This week seemed very normal, and yet thinking about it, I realized it was very exciting... like every week thus far! The most constant thing in my life right now is the rain, in Luzern it's quite persistent. We have been lucky however that we have dry weekends. For the last few weeks it's rained Monday-Friday, Saturday has been beautiful, then Sunday it begins to drizzle again. Some days it's raining and warm but others in can get rather cold.
Wednesday was the 4th of July and my American boss had the whole team and a few others over to her home, about 15 people. On the walk over I walked across the old wooden bridge and there were 4 Czech guys playing instruments and singing. They were excellent! It is often that you're walking through some part of a city here and you hear people playing, or there's an outdoor concert. Most of the time the music is very traditional which is enjoyable.
At our little 4th of July gathering we had wine and cheese, then a very American meal of Burgers, corn on the cob, potato salad, green salad, pickles and apple pie. Then we lit sparklers she found at a local store. We stayed there all chatting for a good four hours before we all had to go home to get some rest for work. I was grateful to have something to do... not at all the same as being home with friends and family but it made it much better.
Friday night I hung out with one of my friends I met on the train and another of his friends. I got to see a bit more of new town and meet some very friendly Swiss people (the Swiss are known as being fairly reserved and difficult to get to know). Luzern is split into two parts as you can see on the map. The station (lower right corner) is located in "new town" and the other side of the bridge is considered "old town" i work right along the lake in old town. 
You cross the bridge and walk along the lake to the right and the first hotel is where we are. The bridge going diagonally to the left is a very old wooden bridge with wood paintings inside. If you google Luzern most of the pictures have this bridge with the little wooden towers. I've walked all over old town but have seen very little of new town. A bit more now after Friday. Where I'm living now is about a 30min. walk from work along the lake to the right.
The whole weekend was ZÜRI FÄSCHT in Zurich which is a festival that only happens every 3 years. Saturday afternoon and evening I spent there with people from church. Ryan was supposed to go to Rome this weekend but was too tired so decided to come meet up with us. One of the girls (Connie) and I met him at the station at 4, then we dropped of his backpack with the Alex (one of the men from church with whom Ryan was staying that night) and the 4 of us headed for the lake. The festival was made up of hundreds of booths on the streets in a Y shape with the lake in the V. The I portion of the booths were on Bahnhofstrasse and Stadthausquai. We walked from Alex's house near the Zürich Hauptbahnhof (main station) along Banhnhofstrasse to the lake, then along both sides of the Y. To the right was all kinds of kids stations and a big motorcycle show along with numerous other booths, to the left was tons of food, vendors, live music and rides. There were at least 4 different air shows with different kinds of planes, then other acrobats and similar attractions. We finally got to the end of the left side around 8:30pm (we had been walking around for about 4 hours) then decided to head back to the center to get food and find a nice spot to watch the fire works at 10:30. This plan was quickly abandoned as we tried to make our way back.
I have never seen so many people in my entire life. We tried walking away from the little road next to the lake and walking on a larger main road. The 4 lane road was so full of people we were all pressed against each other and moving at about a foot a minute. It was absolutely insane. So we cut across and found an Italian restaurant along the edge of all the craziness. We finally got there around 9:45! We missed the fireworks. We could hear them but where burnt out from the crowd so we just sat and enjoyed our dinner. When we were done we braved the crowd again to get home. Alex had left earlier so Ryan found his way back to the station and the house and Connie and I took a packed bus to her place.
I was able to call my Dad and wish him a very happy birthday from Connie's flat and he and I talked a bit which was the best possible way to end the day!
Sunday I was able to help in the toddlers class at church. It was so funny because the kids were speaking to me in Swiss German and I felt like the child because I had no idea what they were saying! I enjoyed playing with them though.
After service was an brief "Appero" which are very popular here. It's basically drinks and light snacks. After service there were fruit juices, punch, crackers, some little marshmallows etc. We're going to have one before our work summer party which will most likely have hors d'oeuvres and alcoholic beverages. After the Appero a group of us went to New Point, a good Kebob chain in Zurich and one of the few places open late and on Sundays. If you have a moment look up "Döner kebab" on Wikipedia. It is the fast food of Europe. I've had two here but have seen many and I can tell you the best are in Berlin which is actually where it all began, brought by Turkish immigrants. Look it up, it's really interesting!
After Lunch Ryan and I caught our trains back home and the group dispersed.
In Luzern I hit the Coop at the station (the only supermarket open on Sundays) to pick up supplies for dinner then went home and cooked.
My guests arrived later. A group of people from church had come to Luzern to see an IMax movie and 3 of them came to my place after. We had pasta, salad, chicken and Ice cream. A simple meal but I was SO excited to be able to cook for someone. I usually make dinner at home for my family on Sundays and I've missed doing that here. They were very grateful and said the food was good (whether that was true or not I was encouraged :) ) then I walked with them back towards the station. By the time I headed home the rain and come back and in spite of my umbrella I was pretty wet, but I enjoyed the peaceful to walk home in the rain.
