Warm Sun, Cold Lake

Today was hot. I don't know why, but 80°F feels a lot hotter here than it does in the States. Also, so far my experience has been, it's not the air that is warm, it is the sun. As long as the sun was beating on you, you were sweating, but if you got into the slightest bit of shade, you felt relief. This was great, because at least when walking around on a hot day, you could walk on the side of the street that was in the shade.

Anyways, back to it being really hot. We didn't have much to do except the usual Saturday grocery shopping. We got that done pretty early, enjoyed some lunch together with Leve, then decided to all go to the beach. Back by where our hostel was, there was a big open grassy area and a beach for people to sun bath. Beaches are full of ping pong tables and there is plenty of space to lounge. We set up our stuff on the grass and enjoyed the view.

It was getting warm in the sun, so we decided to get go for a dip in the lake. Leve checked the lake temperature before we left. He said it was 20°C, (68°F) which was pretty good for mid-September because it usually doesn't get much warmer than that. Lake Luzern is known for being a colder lake. I went in to about my shins before I almost screamed it was so cold. Leve of course just ran in and then swam away. Brett and I were standing there... shivering... as Leve was already probably 25ft. out. By the time he swam back, we still hadn't moved. He said we needed to just go completely underwater and then we would feel great. Yeah, I've heard that before. I took the plunge... when I came back up, I didn't feel much different. That water was just plain freezing. Now that we were really cooled down, we went to go back and lay in the sun. 


In previous posts I mentioned a bridge that we saw other people jumping off of. I told myself that I needed to do this. The bridge, at its tallest point, was 12ft. above the water. We told Leve about this bridge, and he said he would jump off of it too! So, we left our stuff on the grass and took a short walk to the bridge. There were a few other people on it jumping or discussing whether they wanted to jump or not. Leve happily did it first!

That was Leve's splash! Now, Brett's turn! I obviously made him go before me. Just because I said I wanted to do it, didn't mean I wasn't scared!

Brett climbing over the railing and getting ready to jump.

Woo! It looks like he is flying. Leve is waiting patiently in the water for him. 

Now, it was my turn. Oh boy... Have I mentioned I'm not a huge fan of heights? So, I asked Brett how I should jump in. He told me to just do a canon ball. So, I did a canon ball.

There we go! That was the longest drop into water I have ever done. I remember thinking, as I tightly held my legs up making the perfect canon ball, "Why haven't I hit the water yet? It's been like a minu...." Boom! Wow, that was cold! And oh, did that hurt! My butt stung so bad. Apparently, when Brett said do a canon ball, he didn't mean to do one all the way to the water, but to release half way down. I broke the water with my butt, and only my butt. That's a hard hit from 12ft. up!

 Yay! We survived! That was so much fun, but I still could hardly feel my butt. Here is proof that I'm a canon ball pro! 

Yeah, see that slightly purple spot... that was already a bruise forming; totally worth it!

We went back to our towels and laid down to soak up more sun. The bridge jumping must have tuckered me  out because Brett caught a picture of me dozing off...

We enjoyed the rest of our day in the sun. Hung out with Leve and played some beach ball. It was a good Saturday with plenty of fun.

Brett and Leve.

Brett and Leve off to go take one more dip into the Lake. I was fine staying nice and warm in the sun.

On to the next day!