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Published: July 30th 2009
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Ah Switzerland in summer! A land of lush green hills, beautiful turquoise lakes, snow covered Alps, umpteen waterfalls, melting glaciers, cute looking villages, cows with bells, chocolates, mountain trains, cable cars, gondolas and picture-perfect postcard scenery all around. And of course clouds and some rain too!
After spending a little over 5 days in Paris, I took the TGV to Bern. It was about 4 hrs journey. TGV holds the world record for the fastest train. But the TGV I took did not run with any record breaking speed. It was a smooth ride though. My passport got checked a couple of times in the train before the train crossed the France-Switzerland border. At Bern station, I roamed around with my luggage for some time trying to orient myself. The language changed from French in Paris to German in Switzerland. Not that it made any difference to me as I understood neither. Switzerland is mainly a German speaking population. However, people in the Lake Geneva area bordering with France speak French. The region bordering Italy has Italian speaking people. I heard that all Swiss people have to know at least two languages spoken in Switzerland so that people from different
regions can communicate with each other!
I located a Credit Suisse ATM machine and withdrew colorful Swiss currency. I bought an 8 day Swiss Pass which gave me unlimited free rides on the excellent Swiss public transportation system. That included boats, trains, some mountain trains, some cable cars and buses. It also gave me 50% discount at all other cable cars and mountain trains where the ride was not free. At Bern, I got my first taste of Swiss prices at a Burger King where I ordered potato wedges and a small soda for more than 6 francs!
From Bern, I took a double decker train to Lucerne. Lucerne is located smack in the middle of Switzerland and is, in a way, an epitome of Switzerland. It is a beautiful lake side town surrounded by mountains. I stayed in Lucerne Backpackers hostel. About 50 francs per night. Reasonable for a solo traveler like me.
In the evening I just strolled around the town. What a pretty setting for a town. There were plenty of Swans, ducks and their chicks floating on the lake and were not shy of people. Luzern festival was next day. So there seemed
a chalet
cruising Lake Lucerne to be more activity around. And more tourists also.
Next day, it was completely cloudy. Cloudy weather implied that there was no point going to Mount Pilatus or Mount Rigi or Mount Titlis, three popular mountain excursions from Lucerne. So I decided to do a full lake cruise up to a village called Fluelen. It was about 6 hrs round trip from Lucerne. Armed with an 8 day Swiss Pass, I had no hesitation in boarding a Paddleboat steamer. The steamer stopped in villages along the lake shore dropping off and picking up people. The lake, the villages on the hills, the lush greenery and the cloudy weather combined to make for a memorable cruise. Cloudy weather does bring out the colors in the landscape and the photographs. I did not hop off the boat to see the villages on the way. Just watched them pass by as the steamer cruised along. It drizzled at times. I stayed in the top deck most of the time. Later I came to know that the upper deck was first class and I had a 2nd class pass!
Once back to Lucerne, I just strolled around watching the Lucerne festival going
in full steam. The town was flooded with tourists. Most of them were Swiss who were either locals or had come from other towns and villages. Beer and food vendors, rock and pop performers dotted the Lucerne landscape that day. Youngsters were partying around with beer and wine bottles in hand.
After some roaming around in festive Luzern, I just thought of taking a train to Zurich. Just like that and I was in Zurich. I strolled around for a couple of hours. There is a river that flows through the city and empties into a lake. Trams were running on the streets ferrying commuters. Two hours was not enough to get acquainted with the largest city in Switzerland but that was all the time I had. It is a quintessential traveler’s dilemma. Should you give yourself a good amount of time at a destination to explore it? Or should you just hop from once destination to another so that you can say that you have been there and seen that?
A short train ride and I was back in Lucerne. As soon as I got out of the train station, I heard bangs. The festival fireworks had
begun. The sky lit up with colorful fireworks. I had no idea about it. Streets were jam-packed and there was no room to move closer to the action. Fireworks lasted a good half hr. A guy next to me was showering potato chips on an older guy in a car with an open moon roof who had honked at youngsters to clear the way for his car! The guy in the car had no choice but to suck it up!
Next day, I decided to go to Mt Rigi. Weather was partly cloudy. So I thought I had a chance to go to Rigi top and enjoy the views from there. I hopped on the same 9:12am paddleboat steamer and reached Vitznau boat stop. From Vitznau, a cogwheel train takes you to the top of Mt Rigi. However, the clouds had already found their way to Mt Rigi top. There was no point going to the top. I waited an hour for the return boat and I was back in Lucerne. Then it was time to try another mountain.
Mt Titlis was next in line. From Lucerne, I took a train to a village called Engelberg. A long cable
car ride later, I was in the top of Mt Titlis. Titlis was also surrounded by clouds but it did clear up for a while. I was surprised to see so many Indians there. Almost everybody there was an Indian! Most of us Indians have not seen snow covered mountains in India, so snow covered peaks are a magnet for them, I guess! Also Switzerland is famous in India as a 'paradise' and as a honeymoon destination so lot of Indians flock to it during summer time. Since I had tried going to Mt Rigi in the morning, there was not much time to explore Mt Titlis. With the last return cable car from the top around 5:30pm, it gave me just half an hour to soak in views from the snow covered Mt Titlis.
Next day I had to move to a Bernese Oberland village called Murren. I still wanted to go to the top of Mt Rigi. The sky was almost clear this day. So I hopped on the same 9:12am paddleboat steamer again. The sky continued to be clear. I reached Vitznau boat stop. Mt Rigi top was clear! Ah I wondered, this time I am
gonna win the race with the clouds. I hopped on the cogwheel train. The train took well over 30 min to reach there. By the time the train reached Rigi's top, the clouds had already found their way there! They blocked the view of the lake! Damn these clouds 😊 I was wondering about all those tourists who still take these mountain excursions when the mountain is surrounded by clouds. I guess when they have made their plans to go to Mt Rigi, or to Mt Titlis on a certain day, they just go irrespective of the conditions on the mountain top. And when you reach the top, all you see is fog. No breathtaking views there. I had avoided going to Rigi's top on two previous days when it was cloudy but still saw tourists hopping off the ferry and taking the train to the top!
It was time to come back to Lucerne and take a train to Interlaken. The Swiss Alps in the Bernese Oberland region awaited me. I guess the clouds in that region were also waiting for me😊
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maggie
non-member comment
Thank you
Thank you for your pictures. I'm playing "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven which was originally called "Sonata Quasi una Fantasia" (Sonata in the Style of a Fantasy) but a critic wrote that the first movement reminded him of "moonlight on Lake Lucerne" and therefore the public called it "Moonlight Sonata" and it is now Beethoven's most popular piece. Thank you for your pictures they helped me with my piano playing and deeper understanding of this piece. http://www.1stpiano.com/beethoven-moonlight-sonata/ (THAT WEBSITE IS WHERE YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE PIECE THERE IF YOU WISH)