The first day was a little rough with the jet lag and all. I flew with a colleague from Denver to Atlanta, then on to Zurich. We took a train from Zurich to Lucerne, which is about 30km south. Adding to the jet lag was the fact that Delta had screwed up our flights so much that we were informed upon landing that our bags would not get to Zurich until 24 hours later and wouldn't make it to our hotel until later that day - and certainly not before the presentation I was giving the next morning. This meant that I needed to go buy clothes suitable for giving a technical presentation in. Oh, well! Shopping was a good way to explore the city, anyway.
Aside from that snag, the conference was great, and the rest of our time in Lucerne was enjoyable. The food in Switzerland is amazing (and not just the chocolate, although that's pretty amazing, too) because they aren't allowed to import any food (with the exception of horse and kangaroo, of course). Everything was so fresh! The city was pretty clean, too, and the lake was gorgeous. I took the opportunity to go swimming in it as I had packed the suit, cap, and goggles in anticipation of the occasion. One day, during some conference sessions I felt I could do without, I wandered down until I found a beach. There were a lot of people out there swimming and sunbathing. The water was a little chilly (probably around 66F or so) but not unbearable. After swimming for a bit I laid my hotel towel out on the grass and enjoyed the sun. I chose to not partake in the European custom of revealing one's chest while at the beach.
That night we had a "Dinner on the Lake" with all the conference people, which might have been my favorite part of the trip. The lake was gorgeous, serene, and enormous! Travis joined me the next day and we walked around Lucerne a bit, had dinner with my advisor, and just enjoyed relishing the fact that we were in Europe!
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