by Chidinma Emenike, Terry campus student
The excitement began as soon as we were on the road. Guess which event didn’t happen on the way:
a) A car was on fire on the NJ Turnpike
b) While merging into another lane, the van driver sideswiped a truck and hit its mirror, and had absolutely NO REACTION
c) A truck both lost an axle and blew a tire, and the ensuing police and fire dispatch caused major traffic for several miles
(For those of you playing along at home, all of the above events occurred.)
When we finally got to the airport, we were told we’d been switched to a direct flight to Zurich, rather than our scheduled flight with an hour layover in Reykjvik. This was awesome for all of 15 minutes, at which point we found out that three of our people got switched to a flight with a layover in Munich instead. We split up and Dan, the lead instructor, stayed with the Munich crew, and Dr. Gurdo, Dan’s second-in-command, took the rest of us.
TSA was better than I thought it would be, thanks to the officer. A shot of our lovely TSA officer from the back appears in the top left corner. Brusque, but polite and even funny.
The flight itself was fine (I tried to sleep through most of it), and some more airport hassle on the other side (the airline lost Shirin’s bag, but they promised to deliver it to the hotel when they found it), we finally arrived. A scenic train ride brought us to Lucerne (or Luzern; I want to find out the story behind that).
The city itself seems calm and pleasant, but that illusion shattered as soon as we hit Coop, a local grocery store with a branch in the train station. That place was absolute madness. I don’t know what the deal was, but Coop was packed, and there was a definite vibe of “get your stuff and get out”. I’d gone in just to see what was on offer, but the environment was so fast-paced that I felt more rushed than I wanted to be. Hopefully it will be calmer next time I go.
This was taken at the exit, so I couldn’t get a shot of the mob of people still shopping.
Dinner was nice, apart from losing about half the group on the way, and loitering outside the restaurant until a server told us we could go in and look around before committing. The same server, graciously taking pity on the foreigners who clearly didn’t know what we were doing, explained that the restaurant (Tibits, I believe it was called) is 100% vegetarian (score!), and that our meals would be priced by weight. While we ate, I chatted with Dan (Fearless Leader Dan), Daniel (Student Dan), and Dr. Gurdo. Good times.
Our hostel, Backpackers Lucerne, is very easy to find (right on the lake), and has excellent views from all angles. I know how to get from the hostel to the train station and the grocery store, which is all I really need right now. My tentative walking tour tomorrow should be helpful for finding more interesting sites.
Basically, after a few bumps in the road, we’ve arrived safe and sound. Lucerne seems to hold plenty of action and adventure (even on a Sunday? Stay tuned), and I haven’t had trouble finding things to eat. All in all, no complaints, although the people who got bumped to the Munich flight never did receive those complimentary meal vouchers…
a) A car was on fire on the NJ Turnpike
b) While merging into another lane, the van driver sideswiped a truck and hit its mirror, and had absolutely NO REACTION
c) A truck both lost an axle and blew a tire, and the ensuing police and fire dispatch caused major traffic for several miles
(For those of you playing along at home, all of the above events occurred.)
When we finally got to the airport, we were told we’d been switched to a direct flight to Zurich, rather than our scheduled flight with an hour layover in Reykjvik. This was awesome for all of 15 minutes, at which point we found out that three of our people got switched to a flight with a layover in Munich instead. We split up and Dan, the lead instructor, stayed with the Munich crew, and Dr. Gurdo, Dan’s second-in-command, took the rest of us.
TSA was better than I thought it would be, thanks to the officer. A shot of our lovely TSA officer from the back appears in the top left corner. Brusque, but polite and even funny.
The flight itself was fine (I tried to sleep through most of it), and some more airport hassle on the other side (the airline lost Shirin’s bag, but they promised to deliver it to the hotel when they found it), we finally arrived. A scenic train ride brought us to Lucerne (or Luzern; I want to find out the story behind that).
The city itself seems calm and pleasant, but that illusion shattered as soon as we hit Coop, a local grocery store with a branch in the train station. That place was absolute madness. I don’t know what the deal was, but Coop was packed, and there was a definite vibe of “get your stuff and get out”. I’d gone in just to see what was on offer, but the environment was so fast-paced that I felt more rushed than I wanted to be. Hopefully it will be calmer next time I go.
This was taken at the exit, so I couldn’t get a shot of the mob of people still shopping.
Dinner was nice, apart from losing about half the group on the way, and loitering outside the restaurant until a server told us we could go in and look around before committing. The same server, graciously taking pity on the foreigners who clearly didn’t know what we were doing, explained that the restaurant (Tibits, I believe it was called) is 100% vegetarian (score!), and that our meals would be priced by weight. While we ate, I chatted with Dan (Fearless Leader Dan), Daniel (Student Dan), and Dr. Gurdo. Good times.
Our hostel, Backpackers Lucerne, is very easy to find (right on the lake), and has excellent views from all angles. I know how to get from the hostel to the train station and the grocery store, which is all I really need right now. My tentative walking tour tomorrow should be helpful for finding more interesting sites.
Basically, after a few bumps in the road, we’ve arrived safe and sound. Lucerne seems to hold plenty of action and adventure (even on a Sunday? Stay tuned), and I haven’t had trouble finding things to eat. All in all, no complaints, although the people who got bumped to the Munich flight never did receive those complimentary meal vouchers…