Swiss finale; Castles, Torches, and Broken Trains

 On Tuesday we ventured down the mountain one last time.  Although the views were stunning and the people were so nice, I was glad to get down to a decent breathing altitude!! I had really struggled the past few days with the thin air, so it was probably better for me to get down towards our normal sea level.

 We trained into Lausanne, which is on Lake Geneva.  There were only two reasons we ventured down to this part of Switzerland: Olympic headquarters & Chateau Chillon.   I knew the Chateau was quite a bit around the lake from Lausanne, but I wanted to see my first real castle with a moat, dungeon, etc.  We hopped on an inter-regional train which was on the right route to the Chateau stop.  However, the train kept on going past the station.  Luckily we could get off at the next stop.  The next stop was over a mile later.  From that station we had to walk to the Chateau.  Luckily Switzerland believes in making the entire country extremely walk able, so we got to stroll down the lake to the Chateau.  The Chateau is really a castle used from the 1100s to the 1800s.  It sits directly on Lake Geneva, first situated upon a rock that jutted out from the banks of the lake.  It was a great experience to tour a real castle!  Also, this castle is famous because Lord Byron wrote a poem about the prisoner who was held the longest in the Chateau.  We walked back to the far station and ended up on a train that stopped at the Chateau station!  The train was delayed for some kind of other train wreck, so it took forever to venture back into the city of Lausanne.

Once we returned from that crazy adventure, we rode the metro down the huge town hill to the waterfront.  The Olympic headquarters was placed in Lausanne (Ouchy).  Why you ask (as Jordan did)…because the man who revived the games in the 1890s was from here.  He founded the games as we know them & formed the committee in his hometown.   Now of course I knew the Olympic museum was under construction, but they had a temporary exhibit open across the street on a boat.  We got to see the two things we were actually interested in: the Olympic torches & medals from every games in chronological order.  Please notice we have already previewed the London torch & medals for 2012! We also saw the outside of the museum with its various fountains & statues.  We ate along the lake which was quite pretty!

As we end of week in Switzerland, I’ve tried to collect my thoughts about this country.  It is truly the most beautiful country I have ever been to in my short life.  The Alps, especially the three highest I observed for over three days, were stunning every day.  This country values its customs in each region, but mostly values the outdoors.  It has sidewalks, bike tails, and ski lifts in every corner of the country.  People seem to live outside.  Even their houses/apartments all have balconies and sunrooms.  It is truly inspiring.  However, the country is so pretty is almost beckons you to come outside.  We have been to practically every corner of this country and have really enjoyed it.  The views alone were worth it!  We are not sure if we will ever return to all of these places but we are ok with that fact.  Every city cannot be our Amsterdam…

Onto to see what this Italy is all about…

*sorry, few pictures due to bad internet…
-Lauren