Berlusalzvienich

Happy Fourth of July to all! I am so sorry to be missing it. Somehow I don't think I'll see much of a celebration here, and I can only think about how I am missing out on great food and fireworks. I think I'll celebrate with fondue instead.

This will probably be my only entry until I get to Salzburg, so I hope it's a good one! Luzern is certainly a fun place to explore, and that's mostly what I've been doing. On my first day (Sunday), I went to the transportation museum and then walked around the lake and did some shopping. I spent day 2 exploring much in the same way, though admittedly getting terribly lost at one point in a torrential downpour.

However, along the way I also made some really great discoveries. I walked along the Mussegmauer around the city, which gave me some really great views and incredibly sore legs today. Then I took a very steep cogwheel train to the top of a mountain where there is a hotel that looks like a palace. It was strange though, because it was all seemingly deserted. I also found a beautiful forest and would have liked to explore, but the call of nature encouraged me to reject the call of nature!

I've also had the strange experience here of having my fortune randomly told to me on the street. I think they are looking for money, but I get information out of it without paying for a thing. The first man told me that I was very lucky and would have an especially lucky month, but that I think too much. I told him thank you, and I would think about that. Later, another man stopped me. Interestingly, or perhaps not, he told me the exact same thing.

Today was probably the most thrilling yet though. This morning I took a boat ride which was almost 2 hours to the neighboring town of Alpnachstad. From there I took the steepest cogwheel train in the world to the top of Mount Pilatus, 7000 feet. It was so cold! But it was really beautiful, and between pictures I stopped for some hot soup. Then I took a cable car and then a gondola down to Kriens, where I picked up a bus back to Luzern. I wish the computers here gave me access to USB ports. I can't share my pictures!

I've been very happy in my hostel, and Switzerland is just so beautiful. It is somewhat strange to me though, I think because it is such a mix of cultures and languages. I still can't get over this German...sometimes it sounds like Russian...sometimes like Italian...sometimes like Swedish...sometimes like French...

I would compare it to talking to someone with a very thick Scottish accent in English. It makes me a little homesick for Berlin.

I am now in Lucerne, Switzerland, and I realize that I am very behind in my updates! I also know that the promised pictures have not appeared, but internet facilities are getting harder and harder to come by. First impressions of Switzerland: beautiful and pedestrian-friendly, but the German is so difficult to understand and there are no street signs!

I guess I should back up though, to my last few days in Berlin. After the academic rush at the end of the program (One of my professors refers to it as an 'intense academic experience.'), I spent a day with a few friends trying to fit in everything we hadn't seen. In one day we went to the olympic stadium, Schloss Charlottenburg, and the TV tower. We ended the evening with a ride on the streetcars and a walk around town. The TV tower was by far the highlight of the day. The view from above was fantastic. We sat in the rotating restaurant and ate ice cream. It was a good conclusion to the trip, because we were able to look down and recognize all sorts of places and the things that happened there. The one thing I missed seeing was the dome of the Reichstag, which is probably the thing I wanted to see most! I am hoping to fit it in during my short stay before my flight home.

The program hosted a good bye dinner on Friday night with lots of good food and good company. I got to say good bye to all my professors too, who were just fantastic. They are all very interesting and full of information. And I've never felt such a sense of mutual respect and friendliness with professors before. It was really difficult to say good bye to a city and friends that I love so much. We all felt so settled there...it really felt like home to us.

But now I am in Switzerland and am so happy to be here! I took a flight into Geneva and got some amazing views as we were landing. Looking at the horizon, I realized eventually that some of the clouds I was looking at were actually the Alps poking out above them. It was so beautiful that I actually gasped. Geneva was a little disorienting for me. It was the first time I felt like a real foreigner, because everyone was speaking French. Of course, I had no trouble speaking English with everyone, but it was strange for me not to have German as a comfort area. From Geneva I took a 3.5 hour train ride to Luzern, which gave me a really good chance to see a lot of Switzerland very quickly. It is so full of beautiful farms, mountains, and little towns. But it also has its areas which remind me of the NJTransit landscapes.

My hostel is really nice, but I hate living out of a suitcase. I will be happy to come home to my own bed! This morning I took a walk by the lake, which is so much cleaner than I expected it to be. There is more to see here than expected, so I am going to spend my day getting oriented and fitting in as many sites as I can. Bis später!