Verona And Lucerne

After Venice, we were on our way through Switzerland.  We stopped on our way in Verona at Juliet's house, almost wrote a letter to Romeo to leave in the brick wall but found out and that it was a thousand dollar fine if caught.  So, we decided it wasn't worth it.

We had another long bus ride ahead.  The bus rides weren't that bad.  I enjoyed driving through northern Italy, the vineyards, the castles, the clusters of old towns. It was all so enchanting.  However, I was excited to return to Lucerne.  I had traveled there in middle school with my German class and had fallen in love with the city. I had told Scott about it for years and couldn't express my feelings about how excited I was to travel to this city with my now husband!  The last time I was there, we stayed in this little, family run, bed and breakfast, facing Lake Lucerne.  There were low clouds surrounding the lake, and a church bell tolling in the distance.  I opened my hotel room window and could feel the cool, crisp air brighten my nose and cheeks to a light red.  It was marvelous and I can remember it like it happened yesterday.  I don't know why that moment stands so vividly in my mind.

To my dismay (and almost ironically) the hotel we stayed at was the exact opposite from the one I had experienced just a few years earlier.  It was a prison.  No, that wasn't an error.  Not even a figure of speech.   Literally, a prison.  Our hotel had housed prisoners until 1995 or something, until they thought it would make for a fun experience to make a prison into a hotel.  NOT a good idea.  Sadly, my disappointment couldn't be hidden.  I was furious that my wonderful, priceless memory of Lucerne would now been tainted by this horrendous place we had to stay.  But whatever.  We were in Europe so we decided to make the best of it.  We walked all over town and then spent some time riding bikes around the lake.

We did get the chance to attend a Folk Swiss show.  It was a flat out blast.  Scott got to blow the Alpine horn (which I volunteered him for).  I "got" to yodel (which Scott, in turn, volunteered me for).  We had fondue, one of the best meals we had on our whole trip, lots of great entertainment, and lots of laughing.