Lindt Bunny
We were in Switzerland from April 18th-25th, 2012. I was brought to Horgen, Switzerland for work and then was able to take some vacation time while over there. The time we were there was considered the rainy season so it rained a lot of the time but we still were able to enjoy the trip. It was my first time driving in a foreign country and was very scary. I apparently scratched a car with the side mirror, got a parking ticket, a speeding ticket and may have even drove down a people only street. The cars are small and the roads even smaller with lots of roundabouts. One of our evenings free we drove down the road to the Lindt Factory. We didn’t get a tour but did buy a lot of chocolate. It had just been Easter and so they had giant Lindt Easter bunny’s on their property. We also went to a Chinese garden which had little ponds and typical Chinese structures on the inside. It was neat to see but not something I need to do again.
Underground Lake
During our first free day we took the train from Horgen all the way down to St. Leonard which was about a 3.5hr trip each way. We were a little nervous because English is not the primary language and it was our first time using a train system. We did make it and it was nice to see the Swiss country side. In St. Leonard there is an underground lake which is the largest natural underground lake in Europe able to be explored by boat. This was our first underground lake and it was awesome to combine cave with crystal clear water. The water was so pretty and cold at a constant 52F. There are trout in the lake but they were introduced and are fed by the guides.
Cow Treking
The next day we drove to Bolderhof Farms which is up near the Swiss/German border. There we did cow trekking. It is like horseback riding but on a cow. The cows moove very slow and sometimes they decide to run which is scary because you don’t have anything to really hold on to. Our cows names were Karin and Oklahoma. Cows are very wide and our legs were sore for days. You start by walking the cow and talking and petting it which is kind of weird but it is important for you and the cow to be comfortable with each other. Then you have to quick jump on – cows are quite tall. We rode for about an hour riding through fields and even went down to a river. The cows have a mind of their own and tend to stop to eat a lot and go where they want. Kyle’s cow took off through a field and as soon as my cow lost sight of her she started running herself. VERY SCARY! Overall it was a fun and different experience.
Rhine Falls
After cow trekking we drove to Rhine Falls where we took a few boat rides and explored the falls and the area. Rhine Falls is a very pretty waterfall and is considered one of the largest plain waterfalls in Europe. There is a rock/island on the side of the falls where you can climb up and look over. We had lunch and dinner there and I ended up losing about $70 of cash that fell out of my coat pocket which was a big bummer. At night they light up the falls so it is pretty to watch and no people around.
Zoo Zurich
The next day we went to Zoo Zurich. Their pricing was based on age and I fell into a lower price category than Kyle. When they asked to see my ID they argued with me that it had past my birthday and so I was a different price. We kept telling them that no, my ID is issued in the United states where we put the month before the day and after a while they finally just let us have the lower price. We were only talking about a few bucks but it was great how adamant they were on when my birthday was. The zoo was nice and they had lots of typical animals but we did get to see a capybara and Spectacled/Andean Bear which we’ve never seen before. The capybara is like a giant 100LB guinea pig. The spectacled bears are only found in the Andes mountains and are endangered animals. I also really liked the monkey area they had. It was a big hill with trees, big rocks all over and a pond at the bottom. The monkeys of different kinds were hopping around and sitting on the rocks.
Mount Titlis
Our last full day was a day trip that took us to Lucerne where we had some time to walk around and shop. Lucerne is a cute little town that has an old Swiss feeling with a little lake in the middle of it and a covered bridge you can walk across. From here we travelled through the country side getting more views of the Alps and learning how people that live on the side of steep mountains have to take these zip line types of transportation to get to the town. We arrived at Mount Titlis and took a gondola ride to the part of the mountain where we had fun snow tubing. We then took another gondola to a higher part of the mountain. It was VERY cold up there and of course all we brought were our spring jackets. Overall we had about 45 minutes of travel up the mountain. There we decided to be brave when no-one else was by taking the Ice Flyer. The Ice Flyer is a ski lift that goes over a glacier. It was freezing and the snow was coming at us and it was a terrible decision. We were so froze and then had to walk through snow to get back to the building. Once we got into the building and warmed up a bit we checked out their ice cave which was neat but not a lot to it.
Overall we enjoyed our trip to Switzerland but figured it would have been better had it been later in spring or another time of year. We didn’t get to see any of the pretty flowers that are usually in Switzerland photos. Things were also very expensive there so you spend a lot of money. We ate a lot of margarita pizza on this trip – pretty much every day. People didn’t seem very friendly either but maybe that’s just my take.
