Days 2 and 3: Lausanne and Montreux, Switzerland

Sunday/Monday

Sunday evening, we arrived in Geneva to rain. Our next adventure was getting to Laussane and finding our hostel. Most of the larger cities (and many of the smaller ones in between) are connected by rail, so it is relatively convenient to get around, once you figure it all out, that is. As you'll see, all the modes of transportation and connections and schedules can get a little tricky and frustrating. We arrived in Lausanne by train. Pouring rain. Donning our rain jackets (they look a little funny with bulging backpacks underneath) we found our hostel about a 10-minute walk from the train station. The rooms were very nice and I presume had nice views of the lake and the mountains beyond. Whenever we were in the room, however, it was either dark or rainy or foggy. We crashed.

Monday morning it was up-and-at-em to travel to Montreux to see Chateau de Chillon, a medieval castle built probably around 1005 or 1160 on solid rock on the shores of Lake Geneva. Lausanne and Montreux are french-speaking, and I know pretty much no french, so it was good to know most everyone spoke at least some english. The prices for everything were outrageous. We bought lunch at a little grocers and spent a small fortune on baguette sandwiches and juice.

We took the train to Montreux, through the wine country and beautiful vineyards just starting to come to leaf. We arrived at Montreux about an hour later. We found the bus stop but ended up taking it the wrong way. Eventually, though, we made it to the castle. It was raining, of course. It was very medieval. It rivaled Warwick Castle in England; not in size, but in beauty, antiquity, and, of course, the "coolness" factor. It's hard to explain the feeling of walking around something so old.

We returned that afternoon to Lausanne and walked around the Old City. It had stopped raining for the most part. Cathedrals, an old unused castle, views of Lake Geneva and the mountains, and narrow, confusing, cobblestone streets. Needless to say our sense of direction was a bit rusty and we got lost. It got dark before we found our way back to familiar territory and happened upon a falafel stand for dinner. We were beat and it was dark so we headed back to the hostel and crashed. Here are some photos of our day.




The view from our hostel window, overlooking Lake Geneva. There really are mountains on the other side. I promise.






Lake Geneva in Montreux, right outside the castle. Check out that amazing bridge!






A bit of the front of the castle, with the clock, in the rain. The little hole on the left wall is where they shot arrows at attackers. We were inside this part of the fortress at one point and also saw the inner workings of the clock.






One of the main courtyard from above. In the rain. They were restoring the facade to appear as it would have in medieval times.






Another courtyard in the rain. Even with my rain jacket on, I am starting to get very cold and uncomfortable.






Just a cool shot of a little tower thingy. I'm looking down on it from one of the windows in the outer wall.






I can't remember the name of this room, but it was pretty cool. Jared looks to be checking it out pretty closely.






Another room. I think this was the dining hall. You should see the fireplace in there. Enormous. Right about now I can't feel my hands anymore. Even with gloves on.






The dungeon/foundations of the castle. What you don't see (I didn't get a good shot of it) is the giant rock that the builders didn't even try to conceal. They just incorporated it into the foundations.