Two words. Breathtaking and surreal. I quickly became very fond of Switzerland's beauty. The views were incredible and literally had my jaw dropping. I went to visit my cousin who lived in a town called Crans-Montana, about two hours from Geneva and way up in the mountains. I flew into Geneva and toured the city for the day. Then I took a train to meet my cousin. It was probably the prettiest train ride I have ever taken, seeing the Swiss Alps with white snow on the mountain tops residing over the bright blue water of the lake, I had never seen anything like this before.
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| Geneva |
Geneva
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| Crans-Montana |
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Crans-Montana
Fondue! |
My cousin picked me up from the train station and we drove up the mountain. My first Swiss meal was eating some delicious fondue (a cheese one and a tomato one). We went with some of his friends and then went out to the town's bars/clubs. Since Crans-Montana is so small everyone knows each other and there are only about 3 main bars in the town.
My cousin being as awesome as he is, said it would be a good idea to roadtrip Switzerland with his car so I could see as much of the country as possible. It was such a great idea and a perfect way for me to see the French and German parts.
Day 1: French part: Lausanne-Vevey-Montreux
First we went to
Lausanne and it was very beautiful. It was a cute little town that had great views of the mountain on the lake. We had lunch at
Holy Cow which specializes in making gourmet burgers and since I rarely eat burgers in Spain it was so satisfying. Then we drove through
Vevey just to see the city and see the Nestle headquarters as we were on our way to
Montreux. Montreux was my favorite place I saw. It not only had one of the most amazing views I have ever seen (again the mountains on the water and houses on the lake too), but also the
Château de Chillon (or Castle of Chillon) which sits on the lake as well. It was where Jimmy Hendrix became famous as well. I loved this place, it was also so small and cute to walk through. I could sit at the castle for hours and not get tired of starting at the view and the bright blue water.
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| Lausanne |
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| Lausanne |
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Lausanne
The drive
Vevey
Montreux
Montreux
Montreux
Montreux
Montreux
Montreux: Château de Chillon | | |
Day 2: German part: Bern- Zurich- Lucerne
Now it was time to see the German part of Switzerland which I was really excited about. We went from hearing French at breakfast to German at lunch in Zurich and back to hearing French back at my cousin's town for dinner- it was quite the day. We started off at
Bern, right when we arrived I saw the differences between the French towns, the buildings were gothic style and I felt like I was back in Germany. It was beautiful in its own way. Bern is more to look at the city and of course see the bears!! In Bern there are bears that live outside and people come to look at them, they were adorable. We also saw the
Zytglogge, or clock tower, which was impressive. Then we made our way to
Zurich. Zurich was amazing, it was my favorite part of German-Switzerland. We had lunch there and then walked around the city. Walked around the lake and saw the different clock towers
. It was so pretty. Then we drove off to see
Lucerne. The main attraction there (besides the view of course) was the Lion monument, which was very impressive. It was a huge statue of a lion that looks like it is sleeping but really is lion that is dying. It is a memorial for the Swiss soldiers who gave their lives to defend Switzerland. The views once again were incredible of the various houses on top of the mountains and over the lake.
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| Bern |
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| Bern |
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| Bern |
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| Zurich |
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| Zurich |
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| Lucerne |
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| Lucerne |
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| Lucerne |
Unlike most places you visit, Switzerland was different in the sense that the main thing to do is see and enjoy the gorgeous views, instead of a traditional trip where one visits historic sites, museums, etc. (there are some museums here too of course). But I loved that about Switzerland, seeing pretty sights all weekend long was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone!
