Montreux is absolutely the most beautiful place i've ever been! The hotel had views of Lac Leman (lake geneva) with the alps in the background. Spring was the perfect time to come because everything was in bloom. There were tons of Different types of flowers lining the lake and all the streets. The buildings were all old and beautiful. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and quickly got started on our day.
Our first stop was A castle called Chateau de Chillon. It was SO cool and SO different from any of the castles we had been to around spain. We took a 5 minute bus ride to get there and it was right on the lake. We were lucky that it was almost completely empty when we arrived. There were tons of rooms to go in and each one had HUGE fireplaces (almost the size of my room in spain) that are still used! We wandered through the old bedrooms, dining room, and latrines (a concrete whole that dropped about 4 stories to the ground... Gross) and made our way up to the top of the tower. The views of the alps and the lake below were so amazing!
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| Castle courtyard |
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| castle courtyard |
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| dining room |
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| one of the bedrooms |
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| latrine! |
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| view from the top! |
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| one of the passage ways around the courtyard |
After we were done at the castle we decided to walk back to the hotel (the sign said about an hour walk). There was a nice walking path along the lake. We made a stop at a tiny little beach area where some people were grilling and having a cookout (I MISS COOKOUT FOOD MORE THAN ANYTHING... And chipotle!!!!) I put my feet in the lake.. A little chilly. We continued on our walk along the path stopping every few seconds to take pictures of the flowers.. There were countless differe t kinds, all brightly colored and lots i had never seen before. Everytime we turned around to look back at the mountains it seemed like the view was just better and better.
We made it to downtown Montreux just in time to see the sun set over the lake.. Pretty incredible!
After sunset it was time to grab some dinner. Just as the alps at breathtakingly beautiful, everything in switzerland is breathtakingly EXPENSIVE. Breakfast for ONE person ran from 25-30 francs (francs are about equal to the US dollar) and dinner started around 40 francs. It was unreal! Luckily we were prepared for this so we didnt have high expectations for meals. There were some places to get basic pasta (19fr) and a slice of pizza (8fr) but we settled on a delicious meal at mcdonalds. (no really.. It was delicious i haven't had it in so long!) i got a quarter pounder (called a royal burger in switzerland) a medium fry and drink for 12.50fr.... Bargain? Corey tried the ever-famous CBO (chicken bacon onion) which is the big thing in mcdonalds everywhere in europe. It didn't let her down! After dinner we went back to the hotel to drink so wine on the patio at the hotel.
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| no dollar menu here... |
Saturday morning we headed up to the alps! We went to a peak called Rocher de Naye. A train took us up to the top of the mountain and was packed woth skiers ranging from age 3 to age 80. It was crowded but definitely an experience. I would ride it just for the views on the way up! It was a tiny, old, 2-car train that some how made it up the steepest slopes of the mountain. People got on at stops where there weren't even any houses in sight. Everyone was decked out in ski gear and 2 plain-clothed train employees worked their way through the train offering free croissants and coffee. There was barely any room to moved but they had a basket and a coffee thermos and they made it work!
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| one of the many awesome views from the train ride! |
The views from the top were absolutely unreal. I can't get over how lucky we were with weather. The skies were completely clear and bright blue and temps were in the 70s. We had amazing views of the mountains and down below. At the top there were cool little eskimo huts that you can rent to stay in. They had 4 small beds and a small set of tables and chairs and a space heater. I think i would pay any amount of money to be able to stay there and walk out of my room on top of the alps.
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| one of the huts you can stay in |
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| inside of the huts ... so cute! |
While waiting for the train to go back down, we watched all the people skiing. The swiss definitely make the season last as long as possible. There wasnt much snow left, just enough for a short slalom run down. It was so good to watch the slalom.. I've only ever seen in on the wii and on tv for the olympics. It was esspecially amazing to see the little 3 year olds doing it! They made it through all the gates and even did a few jumps. It was so funny tp sese these tiny little things dcked out in intense ski gear and doing something that i would fail miserably at.
After taking the train down we packed up and hopped in the car to head to Geneva. Because we were leaving so early sunday, we stayed in an airpport hotel. Once we arrived we jumped on the tram and went to downtown geneva. Geneva was also beautiful and much more crowded. It was so hot too! It got up to 76 degrees which we were not dressed for. Peole were laying in bathing suits on the grass all around the lake and there were even a lot of people swimming. Lake geneva has a huge water spout that shoots really high into the air. The lake, the water spout and the mountains in the background made for a pretty view! We walked along the lake for about an hour before dedciding on kebabs for dinner. We spent the rest of the night relaxing with somew wine at the hotel and gooing to bed early. Our flight left at 630am sunday so we had to get sleep.
(fun fact about switzerland: the Y and the Z on their keyboards are switched. Why? No idea. Annoying? YES!)
This was an amazing weekend. Montreux was easily the most beautful place ive ever been (though it is hard to compare beach-beautiful to mountain-beautiful!) but i still have 6 more countries/cities to visit so i guess ill let you know :)
My parents leave today and it was so fun having them here! I cant believe Maura and my Parent's visits have already passed. Here is a rundown of what I have left:
I have this week of school (including a final for my EU class on Thursday... Cant wait for that to be over!) and a USAC day trip to Javea on saturday. Also I signed up for an open-water swim for sunday! I'm so excited! Its one mile in the meditteranean from Alicante to a town calked El Campello and back. After doing my first open water swim 2 miles in the brown-murky bay last summer, it will be so nice to swim in nice, clear water. My roommate taylor signed up to do it with me so it should be fun!
The week after, I have 3 days of school, Semana Santa celebrations (spanish holy week.. Supposed to be really cool) on wednesday, then 3 weeks of spring break to Cinqueterre, scotland, galway, germany and prague. Spring break is followed by one last week of school, a possible weekend in Ibiza, one week of relaxing in alicante then 10 days in rome and santorini, greece with my best friend colleen and phil and mark! Then home...AHH!
Still having the time of my life, still don't ever want to leave, and still can't wait to see everyone at home!
Xoxo
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