Lucerne

 18 April 2023

Once again, RMHS students set out for an excursion without Swiss guides, this time to Lucerne.  Lucerne is one of the most famous cities in Switzerland, and visiting it is a "must-do" for anyone traveling to Switzerland for the first time.   Before we began our journey, though, our group took some time in the morning at the Gymnasium to reflect on the positive aspects of their experience in Switzerland thus far and some aspects they might wish to change.  Our students remarked that they are so happy to be in Basel, in Switzerland, experiencing European culture and seeing their Swiss students again.  They also said they have been having fun getting to know Swiss students who are not in the exchange program!  

There weren't too many changes students wished for, but we all agreed that less rain and warmer sunshine would be just fine!  Students also reflected that they had enjoyed having access to large houses close together in Reading so that all the Swiss and American students could get together many nights while the Swiss were visiting Reading.  Here in Basel, many students live in apartments instead of houses.  Also, our students are more spread out from each other, and it is not so easy to just jump in the car to drive to someone else's place, making it more challenging to have large get-togethers during the week.  

After this, we took a quick walk over to the train station, and soon we were on our train to Lucerne!  

We had a terrific tour with Claudia, a tour guide for the city of Lucerne. She took us through Lucerne,

teaching us all about the city, its bridges, and the ancient walls and towers.  We climbed up to the top of the ancient city wall and then climbed even further up to the top of one of the watch towers.  

On our way back, we walked past a secondary (middle) school, and Noah and Ethan F. had a quick race on their running track, just for fun! 

Once our tour finished, we walked back to the train station and had a quick lunch before hopping on the bus to go to the Swiss Museum of Transport.  This amazing, interactive museum has cars, boats, trains, and so many airplanes.  Students had fun exploring this museum and playing with different interactive exhibits!

All too soon, though, it was time to hop on the bus and head back to the train station at the center of Lucerne.  We had time for a quick group photo by the lake and then on to the train and back to Basel!