We're going to the mountains today!
After big breakfast, we walked to the train station. We rode first North to Zurich HB, then transferred to a high speed train direct to Luzern. Antje and Navina drove separately and met us at the Luzern train station.
On our train ride it was fun to see the community gardens along the way.
The express train was fancier than the local S4 commuter line we took to Zurich from Antje's.
There was even a children's car with play equipment inside. The Children's cars have different themes: this one was jungle adventure.
On every train station platform in Switzerland there are vending machines, and the same products are available in the same arrangement in each machine. The girls now love looking to see if a vending machine exists without this pattern: party sticks pepperoni sticks - maybe baby pregnancy test - ceylor condoms - bic triple pack cigarette lighters. We came up with a story to go along with this: first you go to the party and eat party sticks, then the next morning you check to see if you are pregnant, then you buy condoms so you're prepared next time, and lastly buy lighters so you can offer a light to strangers.
An advertisement in the train station for milk, something you think would not need an advertising budget in Switzerland, which is famed for its delicious milk from free-range grass-fed cows.
We took an electric trolley bus (not bound to tracks below, but following electric lines above), and it had an interesting trailer attached to increase rider capacity.
From the bus stop we had a good hike up to where the gondolas would take us to Mt. Pilatus.
Along the way we passed an alphorn crafter, and peeked in the window at the workshop.
There's where we need to get on the gondola... we're almost there... it was an uphill hike and a good workout just to get to the station.
Here are gondolas on a siding rail, being detailed. The three girls rode in one gondola, and Antje, Daddy, and I in the other.
The gondola made a stop halfway up at a station where there was a great playground. Aubrietta and Kelsey were disappointed that we did not stop, but we had something even more fun in mind, coming up at the next station.
Antje shows us on the map where we are, and where we are going. What a joy it is to have a personal tour guide along with us!
It was a very long ride for a gondola, about 30 minutes. See that mountain in the distance above? That is where we are headed.
We got off the 4 person gondola and would have to transfer to a larger gondola to get to the top of the mountain, but first, a little diversion...
At 1350 meters long, it is Switzerland's longest summer toboggan run. At first the girls were pretty timid, especially Kelsey, who took it so slowly that she ended up with a crowd of people stacked up behind her. Antje, Daddy, and I also did a run, just for fun.
Here you can see just the tail end of the rodelbahn run, when it starts to straighten out near the end, and crossing it in a straight line is the route back up, where you are pulled backwards by an overhead cable attached to the sled.
Aubrietta being towed backwards up for another run.
Soon it was time to leave the Rodelbahn behind and head to the big gondola. Just as it arrived in the station a mechanic hopped up on top with a power tool and started frantically working. Let's hope he gets all those nuts tightened down so we don't end up dangling, or worse, falling!
The mechanic hopped down, the doors closed, and we lurched out of the station. It was a long way down, and getting longer the higher we climbed. You can see Aubrietta is looking a little nervous, and Kelsey (who is afraid of heights) has a deathgrip on that window frame. Navina, a Swiss native who has ridden more gondolas in her life that she can remember, enjoys the view.
Looking down towards Lake Luzern and the city of Luzern to the left.
The view straight down from the front of the gondola as we hug the rocky mountainside on the way up. Look at the abundance of flora!
We passed through some clouds as we got near the top.
At the top there is a visitor's center, a hotel (pictured above), walking trails, and an observatory (top left).
We did the walking trail which was excavated into the mountain in a big loop all the way around.
Of course I had to watch my head.
See Kelsey and Aubrietta peeking out from the left in the photo above?
How about that church? Kind of a steep drop off if you were to go out the door and turn left. It would be a nice workout to get to Sunday services, though.
Looking out one of the openings along the trail.
Back in the visitor's center Antje and Navina had gone to the cafe and gotten several orders of pommes frites. Antje whipped out some cervelas sausages from her purse and sliced those up (with a Swiss Army knife, of course) to complete our quick picnic lunch.
As we sat there eating we watched this paraglider lay out his chute and strap himself in, just feet away from where we sat. We thought it would be awhile before he took off running, but to our surprise he just took a few steps forward and was off!
Here comes our train! Instead of going down the gondola again, we were going to take the world's steepest cog railway down the other side of the mountain, and then take a paddlewheel boat up Lake Luzern.
We sat at the very bottom, looking over the driver's shoulder, for a great view.
Parts of the track had up to 48% grade! That's steep!
