So since Holland, I’ve been through Belgium (Antwerp, Bruges, Ostende, Gent, Brussels) and Luxembourg. I wrote stuff up but decided that there’s some opinions that just aren’t worth posting. They were pretty good. I had a lot of fun with crazy Mischa. Switzerland, on the other hand, was special. Prepare for a long post.
I got into Zurich from Luxembourg by train. Switzerland is ridiculously expensive. Kebabs were 10 CHF minimum and the exchange rate currently puts it equal to the Euro. Migros is where it’s at. 5 CHF is a coin for them. Zurich - pretty cool city, nothing special. There was an old French dude in my hostel room that smelled the absolute worst.
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Lucerne has a beautiful lake and some fancy bridges. The Lion of Lucerne is very impressive. The weather hadn’t been great so far. At this point, I was still worried that my trip had peaked too early and no place was going to compare to Spain or Portugal
Now this is where things get really interesting. I met up with a couple of San Franciscan hostel roommates from Zurich. Diego and Lee had rented a car. They had seen a photo of a lake called Oeschinensee nearby in an area called Kanderstag so we drove, took a gondola and hiked to get there. As soon as I saw the lake, I instantly said it was definitely top-three of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. Surrounded by snowy peaks with waterfalls flowing all around the lake, Oeschinensee was stunning.
And then my camera died and I know that I always see the best stuff when it dies. The sun came out. Switzerland is a completely different place when the sun comes out. Oescheninsee was at that moment the greatest sight I’d ever seen. No doubt. The San Francis-bros and I walked around the lake, making sure to take a shower in each waterfall. A swim in the freezing cold lake became necessary.
Here’s some iPhone 5 pictures.
We got stuck in a gondola on the way down. I panicked and called emergency services after hanging still for 20 minutes.
Easily one of the best days of my life.
The next day we decided to go all out and pay 130 euros for a ticket to the highest railway station in all of Europe; Jungfrauboch. The weather was perfect and we were keen to do something that could potentially top the day before. The train ride up featured some amazing sights. Our luck ran out and a blizzard hit just after we got to the top. At least we did get to stand outside for a bit. Can’t beat a lunch with that view.
Thank you for everything, Diego and Lee.
Bern is beautiful. It definitely has a distinct style. The bear sanctuary was closed for maintenance until September. Bummer. The Aare river that weaves through the old town is very popular among locals for a refreshing swim. One of them recommended against doing it alone.
I recruited a Welsh buddy in my hostel room and swam down the river the next morning. Very fun. I’d definitely recommend it for anyone who is even slightly confident in their swimming ability. It flows surprisingly fast and the rocks around the landing spot were rough.
I feel like I’ve used the words stunning, amazing and beautiful too much in one post. My vocab is no good. Montreux is all of these things. On the sunny day that I arrived, the lake reflected the sky and the mountains. Also, everyone here is rich AF judging from all the Ferraris and casinos. I made a Canadian friend. We made a trip to the next town Vevey and shared some very unpleasant red wine.
Woke up pretty early to go to check out Chillon Castle. Nice views. I got a bit claustrophobic from all of the torture chambers.
Luggage storage at the train station cost 10 CHF so after walking to see the big fountain with my big pack on, I was done with Geneva. I finally gave in and bought a 10 CHF kebab though.
Unrelated. A bit of a personal rant. If there’s one thing I love, it’s Cookies. So this is some pretty devastating news. Anyone that knows me well enough knows how much I love this team. I discovered them around six years ago and have been (in my opinion) their biggest and most loyal follower ever since. I’ve watched each of their sets about a kabillion times and have travelled across the country in order to get a chance to meet them in person. I think (and hope that) they remember me as the ‘creepy crazy fan that knows everything’. Probably my most personally valuable possession is a t-shirt signed by each member of the Cookies team. Yesterday was a sad day because it’s the last set that will include some of my favourite legendary dancers; Keone and Mariel Madrid and Tracy Seiler. It’s been hard watching the dream team slowly lose more and more pieces as they move on with their lives. I wish them all the best in the future and hope they realise how much of an influence they’ve been to the community on a global scale. I know the team has more than enough talent to continue being amazing in everything they produce. They inspire me to do things everyday.
© 2026 Justin Tang
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