Lucerne, Switzerland

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Sunday, 1^st July, 2012 – Lucerne, Switzerland

There has been so much to see and do we keep forgetting to write bits and pieces. For those who have been following the blog, you may remember that in Lake Como we met an Italian chef, Vivian. She introduced us to her friend, Momi, who runs a fab restaurant right on the lake. After taking an incredibly scenic taxi ride down the steep escarpment on Lake Como (the taxi driver literally had to do 3 point turns at every corner!), we were met by the very charismatic Momi who led us to the most lakeside table and served his recommended specialties. What a way to do lunch!

Lake Como, we want to live with you!

A definite highlight to the trip has been the journey from Italy to Switzerland. We took the William Tell (Wilhem to the locals) Express (train) through the incredible Alps. Every corner was an OMG moment looking at the beautiful scenery, the mind blowing engineering of the train lines and roads, and being amazed at being in thirty degree heat yet looking up at snow on the higher peaks. We then hopped on a beautiful old paddle steamer boat to sail 2 ¾ hours on Lake Lucerne to the city of Lucerne. The water was the most wonderful aquamarine colour and the scenery kept on being sensational. The engine of this paddle steamer was a marvel – highly polished and glistening new paint.

Dazzling and Gail had planned to do a European riverboat cruise, which could not be realised, so this was the right moment to raise a glass to all our absent loved ones – in the first class salon of course. Deb would never have envisaged anything less!

Lake Lucerne, we want to live with you! (in the summer time!)

The city of Lucerne was really warm when we arrived yesterday. After a very warm journey of about 4 ½ hours from Como, we were feeling the heat and humidity. It seems that we arrived in this city in time for another festival – it was frantic with preparations for the evening activities – primarily aimed at the young adults. A massive fireworks display woke us about midnight! About 4:00 pm, thunderstorms rolled in for a short period, and together with some light rain, the humidity increased.

Of course, the hotel we’re staying at isn’t air conditioned, but at least there’s a fan in the room which helped considerably.

Today (Sunday) has been much cooler. We awoke to overcast skies and the ongoing threat of rain. We took a chance and went exploring anyway. We managed to see a lot of the “old city” and the ancient city walls before we had lunch, then headed back to the hotel, as the rain commenced.

This evening will be a quiet one. Tomorrow we head off to Basel, Switzerland (about 1 hour away from Lucerne), for one night, then on to Paris – I think for 5 nights.

Our train travel is generally going well – there have only been a few glitches – like one train running late making us miss our connection – but no hassle there – just rescheduled to the next train – about 20 mins later. And yesterday, we had to get off the William Tell Express and use buses to bypass a massive landslide that apparently wiped out the train line. The bus trip was a good one (we saw things we wouldn't have seen from the lake) – only about 20 minutes or so before we were deposited at the embarkation point at Fluelen for our lake cruise.

Hoping everyone is well

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Photos

Steve
Travelling in comfort on the William Tell Express through Switzerland

Scenery from the train
On the William Tell Express - Bellinzona to Fluelen, Switzerland

Lake Lucerne at Fluelen
Our embarcation point to travel to Lucerne, Switzerland.
It's about 30C and very humid - check the snow on the mountains!

Paddle Steamer - Lake Lucerne
The fully restored paddle steamer we sailed Lake Lucerne on.

Gail & Steve
In the dining salon of the paddle steamer on Lake Lucerne

Shoreline
Lake Lucerne, near Lucerne, Switzerland

Comments

[Kate]

That looks superb :)