So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

At the end of a great week of exploring & enjoying the spectacularly beautiful scenery & historic cities & towns of Alpine Europe it was time to head home today, in time for graduation.
Due to the early flight it was aVERYT early start this morning, departing from our Lucerne hotel in the dark for the 1 hour drive to Zurich Airport.
Thank you to all the students, the parent chaperones, Ms. Branch, & all at BCS who helped make this tour possible.
A personal note:  traveling with BCS students is always a highlight of my year - they are polite, engaging, intelligent, & kind.  Congratulations on graduating & best wishes for your bright futures.  Declan

Swiss Farewell Party!

With so many photos from today we've separated this evening, our farewell dinner at Lucerne's Stadtkeller.
We went straight to dinner after sightseeing, stopping for a quick group photo but with the tables turned so the students were behind the camera this time!
Inside we began our dinner with a typical Swiss cheese fondue before bratwurst & rosti as the music & entertainment began.
It was a great evening of fun with lots of audience partipation - we enjoyed demonstrations of musicians playing all kinds of unusual instruments & even got to try ourselves.  The students, & some chaperones, tried everything from Alpen horns to yodeling (who knew Mr. Parish?!), & dancing too.
All in all a great fun way to end a great fun trip.

Lucerne & Mount Pilatus

Our last full day in Europe was spent getting to know the city of Lucerne & exploring  the surrounding countryside.
We began with a walking tour of the city, first visiting the famous lion Monument, then heading into the Old Town & crossing the Kapelbrucke.
After our tour there was time for lunch & shopping - many of the group had ordered engraved Swiss Army knives, others shopped for chocolate, watches & other Swiss souvenirs.
This afternoon we made the 'Golden Round Trip' to Mount Pilatus.  From Lucerne we took a 1hr+ boat cruise across the Vierwaldstattersee (Lake Lucerne), then had 'fast passes' for the world's steepest cog railway to the top of the mountain.  After a short stop to take in the incredible views we began our descent on a large cable car, then switching to smaller 4-passenger gondolas.
Halfway down the mountain everyone had a chance to ride the rodelbahn or summer toboggan, a hair-raising ride that all riders enjoyed.
Finally, after a long & fun-filled day, we hopped aboard a city bus into the heart of Lucerne.

Three Countries in One Day!

We got to experience three countries in one day today, beginning this morning in the midst of the Alps in Austria, having lunch in Liechtenstein, & ending in Switzerland.
From our overnight hotel we drove (thanks to some incredible driving skills from our driver Dennis) to the nearby city of Innsbruck, which enjoys one of the most incredible settings of any city, ringed by incredible mountains viewable from the heart of the Old Town.
We had time for a little sightseeing & shopping in Innsbruck, then it was onwards, through more mountain scenery, to one of the world's tiniest countries, Liechtenstein.
Sandwiched in-between Austria & Switzerland, Liechtenstein is an historical anomaly.  It's also a great place to stop for lunch.  As well as lunch & souvenir shopping some of the group took time to climb the hill overlooking the capital Vaduz to take in the view & see the castle.
Later in the afternoon we arrived in Lucerne, our final destination.
After checking in to our hotel we walked around the edge of the lake to dinner, & afterwards walked back as the sun set over the famous Kapelbrucke.