On Our Own 8 Feet

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Ashley, Elz, Ryan, and I set off into the rain today on our own eight feet to Lucerne, [b[with no translator. It was a blast!
Day 7 of our European Excursion was designated to be a free day, and Lucerne was calling our name! We originally had wanted to take our swimsuits and lay out at the lake after lunch, however, this morning it was pretty chilly and drizzly so we scratched that off the list of options. None-the-less, at 11:45 a.m. we left the Engelberg train station. It was my first real train ride and it was pretty cool. The best part was when we stood outside of the train door for about ten seconds trying to figure out how to open the dang door. haha! Ryan of all people was the captain of this operation and if you could see his mannerisms then you would understand why this is so funny. Not to mention he is a rather tall fellow, so he is very hard to miss. Turns out that the green button with the arrows separating is the answer to this challenge. Hello! I do not think they could have made it more obvious for us. The ride took about an hour and we stopped about 8 times. It really made us curious about the school systems here. We saw about 20 kids around the age of 10-12 on the train with backpacks but no teachers. They were only on the train for about two stops so we were wondering if they had an off campus lunch (or something of that nature.)
We arrived in Lucerne, and it was still a little bit chilly, and Elz wasn't quite dressed enough for her bones so I allowed her to use my scarf. It was there that we really felt the impact of being there all alone. We didn't know where to eat, and we couldn't read anything, so we just started walking. Luckily, we had already been there once and had a pretty good idea of where things were. Since nearly everything in Lucerne closes from 12:30-1:30 for lunch we knew that it would be pointless to do anything except eat so we went to Cafeteria Emilio. It really reminded me of Shelley's in a weird way. Me and Ashley got a "chicken-burger" while Elz and Ryan got a cheeseburger." Again. yummy! It is very interesting, in Switzerland, they put minimums on credit card charges. For example, the restaurant wouldn't use my credit card unless I had 30 swiss franks worth of food to put on it. So complicated! Next up was CasaGrande, a souvenir shop. We continued down the road after that, looking in random clothing shops but nothing really caught out attention so startbucks was next on the list! I loved it there. It was a two story one and it was so cozy. They spoke english, which was awesome, because I would not know how to translate, Skinny Caramel Macchiato into German! (and I don't know how to spell it in english) We also were tempted with a chocolate truffle cake... the cake won! And boy was it worth it! No chocolate cake will ever be the same after I have experienced this. We then took some pictures of Ryan having cake all in his teeth, then called it a day. We had given up on the shopping and decided to just head back to the train station when Ashley saw an unusual dress on the side of the road... HA she had no idea what she started! It was then that I got my little hands on the stuff outside and said oh no, we must go in here!! They looked at the price of the clothes outside and said uh Vanessa, did you see how much this costs? I said, yes, we are going in! At first it was going to just be a window shop, but then I found something that I just could not resist. I showed it to them and they loved it, as did it! The curiosity became contagious. I found yet another dress to try on and all of the sudden Ashley was in the back with me trying on stuff. Then Elz came back with two things to try on! Oh, it was marvelous! A word for the wise, if you enjoy having a full wallet, I do not advise having me around. 😊 It may lead to good (but expensive) coffee, snack bars, and clothes. With time being down to the wire, we finally made it out of there contributing over 600 franks to the Swiss economy. What a glorious feeling. :p
We ended up riding the train home with Mrs. Runnels and Crystal so that was a lot of fun. We got to hear what they did, and hear some cool stories as well. Once back in Engelberg, I felt the desire to go on a run before dinner. Although everyone was going out to dinner tonight, I was going to sacrifice to opportunity. It was a good one. For the first time in a while it was just me and the ipod. With all of the songs ringing in my ear, I felt like a small piece of home was there with me. I ventured past where I usually run with Mrs. Bradley and passed an RV park and then past a driving range. Beyond that was just a road leading into a forest with no sidewalk so I decided to turn around. It took me nearly 40 minutes to get back to the hotel, and to my surprise the group was there on the steps all beginning to gather for dinner. Wow, I was so thrilled that I could grace them with my enchanting presence, for the "I just ran for over half an hour" is always a ladies best look...
Dinner was an awesome way to finish Switzerland off with a bang! The food was more of a traditional Swiss cuisine and Elz and I split a bottle of wine. (thank goodness, the minimum at this restaurant was 40 franks.) Luckily, my 12oz bottle of water was 4.90 so that was a big help. We spent a good two hours there, then finally I was so tired that Elz and I left. I spent the rest of the night just packing up my stuff, buying my train ticket (1st class!) from Strasbourg to Paris, and blogging. I must also have spent some time staring at the wall because I do not know where the time went!

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