So, another week has passed here in Luzern! I'm more than half way done with my trip which is difficult to believe! Just 3 more weeks of work, Barcelona, Ireland and I'm home! But next weekend... PARIS! (be ready, that will be a looong blog)
Much Love to Everyone!
Wildy
Wednesday was the 4th of July and my American boss had the whole team and a few others over to her home, about 15 people. On the walk over I walked across the old wooden bridge and there were 4 Czech guys playing instruments and singing. They were excellent! It is often that you're walking through some part of a city here and you hear people playing, or there's an outdoor concert. Most of the time the music is very traditional which is enjoyable.At our little 4th of July gathering we had wine and cheese, then a very American meal of Burgers, corn on the cob, potato salad, green salad, pickles and apple pie. Then we lit sparklers she found at a local store. We stayed there all chatting for a good four hours before we all had to go home to get some rest for work. I was grateful to have something to do... not at all the same as being home with friends and family but it made it much better.
Friday night I hung out with one of my friends I met on the train and another of his friends. I got to see a bit more of new town and meet some very friendly Swiss people (the Swiss are known as being fairly reserved and difficult to get to know). Luzern is split into two parts as you can see on the map. The station (lower right corner) is located in "new town" and the other side of the bridge is considered "old town" i work right along the lake in old town. 
You cross the bridge and walk along the lake to the right and the first hotel is where we are. The bridge going diagonally to the left is a very old wooden bridge with wood paintings inside. If you google Luzern most of the pictures have this bridge with the little wooden towers. I've walked all over old town but have seen very little of new town. A bit more now after Friday. Where I'm living now is about a 30min. walk from work along the lake to the right.The whole weekend was ZÜRI FÄSCHT in Zurich which is a festival that only happens every 3 years. Saturday afternoon and evening I spent there with people from church. Ryan was supposed to go to Rome this weekend but was too tired so decided to come meet up with us. One of the girls (Connie) and I met him at the station at 4, then we dropped of his backpack with the Alex (one of the men from church with whom Ryan was staying that night) and the 4 of us headed for the lake. The festival was made up of hundreds of booths on the streets in a Y shape with the lake in the V. The I portion of the booths were on Bahnhofstrasse and Stadthausquai. We walked from Alex's house near the Zürich Hauptbahnhof (main station) along Banhnhofstrasse to the lake, then along both sides of the Y. To the right was all kinds of kids stations and a big motorcycle show along with numerous other booths, to the left was tons of food, vendors, live music and rides. There were at least 4 different air shows with different kinds of planes, then other acrobats and similar attractions. We finally got to the end of the left side around 8:30pm (we had been walking around for about 4 hours) then decided to head back to the center to get food and find a nice spot to watch the fire works at 10:30. This plan was quickly abandoned as we tried to make our way back.
I have never seen so many people in my entire life. We tried walking away from the little road next to the lake and walking on a larger main road. The 4 lane road was so full of people we were all pressed against each other and moving at about a foot a minute. It was absolutely insane. So we cut across and found an Italian restaurant along the edge of all the craziness. We finally got there around 9:45! We missed the fireworks. We could hear them but where burnt out from the crowd so we just sat and enjoyed our dinner. When we were done we braved the crowd again to get home. Alex had left earlier so Ryan found his way back to the station and the house and Connie and I took a packed bus to her place.I was able to call my Dad and wish him a very happy birthday from Connie's flat and he and I talked a bit which was the best possible way to end the day!
Sunday I was able to help in the toddlers class at church. It was so funny because the kids were speaking to me in Swiss German and I felt like the child because I had no idea what they were saying! I enjoyed playing with them though.
After service was an brief "Appero" which are very popular here. It's basically drinks and light snacks. After service there were fruit juices, punch, crackers, some little marshmallows etc. We're going to have one before our work summer party which will most likely have hors d'oeuvres and alcoholic beverages. After the Appero a group of us went to New Point, a good Kebob chain in Zurich and one of the few places open late and on Sundays. If you have a moment look up "Döner kebab" on Wikipedia. It is the fast food of Europe. I've had two here but have seen many and I can tell you the best are in Berlin which is actually where it all began, brought by Turkish immigrants. Look it up, it's really interesting!
After Lunch Ryan and I caught our trains back home and the group dispersed.
In Luzern I hit the Coop at the station (the only supermarket open on Sundays) to pick up supplies for dinner then went home and cooked.
My guests arrived later. A group of people from church had come to Luzern to see an IMax movie and 3 of them came to my place after. We had pasta, salad, chicken and Ice cream. A simple meal but I was SO excited to be able to cook for someone. I usually make dinner at home for my family on Sundays and I've missed doing that here. They were very grateful and said the food was good (whether that was true or not I was encouraged :) ) then I walked with them back towards the station. By the time I headed home the rain and come back and in spite of my umbrella I was pretty wet, but I enjoyed the peaceful to walk home in the rain.So, another week has passed here in Luzern! I'm more than half way done with my trip which is difficult to believe! Just 3 more weeks of work, Barcelona, Ireland and I'm home! But next weekend... PARIS! (be ready, that will be a looong blog)
Much Love to Everyone!
Wildy
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