Blogs from Lucerne, North-West, Switzerland, Europe - page 3

Superb day today. All to plan according to Bob's spreadsheet for our trip. One day to take in the special Pilatus mountain trip and to include a boat trip, train ride and cable car. Had been concerned last night about the weather as rain was forecast for later in the day and didn't want that slipping over into daytime today. Yes it rained and it was very cloudy when we got up, quite early, but absolutely dry again so we were hopeful the clouds would clear. First part of the trip was across Lake Lucerne by boat and the boat station was 5 minutes away, just past the lido. Nobody else waiting for our boat except a few sleepy swans and ducks. Arrived on time, to the minute, with Swiss precision and away we went across ... read more

Nachdem die zweite Woche meines Projektes in Bern erfolgreich abgelaufen ist, habe ich heute meinen dritten Ausflug von dort gemacht. Zuvor habe ich noch in meinem Projektapartment einen Kaffee getrunken. Wie auch schon in meinem Apartment in Montreux 2003 und bei meinem Kunden liebt man hier Nespressomaschinen. Zehnerpacks der Kapseln gibt es hier überall. Zuhause in München habe ich ja einen Kaffeevollautomat für ganze Bohnen. Nach dem Frühstück bin ich also zu meinem Auto und über die A1 nach Luzern gefahren. Dort war ich auch schon mal zu einem Mittagessen im Jahr 2000 vor der Fahrt durch den Gotthardtunnel. Ich habe problemlos das gewünschte Parkhaus in der Nähe der Altstadt gefunden und habe meinen Spaziergang begonnen. Zuerst bin ich südlich der Reuss zur Kapellbrücke. Über die bin ich dann gelaufen und am Rathausquai entlang zum Starbucks. ... read more

Notre programme de voyage a un peu changé... vu la fermeture de pas mal de cols comme je vous l'avais dit précédemment.... C'est ainsi que nous n'irons pas à Cortina d'Ampezzo (un des rêves de ma vie...) mais que nous retournerons sagement un peu sur les chemins de l'aller.... Souvenez-vous que nous étions passés par Lucerne sans nous y arrêter tellement il y avait de monde et vu le prix élevé du seul camping qui nous offrait un bus à sa porte pour nous rendre en ville. Le temps s'est un peu gâté mais les quelques nuages qui souhaitent accompagner notre voyage ne nous dérange pas trop... Il ne pleut pas, c'est le principal... Alors nous voici tout de même dans ce fameux camping qui finalement est moins cher que prévu et qui est pratique.... Il ... read more

Issy's got a cold, which really sucks for her, so she says that I should go out on my own while she rests up. I go wandering across the Chapel Bridge. First stop is the very prominent riverfront Lucerne Jesuit Church with its two characteristic large towers. I read that it's the first large baroque church that was built north of the Alps in Switzerland (silly me thought we were IN the Alps), and its construction began in 1667. There are bike racks all along the riverbank, and not nearly enough room in them for everyone who wants to park there. The number of two wheelers here suggests that everyone in Lucerne must own at least two of them. A lot of them aren't locked; they've just been left leaning against the racks. The Swiss must ... read more

There are bottles of champagne on the breakfast bar again this morning, and a group of Americans at the next table is getting stuck into them. It seems that one of the couples is having an anniversary. I hope that they're not planning on abseiling down any mountains today. Today we've booked a "Golden Ticket" round trip up Mount Pilatus. I booked this a long time ago, so we're not exactly sure what it involves. The voucher isn't giving too much away, other than a requirement that we take our passports with us. This is a bit worrying. The mountain only looks to be a few kilometres away, and I’m pretty sure we should only need passports if we’re planning on leaving Europe. I hope we get back to Lucerne in time for dinner. We've got ... read more