“Escape and breathe the air of new places”
Switzerland was quite the adventure from the get-go. My three friends and I first took a train from Salamanca to the Madrid Chamaras station, and then a train to Barajas Airport. We got off 3 stops too soon (not sure how) when we were on our way to Barajas, and spent an extra hour waiting for the next train, so we actually ended up rushing to make our flight. At Barajas Airport, Terminal 4 is a 15 minute bus ride away from Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and since we arrived in Terminal 4, it was an ordeal finding the bus to take us to Terminal 2. However, although it was hectic, we did make it to our gate in time.
Landing in Zürich was pretty surreal. The airport was beautiful, quiet and clean. We immediately exchanged some of our Euros to Francs, and then found a cab. The 12 minute ride from the airport to our Air B&B was over $50, which shouldn’t have surprised us as much as it did given Zürich’s expensive reputation. Our Air B&B was an apartment that the four of us had to ourselves, and it was beautiful. It had a really cute corner balcony that looked out over the street, and two extremely comfortable beds. We were a two minute walk from a tram station, and 15 minute walk from the train station. An extremely inexpensive grocery store was directly across the street, which we took full advantage of. The night we arrived we also hit up the McDonalds across the street since it was late and we were tired. Three of us paid together, and it cost us nearly $50 for three chicken nugget meals. Needless to say, we were shook.
We came to Zürich with absolutely no concrete plans. We arrived on a Thursday night and had an early morning flight home the following Sunday, so we had two full days to work with. We knew we obviously wanted to see the Alps, and we also wanted to see the city. Friday morning, we made our way to the train station and immediately found the tourist information center. The lady who helped us was very helpful, and ended up recommending a (relatively cheap) tour package thing that included the train and bus tickets to and from the Alps, and an entrance ticket that would give us access to unlimited hiking for the day. We went to the cheap grocery store and packed ourselves some snacks for the hike, and then took a scenic train ride to Schwyz, Switzerland to start our adventure.
Schwytz is an absolutely adorable town. When you picture scenic little mountain towns in the Swiss Alps, you’re probably picturing something like Schwytz. We got off the train and took a bus up a mountain to Sattel, where we purchased Gondala tickets and took a ride up the mountain. The Gondala up was amazing, the views were spectacular and it was really thrilling. Once we got to the top, we walked across a (long, scary) suspension bridge and then started our hike.
I’m going to write about the hike, and the events immediately following, in a separate post. It was one of the most eventful, dramatic, stressful, and overwhelming experiences of my life, and it deserves it’s own special attention. For now I’ll just say that the Alps are no doubt the most spectacular phenomenon that I have ever laid eyes on. I am already planning my next trip back, because one day is nowhere near enough time to fully appreciate their beauty.
Idly Wild 