Our day began with a quick 20 minute walk to le Musée Olympique, which translates to the Olympic Museum. From the outside, there were many different sports and Olympics related statues along with interactive activities. For example, there was a track for guests to race on and two shot put balls (one mens and one womens) that were the same weight of those used by the professional shot putters.
Inside, we were welcomed with exhibits focused on the origin and history of the games, which began in Greece as a way to bring the Greeks together as one group. The building had many uniforms worn by athletes with notable ones being the leotard Simone Biles wore during her bronze medal performance on beam during the Rio games in 2016, as well as the shirt worn by Usain Bolt during the 2008 games held in Beijing.
Other interesting rooms included one with a long wall that fully displayed the torches used for each game all lined up in chronological order. Furthermore, there was a section entirely dedicated to the progression of medals, with gold, silver, and bronze all shown. Another interactive section had videos dedicated to each game, with the guest choosing which to watch.
Due to the long amount of time we were given to roam the museum, there was also some time left for us to take a look at the gift shop.
We continued to pile up on the steps, walking over to the train station, using it as our main form of transportation to the Cully Jazz Festival in Bourg-en-Lavaux. Here, we got around an hour to grab lunch from one of the various food trucks and admire the live music being played by the band 'The Sneaky Funk Squad.'
Afterwards, we met up with our tour guide for the next hour. Taking a step into his train/car, he drove us up and around the vineyards, telling us facts such as the customs of those who used to live there, the distribution of the vineyards, as well as the creation of Lake Geneva.
We then rode back down the hill, saying goodbye to the wonderful view of the mountains and lake we were able to see through the sides of the vehicle. Our guide then dropped us off back at our starting point, where we said our farewells and got on a train back to Lausanne for our second tour in a row. However, this one would be more challenging as it was all walking.
If we thought the hills yesterday were bad, these were arguably even steeper and harder to climb. There were also many stairs involved, adding to the level of difficulty.
Nevertheless, we visited many cool places. Starting off, we stopped at a small shoe museum which was covered in shelves holding replications of shoes from hundreds of years ago as well as the tools needed to create and repair them.
Another relevant construction we visited was a gorgeous, huge cathedral in the center of the city. There were stained glass paintings all around the walls, and we stopped at one large picture in particular that consisted of portraits depicting all 12 zodiac signs, months, the 4 seasons, and even monsters.
We ended our tour off with a stop looking over le Grand Point, which is a bridge, and finally at a fountain located at the Lausanne Municipality Center. Our guide then took us back to the hotel, where we had some time to freshen up before heading over to Le Chalet Suisse for dinner.
Here, we experienced our first traditional Swiss meal. Dinner started off with some pickles and pickled onions, followed by an assortment of cut meats, and of course the traditional Switzerland meal of cheese fondue and bread. For dessert we had a fruit cup with a wafer to garnish.
Our journey back to the hotel consisted of walking as well as a couple of minutes on the train!
While we were very tired, to pass the time, some of us indulged in a small rap battle. To make it even more difficult, we challenged those involved to incorporate certain words such as Migros, which is a popular grocery store chain here in Switzerland! Hearing the raps woke us all up again and left us energized as we arrived at the hotel and made our way up to our hotel rooms!
Tomorrow, we head to a new city: Geneva. Good night!