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Up Mt Pilatus
Yep, this is me on the top of Mt Pilatus in sunny Switzerland! Just over 2100m above sea level. Busy, busy, busy...no time to make another entry on my blog! Far too much sinshine to get out there and enjoy 😊)
Today is Monday 26 May and time is running out fast.
Late on Friday (23 May) Maia flew in from Scotland. Arrived back at hotel after 11pm and then talked, talked and talked. Only had a few hours sleep that night!
Up and off to Lucerne the next day (Sat 24 May), Maia pretty impressed with the trains and first class travel! Accommodation in Lucerne very, how shall I say, interesting. Explored Lucerne for the rest of the day. Maia found out first-hand how difficult it is to find somewhere suitable for non-smokers to have dinner...walked and walked until finally our stomachs rebelled at any more walking and we sat outside and had dinner...got polluted by someone smoking at a table at the next restaurant ...ugh!
Next day (Sunday 25 May) we spent all day on a round trip to Mt Pilatus....boat trip 90mins (got asked to leave the top deck as it was 1st class...not for plebs like us!!), followed by 30 mins on world's steepest cogwheel railway (48% gradient). Not as frightening as
My Travel Companion .....
Well look who else is on Mt Pilatus on the very same day as me! He was jumping for joy to be let out of my travel bag!! we thought it would be. Did all the walks up at the top plus two coffee stops and the required tour of the souvenir shop. 6 deg at the top ...surprising how many people went up unprepared for the cold. The way down was by gondola...first part is see how many people you can squash in a car/carriage, kinda like sardines, the game we all played when young!
Hopped out at the first stop down the hill...phew, still alive! Here was a playground for young and old. Treetop adventure playground ...walking high up, flying foxes etc, all with full gear on. Great to WATCH! There was also a long luge wending it's way down the hill and I couldn't resist having a go!! WHEEEEE ...what fun! Maia didn't want to go so she stayed at the top, looked after the bags and took photos.
Next was a small gondola (4 people size) down to Kriens. In we jumped and off we went ....faaaaaaast take-off accompanied by much screaming as we hurtled off into the great unknown! What fun...wanted to do that again but couldn't.
Walked home to our hotel (about 3kms Maia says), showered and off out
Cogwheel Railway up Mt Pilatus
This is the cogwheel railway I decribed in the blog ...awesome and not scary at all...well, hardly scary! on the hunt for a suitable restaurant. Went to Movepicks (a ladedah place apparently). Food nice, service a little slow, chef kept staring at us so I waved..that stopped that!
Today (Monday) we left our yukky hotel and, wanting to make the most of our rail ticket, found a scenic route to St Gallen (SG). Broke our journey at Rapperswil, an absolutely lovely place on the edge of a lake. Walked and had our lunch down by the lake. Found most shops close for a long lunch (12-1.30pm)...how civilised! Maia itching to meet her friend Nicole, who she hadn't seen since January so we headed off and arrived at SG at 4pm. Greetings all round, bus ride and a walk to Nicole's apartment. Off to the supermarket, three people to carry the wares. En route to the supermarket, we did a very quick tour of the town.
Up, up, up the hill we went with our supermarket goodies. Showers all round, followed by delicious dinner cooked by Nicole. Three tired ladies off to sleep zzzzzzzzz! (Nicole had just returned from a 4-day shopping trip in Munich).
Have had a few techinical difficulties in compressing the photos ....due
Gift Shop at Swarovski Crystal World ...Innsbruck
Sparkling everything ...this is the gift shop at Crystal World. I enjoyed looking but did not buy anything...all looks lovely but nothing I wanted to take home with me. to the usual program I use not being on this computer plus the language difficulties in trying to get around this!! Therefore, today is now Tuesday 27 May. Might be able to get just one more entry on the blog after this before I leave on the great trek back to NY
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