Lucerne

We got up really early today to get on a train to Lucerne. We had a lot of activities planned in Lucerne and given our previous track record of how long it takes us to do anything we needed to get an early start. At the train station we went to the SBB office to book tickets to Munich for the following day. However, we learned that the German train union was going to be on strike today and tomorrow, so we would not be able to travel to Munich tomorrow. This put a huge wrinkle in our plans because I had a day and a half of activities planned for Munich. That’s okay, we would just take a bus instead of the train. However, there were no more busses available since apparently everyone had the same idea we did. It took the rest of the day to figure out our plan for the next day, but more on that later. Anyway, we took the bus to our hotel to drop off our luggage and then took the bus to Kriens where we took the gondolas up to Mount Pilatus, or the dragon mountain. It was really cold today, and I wasn’t prepared for so much cold weather, especially after it being over 100 degrees most days when we were in Italy.

The gondolas stopped first in Krienseregg where there was a great playground. We spent almost an hour playing here while I was trying to figure out travel plans.

The next stop was in Frakmuntegg, where there were several activities to do. There was a huge ropes course and a smaller ropes course for kids. Due to costs and time we didn’t do this, but we did do the alpine slide down the mountain. This was so fun even though it was really cold! I think it was one of the favorite parts of the day.

We took the cable car up to the top of Mount Pilatus. I didn’t realize how much there was up here with a hotel, restaurant, and lots of hiking. The views from up here were great, that is, when we could see them. Sometimes we could see some great views, but other times all we saw was the fog. We walked up to the top of Esel, the high point right behind the hotel, and then also did a hike to Tomilshorn on the other side of the complex. There were some windows cut into the rock as we walked through the cave inside the mountain. My mom and Willow didn’t walk up to Esel, but instead took a break on the roof of the complex. I was able to zoom in and get a picture of them.

To get down the mountain, we took the cogwheel railway, which is the steepest cogwheel in the world. This railway was built in the 1880’s, and the driver said most of the rail is original! We did see some workers doing maintenance on the railway, which was neat. We were able to sit in the front car, and Willow said ‘choo choo’ almost the entire way down. Ronin watched for the first part, but then took a little nap. There were lots of hikers making their way up the mountain. Maybe next time!

The cogwheel train let us out in Alpnachstad, so we needed to take the train back to Lucerne. By now it was after 2 pm, so we had a few hours to explore in Lucerne. Our first stop was the Jesuit church Jesuitenkirche. This was such a light and refreshing church after all the dark churches in Italy. The church was decorated in pink and white with crystal chandeliers. It is small but may have been my favorite church so far.

We finally got to the thing I wanted to see most in Lucerne—the Chapel Bridge. This is the longest wooden covered bridge, and has some of the original paintings that were not damaged in the fire of 1993 that burned down most of the bridge.

There were definitely some pretty buildings in Lucerne. Many of the buildings were painted with murals, which were different than the murals you see here on buildings in the US. There were also some unique fountains.

For dinner we splurged and had real Swiss fondue. It was expensive, but totally worth it! And yes, Willow had French fries.

After dinner we walked to the Museggmauer, which are the medieval town walls. We walked up the tower, along the walls, and then back down the next tower. Here on the walls we saw some nice views of Lucerne.

Zoey even found a window seat up in the top of one of the towers.

This was a really full day, and when we got back to the hotel I fell straight asleep before even the kids. We won’t be going to Munich tomorrow like we planned, but I think our new plan for tomorrow will be pretty good.