The Swiss Adventure

On Saturday, we woke up and had yet another incredible breakfast and loaded the bus.  On our way to our next locations, we drove throuhg Austria and Lichtenstein (which, I'm gonna be honest, I'd never heard of). In Lichtenstein, we were allowed to get off the bus to get our passport stamped for 2 euros.  But, considering we were only there for ten minutes and all I did in Lichtenstein was use their restroom, I decided against it. We drove, and drove, and drove some more. Drove past the Alps, some waterfalls,  and even drove through the little village that Heidi was from.

At last, we arrived in Vitznau, Switzerland.

Vitznau is a little town on Lake Lucerne, which is at the base of the Swiss Alps.  We were able to walk along the lake a bit and even stick our toes in the freezing cold water. It was well worth the frostbite.

The Alps and the toes. 

 vicious swan.

Meet our fearless leaders, Maaike and Sarah. 

Then we all boarded a little red train and slowly made our way to the top of the Alps, to Mt. Rigi. We passed a few cows (wearing actual cowbells) on the way.

Thanks for the Swiss cheese!

Once there, we had a delicious 3-course meal for lunch. It was a  quite a bit chillier than we all had expected, but, once we looked out at the view, it was well worth it.

After lunch, we were able to walk around and explore Rigi a bit more.

Apparently, this cornucopia was used for yodeling...not for the Hunger Games. 

  

After our train ride down from the Alps, we got on our bus and drove to Montreaux, Switzerland.  Montreaux is right on the coast of Lake Geneva, and on the other side of the lake is France! We all went and ate our own dinner along the shore of Lake Geneva.  For the remainder of the evening, we walked along the coast, enjoying the sights, sunset, and delicious Swiss chocolate ice cream.

 This is the view from our hotel window. I could get used to waking up to this every morning.

Once again, BEAUTIFUL sunset.