The Dumb American Tourist: I'm Pretty Sure Switzerland Is Messing With Me

Sorry about the lack of posting for the past few days: wasn't a whole lot to post about, just a really relaxing day in Salzburg and an epic tour of the Augustiner Brewhouse. Maybe I'll write about it later. For now, Switzerland!

We spent about 7 or so hours today on trains, moving from Salzburg to Munich, Munich to Zurich, then finally from Zurich to Lucerne. Train seats are better than airplane seats, but not by a whole lot:

The situation also dictated that I watch Eurotrip while on the train.
"Mi scuzi, mi scuzi!"

As you could probably guess, this long trip was not without its difficulties. We had to hop trains in Munich, with only 10 minutes to run across the entire train station to our next train. With 7 pieces of carry-on luggage, and 7 rolling bags all pushing the 50-pound checked bag limit, plus a scattering of souvenir bags and coats, this move was quite a project. My dad and I laid out a game plan, establishing lines of attack and points of exit and luggage transfer, all of which quickly went to hell as soon as the train stopped and we had to contend with the fact that, oh wait, there are about a thousand other people trying to get off the train at the same time. So it was fun. But we made it, just barely, and got everyone to their destinations, with my grandparents stopping in Zurich to stay for their flight home tomorrow, and my family moving on to Lucerne.

Ground-kissing would have happened if the floor of the
train station wasn't so nasty.

So, Switzerland. Swissy-Swiss-Swiss-Switzerland. This place is a bit of a conundrum. Lucerne is honestly one of the most spectacularly beautiful cities I've ever been to, and even all the amazing sights from this new trip have not been enough to change that opinion.

This was the sight that greeted us as we got of the train.
I mean really, come on now.

However, despite all this glorious beauty, there is one big problem with this city. You pay for that damn view. And you pay hard. The prices for everything, and I mean everything in this city are absolutely insane. It makes Disneyland look like a damn Wal-Mart! Walked into a Starbucks...latte? 7 Swiss Francs. In 'merrcan? Somewhere around $8.50. For a freakin' grande latte. Just the plain latte. Who are they kidding here?

Also, our room at the hotel. And really the hotel itself. It really just feels like they're playing a practical joke on us. Look at this thing:

That's the "quintuple" room. I'm currently sitting on the bed you can see in the far right corner while I type this...and we're paying in the range of $350 a night for this room! This is in a tiny, tiiiiiny hotel that is supposedly notable for it's outdoor pool. And by "outdoor pool" they mean the glorified jacuzzi that's set in the alley behind the building. It's not much to look at. The hotel itself is rather ludicrous as well, with only 6 rooms per floor, an elevator so small it has a capacity of 4 people, and actual keys for the room...not card keys, but put-them-in-the-lock-and-turn keys, of which we get only 2, and if we lose one, it's an charge of 250 francs to our room. But then again, it's a damn beautiful city.