out of order again -- quick post Alps magnigicent

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Day 10, Tuesday, Sept. 02, 2008

Fantastic day today; right now I'm sitting on my 12th floor balcony looking out at Lake Geneva - gorgeous, a little haze and a few clouds, but superb weather today.

Bkfst at hotel in Lucerne not too good (my dinner last night was very nice), bt I didn't come here to eat. A slightly later start - on the bus at 8:30. Dropped some people in town, then most of us headed up for the Mount Pilatus visit - a short bus ride to edge of town, a four-person enclosed cable car (like a charilift) for 20-30 minutes, then a fairly short part squeezed into a large cable car (about 40 people) for about six minutes. The weather was amazing - a little hazy, but lots of sun, absolutely beautiful views of Alps and more Alps, cows, grass, trees, rocks, flowers, etc. It was great - we had an hour at the to - sent one postcard home.

Then we had the steep incline cogwheel single track train down the other side. It was an excellent excursion. There were some well-trained birds at the top - catching crumbs thrown to them, sometimes flying to do it. “Bitte Nicht Futtern!” It was very developed with trails, souvenir shop, snack areas, restaurants, a hotel, etc. I think it's only 6, -7,000 feet, but seems like the top of the world.

We had some shopping and lunch time back in Lucerne (had spaghetti with tomato and two local beers for about 25.00 CHF (which are similar to a dollar). Prices high in stores, altho I did get a bargain at a discount electronics store, 2 2GB SD cards and 12 AA batteries for just over E20,00 - unless there turns out to be something wrong with them, quite a bargain.

We left Lucerne at 2:30 and arrived in Montreux at about 4:45. Elevators (2) only hold 4 people at a time, so took a while to get up to room. On the drive here, the tour director did her collection for the optional excursions, collected credit cards, etc. Then rewarded us all with a piece of chocolate.

Lucerne is quite charming, and so in Montreux - both major resort towns (and high roller resort towns). Dinner tonight is included, so should be relaxing. I think I'll go for a walk, and then visit the bar (there's a ticket in the room for a non-distilled drink) before supper.

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Comments

[Penny]

hello
Where in the world are you? Switzerland? Where next? Are you having a blast? 15.00 a blog! dear god!