About to pass into a shed tunnel.
It felt a little spooky riding backwards down such a steep slope. The girls started out where I'm now sitting, but then I switched places with them so they could see better. I spent most of my time twisted around backwards, and after nearly 40 minutes of this, I had quite a backache when I got off at the bottom station.
We passed a lot of happily grazing cows. This gal was rubbing her head on this hiker's sign. Yes, there are people who hike the 1610 meter elevation gain, 5 hour one-way hike, but I'm not one of them.
Halfway down we went onto a siding and stopped.
The driver jumped out to use the telephone, leaving us in a lurch on the track. Let's hope he engaged the brake properly!
After a few minues another train came up, passed us, and then we continued down.
As we neared the station, we could see the boat waiting for us.
This boat is 110 years old, but looks brand new because like so many things Swiss, it is kept in immaculate condition.
Built in 1902, this paddle-wheel steamer has most of its mechanics open to view.
Our little family in the bow of the boat.
Ever hungry, the girls devour big German pretzels that Antje had picked up at the bakery that morning.
Followed by ice cream from the onboard cafe, it is smiles all around.
The trip back to Luzern took a little over an hour and a half since we zig-zagged back and forth across the lake, stopping at little towns along the way.
Hotels, homes, apartment buidings... all were decked out with flowers or elaborately dressed with decorative trim.
This beautiful structure is a boat house.
Even a plain-looking hotel looked lovely surrounded by flowering gardens.
Look at those beautiful chalets and the equally exquisite boat houses along the lake below. It was just one after another, all the way up the lake.
One of the sights that pleased me most was watching the 3 girls giggling together. Navina and Aubrietta are just a month apart in age, but Navina is much more sophisticated and mature, whereas Aubrietta and Kelsey are clinging to childhood with a goofy enthusiasm. I was surprised that it took awhile for the girls to warm up to each other. They'd been Skyping and IM'ing in the months leading up to our trip, but when they were finally face to face there was shyness and hesitation on both sides. For Navina, who speaks 4 languages, Aubrietta and Kelsey's rapid chatter was a bit overwhelming, I'm sure. I had to remind Aubrietta and Kelsey to calm down a bit and include Navina in their conversations.
Arriving in Luzern, the gray skies intensified. We hoped to do a quick walking tour with Antje before the rain came.
Our first destination was the famous covered bridge, Kapellbrücke.
It was first constructed in 1333 and named "Chapel Bridge" (Kapellbrücke) for nearby St. Peter's Chapel.
Along the bridge are 17th century paintings depicting Luzern's history. In 1993 the bridge caught fire (likely due to a discarded cigarette) and many of the paintings were destroyed. Only about 30 have been fully restored since the fire.
On the shores of the River Reuss, which the Chapel Bridge crosses, the cafes were packed with people.
Musicians and entertainers were out in force. The girls were enchanted by this wooden headed "rabbit" that clapped its jaw at passers-by. You can see the person sitting on a stool under the cloth, operating the wooden puppet.
There were other entertaining sights as well, such as this man retrieving his cell phone from the river. We wondered if nearby street vendors or businesses had this fishing net handy for just such occasions.
We went into the Jesuit Church, built in the late 1660's. There was no restriction on photography, and we were the only ones there, so I snapped a few photos.
Kelsey took a moment over the electric candles to say a prayer.
We continued our walking tour past beautifully painted old buildings. The rain was closing in on us.
Just as we were getting thirsty, around a corner a fountain awaited us.
The golden pretzel means there is a bakery!
Daddy was losing his patience and wanting to sit down while the girls kept ducking into shops, so we decided it was time for Daddy to start heading home. Aubrietta and Kelsey wanted to stay with Antje and Navina and ride home with them in the car, so I accompanied Daddy home on the train. Antje took the girls to a jewelry shop and bought them each a necklace. Daddy and I planned to have some good conversation on the rainy train ride back, but we were both so tired that we just gazed out the window, reflecting on all the experiences and sights of the day. As usual, we missed the connecting train in Zurich thanks to the long slog 2 floors underground from the main terminal, so that added another 20 minutes to our journey. By the time we neared Adliswil, Antje was home and able to zip down to the station to get us, as it was now raining harder and Daddy's knee was in intensely painful.
Back home for a late dinner of salad and spaghetti, afterwards the girls hovered around the laptop watching a DVD movie together.
It was another full day in beautiful Switzerland.
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