Switzerland

I do not know why I decided to go to Switzerland. It wasn’t the obvious choice on how to spend the first half of my Thanksgiving break, the cheapest choice, or even the most fun choice for that matter. I could have gone to Sicily, Budapest, or Amsterdam again. For whatever reason, I decided to spend six days traveling through Switzerland, alone.

I left Florence by plane for Zurich early Saturday morning. I was to spend a few hours walking around Zurich before boarding a train sometime in the late afternoon for Luzern. To avoid lugging around a lot of baggage, I only packed what could fit into my 32L backpack. All for 10 days. Earlier in the month, I had purchased a Swiss travel pass, which theoretically allowed me transport on all Swiss trains, buses, and trams, excluding a few, as well as free entrance to many Swiss museums. This would be a problem later.

The Zurich main station let out right by the river, so I decided to follow the river down to the lake, which was about a mile away. This was my first time traveling alone, and I didn’t have any sort of plan, so I followed my feet for the first couple of hours.

Zurich might have been my favorite out of the four Swiss cities I traveled through. It was situated around a river that led to a large lake with snowcapped mountains looming in the distance. The roads followed a strict grid on the flat banks by the river, but as those banks grew into hills the city turned into a wonderful maze of alleys and walkways.

The city was a giant contradiction. McLarens and Ferraris rumbled past name-brand stores, but also welcoming firelit cafes that looked straight out of a hallmark small town. I walked along the river, through a few interesting alleys, and down their main fashion street. There were a lot of watch stores. I made my way down to the lake where while waiting to take a photo, I met a nice couple from New York that had moved to Zurich to retire. They were kind enough to recommend some attractions along my way for the next couple of days. By this time it was starting to get dark, so I decided to start heading back to the train station to grab the next train to Luzern. On the way, I stopped by the Swiss National Museum, but there was nothing of interest in there.

On the way to Luzern, I discovered that my Swiss travel pass had expired. Rather the conductor discovered it and informed me that I now owed him 37 francs. More money down the drain, which was the theme of my Swiss trip. I got to Luzern, checked in to a hostel, and walked around for a little bit to check out all the cool Christmas lights they had, but at that point, I was tired and overwhelmed from being alone and decided to hit the can.

The next day I walked around a little in the morning and then grabbed a train headed towards Mount Rigi, about an hour and a half by train. On the way up the mountain, I got to ride one of Switzerland’s famous mountain trains, which lumber up sometimes worryingly steep inclines to the peak. This train was well worth it, as the views I saw at the top incredible. I stayed at the top longer than I expected despite the wind and snow, then made the trip back to Luzern to catch the 5 o’clock train to Interlaken, where I was going to spend the next couple of days.

Interlaken is a cozier town than the big cities of Luzern and Zurich. Its population fluctuates with the tourists and primarily consists of small hotels and bed and breakfasts. I was in Interlaken for one purpose only-to skydive. Some of my friends had talked me into it, and I am glad that they did. I woke up early the morning of and walked around town for a while. There was not a lot to see, but what was there was beautiful. It was beginning to become too cold for tourists, so most of the shops were closing. I got picked up near the train station by a kind Canadian, a Korean couple, and Australian who took us to the landing strip.

The fact that I was about to jump out of a perfectly good airplane was not fully realized until they opened the sliding door at 25,000 feet and I looked down and saw nothing between me and the earth so far down below. My tandem partner and I rolled out of the plane and my brain went haywire-the rational part trying to console the irrational, adrenaline like I have never felt before. It is unique in this world.

After I got back, I crashed almost immediately without showering, waking in my clothes the next morning. I showered and checked out, grabbing a train to Geneva, my final city in Switzerland.

At this point, the burden of traveling alone was starting to weigh me down. I had only had two or three conversations in English during the entire trip, and the cultural differences were weighing me down. So much so that when I saw a Five Guys right outside the Geneva station, I broke down and my budget and paid a cheap Swiss 33 francs for a burger a fries. Switzerland is expensive. I spent the first day exploring Geneva while waiting to check into my Airbnb, but once I checked in, I did not have the energy to go out again.

The next day I tried to see the Red Cross Museum, the United Nations Building, and the Patek Phillipe Museum. I saw all of them but was only able to go inside the Red Cross museum. I spent the rest of the day walking all across the city before I retired to pack for my trip to Paris in the morning. I walked 11 miles that day. Geneva is a fine city; I just wish I was in a better mindset when I had visited. At that point, I was done with traveling and was starting to feel homesick. Switzerland is an awesome country that I think America could learn a lot from, and I hope to return one day.