Lucerne - Day 2

Today we got up early and got on a bus to Mt. Titlis. It was about a 45 minute drive and the scenary was really pretty. Mount Titlis is a big tourist attraction outside of Lucerne for sledding/tubing and skiing in the winter. They had told us that it takes about an hour to get to the top of the mountain by the various ski lifts and they werent joking. We had to take 4 different lifts to get to the top of the mountain to sled. The way up the lifts was the adventuresome part. I have never seen so many Indian and Asian tourists in my life. Apparently, Mt. Titlis is a big attraction to them because white people were way in the minority. I soon learned that the Asian and Indian culture is alot different than ours. First off, they do not adhere to lines, line at all. I guess its normal to cut where they are from so they thought it would be the same here. The lines got no where because everyone would just cut in front us of. Secondly, they are very pushy and only look out for themselves. In a line, we would get pushed from behind or moved out of the way by them just because they wanted to get in front and could care less that i was in front of them. I was just a minor barrier that they pushed aside to get to their destination. It was the most frustrating part about getting up to the top of the mountain because it was just such a culture shock and the common courtesy in the United States was not there.

So now off of that soap box, when we got up to the top the view was beautiful! I was so glad that we went even just for pictures. The sledding was also fun too. There were tubes, sleds, and various things to be able to go fast. There was also a conveyor belt that you could get on that would take you back to the top so you didnt have to walk which was nice. Oh and about that, so the tubes were the favorite among everyone and there were not enough to go around. So people would wait in line by the conveyor belt and once the people who had already went reached the top, the tubes were given to the people waiting. Well that didnt go over very well for the Indians because they would not give their tubes up because they wanted to give them to their family members. I saw a fight between two Indian men because one was waiting and the other would not give his tube up even though he had already gone. A worker had to stand there and forcefully take the tubes away from them (they still tried to not give them up) so that the rest of the people could have tubes. Besides all of that drama it was really fun.

Around lunch time, Amanda, Sydney, Brittney, Laura, Drew and I went back down one lift and ate lunch. It was crowded there too of course. I just got french fries, a bottle of water, and a drink and it was 18 francs! After lunch we decided to head back down since it would take a long time so we could go shopping. Just imagine what I described on the way up, as the same as the way down. We finally got out and had to take a train back to Lucerne which was about an hour. Once we (Laura, Amanda, Sydney, Brittney, and I) got back we changed and then headed to the department store Bucherer. And guess who was all there too? It was so crowded and a house of chaos. There was pushing and cutting again with no sense of order. We just looked around got what we needed and left. We talked to a lady working at the store and she said that she is losing her mind more and more everyday working there with all of the tourists haha. We just walked around after that and went into random stores shopping. We were all getting hungry and annoyed with the crowds so we went and ate at this place called New York Cafe. It was pretty cheap relatively speaking and I got a slice of pizza for 5 francs. We took our food up to Brittney and I's hotel room and just talked and ate. After that, I started to pack everything up for the airport. Now we are all just chilling and relaxing on one of our last nights here!