mountains come in all different shapes and sizes

Had a big night last night with the Top Deck crew at the chateau on the mountain. I had 2 shots of this stuff that tasted like pure nail polish. It's called a Rigi B52. The mountain we're on is Mount Rigi, so I'm assuming it's a home brew of shorts. Kalua, Baileys - and the death. Stru 88. 88% alcohol I believe? Then they light the top layer, the stru, on fire. Death. Pure death sentence. So despite that big night, I was up at 8, had breakfast and headed down the mountain by cable car to catch a ferry into Luzern.

It's a beautiful little place, albeit the weather being quite cold. In the sun it's nice, but the wind is freezing. I went with some of the girls as they spent an obscene amount of money on gifts, and bought a pretty awesome blue swiss army knife for myself. We had lunch (mine was feral hah) and enjoyed the hospitality of the people here. It's really a beautiful little place.

We visited the Lion Monument, and I apologise if I go on a bit about this. But for me it was an extremely moving experience. At the peak of the French Revolution, when the Revolutionists were storming the gates at the Place De La Concorde in Paris, King Louis XV ordered for over 200 Swiss Guards to lay down their arms. He promised they wouldn't be harmed, when in reality he was just sacrificing them all to the mob. The guards, knowing they were about to be slaughtered, still followed orders and every single one of them was killed. There was one guard that didn't show up for duty that day, and he was the only one that survived. Plagued with guilt, he decided to have a monument made in their honor. Mark Twain has called it the most moving piece of stone in existance. I whole-heartedly agree. The Lion Monument is carved out of a large rock face in the town of Luzern and at its feet, their lays a little pond and it is surrounded by a dark, and quiet park.

I can honestly say it brought me to tears. I'm not a very weepy person, but the tragedy was literally tangible. After all this time, the monument is still so incredibly moving. I am not too embarrassed to say that I absolutely cried like a baby for a good half hour. Words just can't describe the amount of emotion that has been put into the carving, and that it illicits from people. It's really an incredible sight.

At around 4, we caught the ferry back to the mountain and the cable car about a quarter of the way up the mountain. Myself and a few of the others decided to get off at this point and hike all the way to the summit.

It was my idea, by the way. I know you're all shocked. I hope you're sitting down for this one - we climbed to the summit. This mountain is obnoxiously huge, not even kidding. I'm pretty sure I can see Germany from the top. It took us a good hour to get to the top, but it was worth it - seriously. The view was just...indescribable. Now comes the interesting part.

On the way down, we got a little lost and it took us about twice the time. But while we got lost, we found some awesome stuff on the way. I was proud that I got off the beaten track and did a bit of exploring and just used my sense of direction to find our way back. It was so much fun and I was so glad that I could physically do it.

So yeah! I climbed a mountain today. How many people can say they've done that? I was so proud, and it was such a blast. I'm just chilling in my room for a bit before dinner and I feel amazing. Freezing. But amazing. I think I am going to pop off for a bit and have a nice hot shower as a reward. Tomorrow we leave at 6am to get to Florence and Pisa, then Rome tomorrow - and then I'm on my own! It kind of hit me last night, and I'm starting to get hte butterflies in my stomach. But I feel definitely more and more confident in my own abilities with every day.

I got lost in complete wilderness tonight, when it was about to piss rain and I've never been here before and I only had 2 other people that wre just as lost as I was - and I didn't lose my head. The other girls were getting really panicky, but I just kept my head on straight and managed to get us back safe and sound. So I feel so so confident that I can do this lone part of the trip on my own efficiently.

I'm missing you all like crazy and I can't wait to come home and see you all and tell you about my trip, show photos etc. and just generally see you guys. I'm having the time of my life, but still missing you guys. Thanks so nuch for reading this and stuff, it means a lot (:

Love you guys!