I was wrong.
Though we still have two big cities left on our trip (Paris and London), so far our time in Lucerne, Switzerland has been my favorite.
Switzerland is absolutely gorgeous. As we drove into the country, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the Alps, the lush green trees and the chalets and adorable Swiss homes that peeked out of the mountains.
I know I’m a Florida girl, but something inside me urns to live among the mountains. Both Ryan and I always talk about our desire to live somewhere with rolling hills and hiking trails.
Perhaps Switzerland is the place? 
Not only are the mountains picturesque, but the lakes are huge and the water is crystal clear. The air feels fresh and clean and everywhere you look you see mountaintops and greenery.
I have to come back here with Ryan. I kept thinking about him today and how much fun we would have hiking all over the place in Switzerland with Sadie.
Breakfast
Our second day in Lucerne began with a group breakfast at the hotel. I was so stoked to see oats available and immediately filled a bowl, topped the oats with hot water and let them soak until I had a little bowl of scrappy oatmeal!
I doctored it up a bit with a bunch of chocolate granola (amazing stuff!) and some walnuts. I also had a cup of coffee with milk and my sister and I shared a fresh roll with a bit of butter.
Then we were off!
Mount Pilatus
We had quite an adventurous day that began at the bottom of Mount Pilatus.
From there, our group piled into cable cars to head up 7,000 feet to the top of the mountain.
Apparently it’s the steepest cable car system in the world, and heading up the mountain at such an intense grade made quite a few of our group members nervous, including my mom!
They were all very brave and very relieved when we made it to the top.
Once we stepped out of the cable cars and headed out toward the edge of Mount Pilatus, we were stunned at the beautiful views before us.
We also marveled at one heck of a super-sexy hiker who also made it to the top.
I made sure to ask him where he got those amazing jorts (jeans + shorts) so I could nab a pair as a souvenir for Ryan.
You may notice that my mom isn’t in a lot of the pictures close to the edge of the mountain… She played it safe with a group of other women who were also a little uncomfortable with the height and dizzying views.
Naturally my dad, sister and I tried to freak them out a bit.
We’re fallllling!
To give you a bit of perspective, we were standing at the highest peak of the mountain in the above picture. Crazy, huh?
When we were up there, my dad threw snowballs over the side for us to watch explode on cliffs.
Can you spot the snowball suspended in the air?
Eventually we made it down the mountain in a little car thing that reminded me of a ski lift.
I loved how we went up one side of the mountain and down another. It really allowed our group to see the mountain in full and take in a bunch of different views.
Stay tuned for Part Two of our day in Switzerland! 
Lake Tour + Lunch
After boarding the coach bus and heading back into the heart of Lucerne, my family and I joined our tour group for a one-hour lake cruise on Lake Lucerne where we gaped at the multi-million dollar houses, crystal clear water and snow-capped mountains.
The white house in the above picture was once the home of Mr. Heineken, the man behind the beer!
We also saw the old homes of Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren and Wagner, the famous composer of Wagner’s Bridal Chorus, the song that I chose to walk down the aisle to at our wedding.
Once our lake cruise concluded, my family and I walked around the streets in search of lunch. We selected Grendel 19, a cute sidewalk café where my dad, sister and I all ordered large salads topped with marinated vegetables and tuna.
This post is getting’ a little long, so I’m going to break it up into two separate posts. Stay tuned for Part Two soon!
P.S. The Fashion page was updated this morning!
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The little boys that I babysit for have gone to Switzerland the past 2 years to visit their aunt and their pictures are GORGEOUS! It’s funny to hear the 4 year old talk about it…like how does a 4 year old realize where he is and how amazing it is??!?! Nevertheless, I’ve always wanted to go since they’ve been. They have a really cute pic with a St. Bernard that’s like 10 times the size of them!
EEEEEEEP can’t wait til your Paris post….in which I will be living vicariously through you
Lucerne is gorgeous! I went there on my first trip out of the country and fell in love. Glad you’re enjoying it!
Switzerland looks fantastic! Looking for a place to live with rolling hills and hiking trails.. La Crosse, WI (if you can brave the winter that is) has gorgeous bluffs you can hike… I actually just blogged about my hiking trip yesterday!
http://wealthshealth.blogspot.com/2011/05/on-top-of-world-black-bean-burger.html
I’m with your mother. I’m freaking out just looking at the picture! Glad you are having so much fun!
Oh my goodness, I am SOOO jealous that you are in Switzerland!! I went on a 9 day bus tour of Switzerland 5 years ago and LOVED it! It is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been, and since then I’ve dreamed of living in a Swiss village at the foot of the Alps. We went to Lucerne and went to the top of Mt. Rigi, which is also gorgeous.
Please post lots of pictures and soak in all of the beauty of the country!!
Wow, your pictures are absolutely *breathtaking* I think I may have just found my future honeymoon spot, ha!
Question, did anyone get altitude sickness when going up to the top of the mtn in those little skilift cars? I’ve totally suffered from that, and it is NOT fun! gah!
everyone was okay! a few people freaked about the heights, but that was it.
Hiking in Switzerland would be such a pleasure! Everything about it is so beautiful and naturally my fuel of choice would be chocolate :)!
Oh dear If I were your mom I would have had a heart attack watching you guys standing on that cliff 🙂
I’m so glad that I did London and Paris first and second when I took my Europe trip. They were fun, but soooo dirty and the weather was horrible. And then the third place I went was Switzerland and it was amazing and beautiful and CLEAN! I love it there 🙂
Switzerland is by far one of my favorite places on earth! I think it is just so beautiful! My husband and I spent a few days at a wonderful bed and breakfast on a gorgeous lake in between the mountains. We also hiked in the Alps. Seriously such a great place!!! I was just like you were before you traveled there…not sure about it…but once I got there I never wanted to leave!!
Yes, Switzerland is the JAM – I live there now (Zurich) and absolutely love it.
Aside from the beautiful mountains, lakes, cities your paycheck is beautiful too, and you hardly pay any taxes (at least compared to most countries), so it’s actually not that expensive to live here 🙂
Hi again! You traveled to Switzerland in May? Was the weather nice? Were any of the lifts or trains closed? Did you go hiking at all, or were the trails still closed? Thank you for answering my questions! I am going on a nearly identical trip next May.
oh fun!! i hope you have a blast! we didn’t go hiking, though i would’ve LOVED to, b/c we were only there for such a short time on our tour. the trains and lifts were all open though!
So this post has nothing to do with Switzerland, but seeing that picture of you and your mom brought tears to me eyes! My mom had the exact same hair as your mom, and it’s one of the things I miss most about her. Thanks for bringing back memories!