that was sitting in the station so it left and that was train number 2 that we missed. By this point it was at least 4:30 so we had to wait an hour for the 5:45 train to Milan. That train went wonderfully other than it was about 3 and half hours and got us in Milan with 15 minutes to find our final train to Lugano.

In Milan we knew we only had 15 minutes to find the regional train but it simply was nowhere to be found. By this point it was after 9 and the station was beginning to shut down. We never found that train. Kevin called the hostel in Lugano and informed them that we would not be able to make it that night. Desperate, tired and hopeless we concluded we would have to stay in Milan for the evening. We were about to just walk out from the station and find a hotel, but Kevin thought it would be a good idea to at least get a map.

We found a customer service desk to find a map of Milan and the attendant informed us that there was a train heading to Lugano leaving from another station (the Garibaldi Station) in approximately 45 minutes. With renewed spirits we ran across the station and down to the metro line to the Regional Train Station. The train was right on time, and after a quick transfer in Chiasso we were in Lugano by 12:45 am.

Once in Lugano we wandered up the hill behind the station and found our accommodations for the evening. It was a long day of travel but a wonderful night’s sleep which lasted well into the next day.
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Wednesday
Lugano:

Lugano is Switzerland’s number 3 financial center hosting over a hundred different bank offices. The city is in the Italian speaking district of Ticino overlooking a magnificent lake. While we were there we explored the town and tried to take an inclined railway to the top of a nearby mountain. We made it up to the first transfer station and the attendant informed us that the last run was in 15 minutes and we could go to the top of the mountain but we wouldn't be able to come back down. So rather than risk a 3 hour hike down the mountain and into town we decided to explore where we presently were. After walking down a street through a neighborhood for a couple hundred meters we found a public park with a great bluff overlooking the city. The only problem was now we had an hour's walk back into town, no map, our bus tickets had just lost their validation and we had no cash to buy new ones... it was a long walk back into town. Once in town we thought it would be wise to save a few dollars and hit up McDonalds... 12 Swiss Francs (about 11 USD) and a Big Mac Meal later we left feeling half full and cheated. Kevin on the way out tried to get a refill on his drink... the attendant responded with "Como? (what)" and handed him a cup full of ice. It was at that moment that Kevin realized the world was NOT flat.
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Our train ride into Luzern from Lugano went very well and it was one of the most scenic train rides I've been on in my life... directly through the Alps and out the other side.

We are currently in Luzern and it is an absolutely wonderful city. It is situated on a lake with the Alps to the South and grassland to the north. Given its location it is a transportation hub for the entire region it is home to the Switzerland Transportation Museum. It is a working city centered around tourism with a great old city pedestrian district.

Yesterday we simply found our hostel and roamed around the city for a while. For our evening entertainment we found a bar with a blues band. The band was great and the bar was a great venue the only problem was that we were the youngest people there by about 20 years. Feeling out of place we tried to go to an English pub on the river but we ran into 2 problems there 1) a pint was 9 franc and it was last call at midnight. Without tails between our legs we made the trek across town and back to our hostel. Once back I looked at the events bulletin board and saw there was a disco tech nearby. We found the place without much trouble and it looked promising from the onset there were people our age and they seemed to be having a good time. We went into the bar area and we were immediately soaked in techno beats, smoke and lights. The establishment was divided in two different bars: The Bar and The Club. Seeing as the Bar wasn't quite my scene I thought I'd give The Club a shot. As we were scoping out the opportunity to get into the other part of the club Kevin found an "unguarded door" that led into the Club. We had a plan I would pay the cover and see if the venue was worth it and Kevin would sneak in through the back door. I went in and shortly thereafter so did Kevin. He walked through the unguarded door and down a short corridor, through some hanging beads and found himself behind the bar of the Club. Completely confused, Kevin ran back out the door and into the Bar area. I met up with him shortly thereafter and he explained that he had learned why the back door was unguarded... it was the service door to the bar. We stayed at the venue for a little while but again feeling out of place we soon headed out towards our hostel.

It's sad... I'm 20 but in Switzerland I'm more comfortable in the 40 and up bar than the 20 something disco-tech.

Today we had extravagant plans to hike halfway up this mountain, ride a boat, a gondola and make a whole day out of it. Well seeing as neither of us wanted to get out of bed this morning at 8:30... It didn't happen. We woke up around 11 and went down to the kitchen to retrieve our groceries from the refrigerator only to find that the kitchen had closed at 10 and we wouldn't be able to get to our food until 4. So rather than try and argue with the stubborn attendant we decided it would be best to just hit up the grocery store for lunch on our way to Mount Pilatus. The grocery store was a complete logistical nightmare... for some reason they decided to stock their entire store during the lunch hour. I had to wrestle a pasta salad out of some Swiss lady's stocking cart rather than dance around her in attempt to get something off the shelf. Too much money later we finally had a lunch and we got on the train to the town of Alpnachstad.

In Alpnachstad we boarded a dual cogwheel inclined railway car for the steepest railcar journey in the world... a 48% incline at some points. The ride took about 20 minutes but we were soon 7000 feet over central Switzerland. At the top we explored the camp which included a visitor’s center and hotel... the whole set up reminded me of Ober Gatlinburg. Apparently James Bond has frequented this mountain top in the movie Her Majesty's Secret Service and I think I found his mountain top bunker. We climb over to the other side of the mountain top and we saw a small chapel on the side of a cliff about 2 kilometers away. It was surrounded by sheep and at that point I knew I wanted to check it out. Armed with tennis shoes and a camera we took the 20 some odd switchbacks down the side of the mountain and over to the chapel. There we realized we had 30 minutes to get back to the top of the mountain to catch the last cable car down the mountain. The sign said it would take 40 minutes to get to the top... we made it in 25. Exhausted we then boarded the cable car and made our descent down the other side of the mountain and into Luzern.

Tonight is a slow night... seeing as nothing caught our fancy last night we're just chilling on our porch, listening to music and catching up on life. Tomorrow we leave for a 3 day stay in Interlaken Yee Haw!