The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace was interesting, and it was fun to watch all of the other tourists try to make the guards on duty change their poker-face expressions (none of them did). After a long day of sight-seeing, I was ready to grab a bite to eat and decided to find a fish and chips place since I’d heard that was what the locals liked to eat. I quickly learned that “chips” are really just French fries… I wonder what they call potato chips??
Before leaving the US, I had bought a Eurail train pass so that I could just get on and off the trains without having to buy a ticket for each leg of the journey (this was supposedly the cheaper way to go). To go from England to France I wasn’t sure if I should take the ferry or the train, but in the end I decided to overcome my fears of traveling underwater and opted to take the Eurostar train that tunnels underneath the English Channel to mainland Europe. I went to Waterloo station and found out that with my Eurail pass I would get a slight discount, but that by having an ISE Card the price was over £50 cheaper than the discounted price for Eurail pass holders (About £27 for a one way ticket to mainland Europe)! I was very happy about that! I traveled in second class but it was nice and clean and the portion of the trip that was actually under the water only took about 15 to 20 minutes.
Once I was in France, I made my way up to Paris and took the elevator up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I was surprised that there was a “fence” around the railing at the top. I guess my vision of what it would be like to stand on top of the Eiffel Tower was a little different from the reality. Needless to say, I still enjoyed the view through the little metal squares. While there, I also took in the Louvre and Notre Dame, which was my favorite. I had run out of film and decided, in desperation, to get some at a store next to the cathedral. The price for film was outrageous there and the man I spoke with was incredibly rude. Unfortunately there was no discount with my ISE Card there! Fortunately, when I tried showing the ID at some of the other sites I visited, they did offer a discounted rate which was great.
After France, I was interested in a change of pace so I decided to take the train to Switzerland. I had heard it was beautiful and I was not disappointed. The tall, green mountains and pristine lakes were a sharp contrast to the bustling city feel that I had experienced in Paris. I was really tired when I arrived in Switzerland, but the scenery was so breathtaking that I couldn’t stop looking out the window. I made my way to Lucerne and finally got off there.
Lucerne is a gem of a town, but you definitely pay the price!! I couldn’t believe how expensive the food was! The average price for lunch was 12-13 dollars!! Fortunately I found a few stands selling hot dogs or brats for a reasonable price and was able to survive on that. After walking around Lucerne and taking in some of the sites, I decided to make my way to a little town called Engelberg to check out Mt. Titlis. I had heard that Mt. Titlis was a nice option for those who wanted to get away from the swarms of tourists. You start off in a small enclosed ski lift for the first portion, and then you change to a rotating gondola that gives you a full 360 degree view of the mountains. The view from up there was breathtaking, especially when we got above the clouds. On the top of Mt. Titlis is a rustic lodge with all sorts of fun activities. One of them was having the opportunity to walk through an actual glacier tunnel. After having lunch, I worked my way outside to see if I could find the ski lift that would take me down to a spot where they let you slide down a portion of the mountain on a tube. I found the lift and joined-up with a few other brave souls who were up to the challenge. Once we got to the spot, we were shown where to begin our slide and then told to be careful about where we walked as there was a crevace in the center area that we would be sledding around! We were to keep going straight until we reached the conveyer belt that would take us back up the hill once we were finished. It was a lot of fun sliding down, but not as dangerous as I had originally thought. Once again the whole day at Mt. Titlis was a lot cheaper thanks to the discounts I was able to get with the ISE Card.
Overall, I would say that for those who don’t want to spend a fortune on medical coverage while traveling abroad who also would like to save a few bucks here and there, the ISE Card is definitely worth having. I ended up saving at least $200 by trying it everywhere I went, which really helped make a dent in my costs. I also had $2,000 in medical coverage and access to a toll free help-line which I didn’t end up needing, but was happy to know I could use in case of emergency. |
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