Travel Tuesday (but on a Thursday): Lucerne, Switzerland

Hi loves! Before I get into the post, I just have a quick note about my posting schedule. Since Tuesdays and Thursdays are my full days off, I'm definitely going to be posting on both of those! I've been trying to figure it out, so I've had outfit posts on Tuesdays and miscellaneous on Thursdays.

Instead, I'm going to start a series on Tuesdays to finally tell you guys about studying and traveling abroad- thus, Travel Tuesdays! Thursdays will become outfit posts and I'll probably do miscellaneous posts mainly on Fridays, but possibly scattered throughout the week. OH! And VIDEOS will be posted to my youtube channel on Wednesdays! 

Whew, that was a lot! Take a deep breath, grab a cup of coffee (or Swiss hot chocolate), and let's head to Lucerne!

  

For today’s soon-to-become Travel Tuesday, I want to share one of the most stunning places I have ever visited: Lucerne, Switzerland.  Coincidentally, this was my first trip outside of Ireland AND a place my dad spent some time as a child before coming to the United States! Because of these three factors, this little getaway was one of the most special trips I took while abroad.

Warning: this post is going to be really photo heavy, because I still can't deal with how gorgeous Lucerne is!

I traveled with my friend Juliette and we went into the trip with the absolute loosest of plans. My dad having lived there didn't end up being that helpful- his only suggestion was, “ride a tricycle around the lake, I remember that being fun” …granted, he was (at most) 5 when they left. While it still sounded like a fun idea to me, it's not exactly something to plan a trip around!

^Juliette on a balcony^

We did take his adorable suggestion into account, though! Expanding upon the trike aspect, we stopped at several playgrounds and went a little nuts climbing and bouncing and swinging. Using the lake as its own rec, we hopped on an alps tour by water and got amazing views and some really delicious hot cocoa!

Because we had negative plans - and now have pretty hilarious stories of our escapades as a result! - the only thing on the agenda was ADVENTURE!

I don’t know about you, but that to-do list makes me mighty happy! 

^them alps got us like^

We spent two days wandering around the town and climbing up the hills in all directions to find our future houses and the best views of the alps - both discoveries of the utmost importance. We pretty much explored and exclaimed loudly (and, for some reason, in fake British accents?) over every new beautiful thing we uncovered.

Random facts: 

• Lucerne uses Francs (like, whaaaat? France doesn’t even use Francs!), which means the conversion rate was slightly kinder to our american wallets… a kindness which was completely negated by how crazy expensive the city is!
• Juliette, who was also studying abroad in Ireland, and I ended up eating at an Irish Pub for a meal or two. Don’t jump down my throat, though! We were going to get fondue - the only somewhat Swiss thing we could think of/find - but the place was out of the way and closed before we made up our minds! The pub was right on the water and we got to watch the sun set on both the lake and the alps… plus we had Swiss beer, if that makes it better. 

A quick summary: 

• We walked around Lucerne at night until we were so dead on our feet that we booked a room for several hours of rest, showers, and the ability to stuff our faces with complimentary breakfast.
• We wandered, got coffee, wandered some more, climbed a bunch of hills, played on a playground, took some breathtaking pictures, wandered, got gelato, found another playground, and wandered some more.
• Got food (Possibly just french fries and beer?) at an Irish pub and watched the beautiful sun set.
• Really loved our hostel (again, with the complimentary breakfast. Mmmmm).
• Bought tickets for a boat tour of the alps and meandered through a market until it was time to board.
• Engaged in even more oohing and ahhing and picture taking (but with hot cocoa this time!)
• A wee bit more exploring before a very tearful goodbye to the beautiful city as we boarded the train to head to the airport.
• And now... typing up the adventure to share with the interwebs!

^yelling my dad's greeting to the mountains, duh, they're bros^

I'd say sorry for the insane number of pictures, but I really couldn't bear to edit out any more of them! I hope their excess helped give you an idea of how beautiful Lucerne is and how rose-colored my memory (and the actual place!) is. 

That concludes this Travel Tuesday (yes, I know it's Thursday, bear with me) and I will see you somewhere else in the world next week!