We do not wish to belabor the point, because Switzerland chiefly left us in awe of its natural splendors and in sorrow that we could not stay longer. However, it must be said: Switzerland is expensive. At least we got to see the lovely Swiss francs as we were spending them (at approximately the rate one spends Monopoly money, only with real currency.)
We arrived in Luzern in the middle of a chilly, rainy afternoon. Tigger's spirits remained undampened.
Mouse was slightly cheered by the nice, hot Starbucks chai latte she purchased to break the bills from the ATM. (Don't judge; it's the first American chain Mouse patronized during the Europe trip, and she pretty much had a choice between that and McDonald's.) Mouse was slightly agog at the fact that the tall chai latte, usually less than $3, cost 5.90 CHF. (And Swiss francs are slightly more than dollars on the exchange.) (And of course Mouse accidentally asked for whipped cream, which added another franc to the bill.) Badger found Mouse's insistence on breaking the bill thus very amusing, possibly churlishly suspecting that Mouse was unable to survive without Starbucks chai lattes for extended periods of time. Eventually, both Tigger and Badger had to drag Mouse out from under the cold, windy shelter to the bus station so that we could all go to the Luzern Youth Hostel. The bus station which, naturally, had automated ticket machines which were so much easier to use with a credit card that the cash didn't need to be used (and the bills had therefore no need to be broken). Ah well.
As she is writing this, Mouse is still quaking from the dire threats Badger made regarding a little joke Mouse made about Badger and her eager anticipation of Swiss chocolate. So the exact joke will not be shared. We will just say that we were served a dessert at the Luzern hostel which clearly contained no actual chocolate, despitetrying its best trying somewhat vaguely attempting to achieve the flavor. It was rather disappointing. The pasta, though, was almost worth the 15 CHF we paid apiece for the meal. Almost.
The Luzern hostel was quite nice (although apparently we didn't photograph it as much as we did the Heidelberg hostel). We were finally able to do laundry! Or at least pay the hostel 15 CHF to wash and dry exactly one load of laundry in its laundry service. That first night, this was all we had the chance to register. Once fed, we quickly collapsed in our bunks.
The next day... will have to be an entry to itself. :)
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| It took some head scratching and some Wikipedia research to figure out why a Swiss franc is abbreviated as CHF. Apparently Latin is to blame. See entry title for a hint. |
Mouse was slightly cheered by the nice, hot Starbucks chai latte she purchased to break the bills from the ATM. (Don't judge; it's the first American chain Mouse patronized during the Europe trip, and she pretty much had a choice between that and McDonald's.) Mouse was slightly agog at the fact that the tall chai latte, usually less than $3, cost 5.90 CHF. (And Swiss francs are slightly more than dollars on the exchange.) (And of course Mouse accidentally asked for whipped cream, which added another franc to the bill.) Badger found Mouse's insistence on breaking the bill thus very amusing, possibly churlishly suspecting that Mouse was unable to survive without Starbucks chai lattes for extended periods of time. Eventually, both Tigger and Badger had to drag Mouse out from under the cold, windy shelter to the bus station so that we could all go to the Luzern Youth Hostel. The bus station which, naturally, had automated ticket machines which were so much easier to use with a credit card that the cash didn't need to be used (and the bills had therefore no need to be broken). Ah well.
As she is writing this, Mouse is still quaking from the dire threats Badger made regarding a little joke Mouse made about Badger and her eager anticipation of Swiss chocolate. So the exact joke will not be shared. We will just say that we were served a dessert at the Luzern hostel which clearly contained no actual chocolate, despite
The Luzern hostel was quite nice (although apparently we didn't photograph it as much as we did the Heidelberg hostel). We were finally able to do laundry! Or at least pay the hostel 15 CHF to wash and dry exactly one load of laundry in its laundry service. That first night, this was all we had the chance to register. Once fed, we quickly collapsed in our bunks.
The next day... will have to be an entry to itself. :)
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