I started missing Interlaken as soon as we headed toward the train station, but I had a flight out of Zurich and we wanted to see the city before we left. Zurich hostels were insanely expensive and we’d been told by someone at the Geneva hostel that we should see Zug, a little lake town outside of Zurich, so we decided to spend our last night in Zug. We left Interlaken on the 11:00 train with a plan to train to Zug, check into the hostel and put down our stuff, then train back into Zurich for the rest of the day. Erin’s train left Monday at 3 and my flight wasn’t until 9:00pm, so we could spend Monday morning either walking around Zug or back in Zurich. It seemed like a perfect plan: not too structured with plenty of flexibility, while ensuring we could see at least part of both places. I now refer you back to my earlier post about my trip to Italy, and my magnificent track record of “perfect plans”.
We reached the Zug hostel around 2, aided by a French tourist who barely spoke English but helped direct us down the hostel street, which was completely unmarked and almost blocked by construction. We walked through the door and were greeted by the empty reception desk and a sign saying that they would be back at 5. Now we had a dilemma. Option 1: Haul our bags back to Zurich, pay for a locker in the train station and spend the day walking around the city. Option 2: Lug our stuff around Zug, which as of yet gave us the impression of being tiny and closed for Sunday. Option 3: Try to find somewhere new to stay. Option 4: Sit in the hostel kitchen swapping pictures and watching downloaded episodes of Castle and Glee. And the winner is…Do you have a guess?...Is the suspense killing you?...Well here it is…OPTION 4!!!
Yep, that’s right, we spent our 3 hours sitting in what looked like a personal kitchen watching tv on a computer, and it was the best way I could imagine spending the time. We checked in at 5:00 and then tried to find a grocery store, but everything was of course already closed, so we settled for the pasta and sauce we’d bought the first night in Geneva.
After the amazingness that was Balmers and Interlaken, a relaxing night was welcome and, in our opinions, deserved. This morning we woke up insanely early to see the sunrise over the lake, which was made difficult since the lake turned out to be to the west. Still, it was a goal of ours to see a Swiss sunrise, and it got us up and out early. We made a longer-than-expected stop at Starbucks since the Zug Hostel’s promised free-wifi was MIA, then headed into Zurich. People had been right to say it was insanely expensive, but we walked around and saw most of the sights featured on tourist postcards and had lunch at a guidebook-recommended sausage stand (delicious!). Erin and I then parted ways. She headed to the train station and headed to Italy. I caught a showing of Black Swan, thus successfully shortening my wait time in the airport and checking another 2011 Oscar Nominated Movie off my list.
My flight is boarding, which means it’s time for this post to be over. I love Dublin and know I need to be home studying and writing papers before Mom and Dad come to visit Friday, but I had no idea I would be this sad to leave Switzerland. It’s dangerously close to Australia (maybe even above?!) on my list of favorite places that I want to (semi-unrealistically but you never know) move, and I can’t wait to get back. If anyone’s heading to Interlaken and needs a bunk buddy at Balmers, let me know!
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