Switzerland, Zwei (Deutsch)

I started typing this on the train from Luzern (Lucerne) to Zurich, and did a final edit, including adding pictures, from my room in Innsbruck, Austria. 

I just had a “dumb tourist” moment where I hadn’t appropriately activated my Eurail Pass for today … after some trail and error I was finally able to get it sorted out. 

Truth be told, that was my second technology issue of the day. The “Magic Hotel” in Luzern had lots to recommend it beyond the name — a very comfortable room, two fans (though no AC), an extremely friendly and helpful front desk person, free apples (I think I had 5 in my 3 nights), and even no fewer than 14(!) angels in my room. The latter because apparently each room is themed and mine was the Angel Room — several angels were fairly gaudy including some painted faux gold and about the size of two basketballs, some smaller and more subtle, two were even guarding the bathtub. But I digress. The one thing that hotel didn’t have — besides AC which is rare in old town buildings — was reliable internet. I could never get my phone to work, and yesterday I struggled with the iPad, to the point that Safari froze and I was afraid I was going to have real issues with it today. But having boarded a slightly earlier-than-intended train early enough that I was able to use the train station’s free Internet I validated that Safari was indeed working. Phew. All this, of course, while I was enjoying my pretzel breakfast. 

So, Switzerland part two, time in German-speaking Luzern, did not disappoint! (Point of clarification: yes, the locals speak German. But because I was in such a touristy area, the main language seemed to be English.)

As planned, Urs met me at the train in Montreux and we shared a lovely journey to Interlaken which literally means “between the lakes (Lake Thunder and Lake Brienz). The train meandered through steep green hills leading to pastoral valleys, small villages, and rugged mountains. Beautiful to look at, but not photogenic from inside the train … and besides we were having a nice conversation and catching up. Not an efficient route by any means, but worth doing (once) to see the scenery. We changed trains in Interlaken and, on the way to Luzern, enjoyed the feast Urs had prepared — breads, meats, bell peppers, cucumbers, a chocolate bar (which he later snuck into my angelic room), strawberries, and beverages. He didn’t think to warn me that the water was “not still” so I sprayed myself a bit as I opened it — a very pleasant sensation given the heat. 

After arriving in Luzern we checked me into my room and then set out exploring Old Town. Urs grew up in Luzern, so he was very well versed in the history, geography and details. In hindsight, I think I remember noticing the hotel I stayed at when we ate dinner there in 2023 on the 5-country day, though I don’t have any photographic evidence to validate that. He showed me the town walls, we walked across some of the bridges, he admired the fact that the needle weir was as open as he’d ever seen it because of recent rains What’s a needle weir, you ask? It’s an old method to regulate water levels between (in this case) a lake and a river. 

We were going to climb to one of the old town wall towers but prudence suggested we refrain given the heat. He took me to “the lion” which is a carved lion on the face of a rock. He showed me Pilatus — the “house mountain” of Luzern, suggested that I make a day trip of it on Saturday (something I’d intended to do and which I did), and brought me to the people in the train station that could help me make it happen. Urs showed me the route he took to make the day happen — he caught a train in Bern at 7am, met me about 9:30, took two trains with me, then had a train back to Bern and another connection to his home so he was gone for at least 13 hours. [if the top picture looks sort of familiar it may be because you’ve seen my evening picture from a similar angle taken two years ago; the third picture was actually taken Sunday morning, but it gives a better sense of the architecture than any of the Friday pictures]

The nice woman at the train station seemed to get me all sorted out for Pilatus. The plan was to take a boat to the base of the steepest cog railway in the world, take the cog railway up, explore, take a large cable car part way down then a small cable car the rest of the way before boarding a bus back to Luzern. What didn’t happen was a reservation for the cog railway — yes, I had a ticket but not a reservation which meant I had about two hours to cool my heels before I could board the cog railway. Then my ticket didn’t quite work on the descent. Rather, it worked in some places but not others. One rather abrupt employee didn’t want to override the automatic system to let me through so he directed me to the office which apparently he staffed, then just opened a gate to let me through saying, “I don’t have time for this.” A much friendlier employee at the bottom of the final cable car suggested I’d gone the wrong way but no worries, it’s the same price. So I’m not sure if the nice woman at the train station didn’t charge me for the whole expedition or if she forgot to give me part of my ticket, but it all worked out in the end. 

<And now, after a bit of confusion and ticket-reading error, I’m on the train from Zurich to Innsbruck. And in the seat I reserved, no less. While in Zurich I went to the grocery stored 2 flights down in the train station to pick up some salami and a soda for lunch>

So, Pilatus. Lots of fun! It started with a steamboat ride, and at Urs’ recommendation I organized the day around doing the boat part of the journey on one of the few steamboats, though a I don’t have a good pictures of the boat itself. I ended up sharing a table on the upper deck with two grandparents and their 4-year old grandson from Basel. Needless to say, their English was excellent, my German not so much. (As an aside, 2nd class is perfectly fine for trains but it’s worth upgrading to 1st class on boats to be in places with more seating and higher up to have better views, features I enjoyed both in Montreux and Luzern.)

The sensation of the steamboat moving, especially when it started, was of a mild putt-putt-putt. Wouldn’t want to cross the ocean with that sensation, but it was fine for an hour. The 4-year old put his hands to his ears every time the horn tooted, which was quite cute. Get me on a boat and I’m happy, this one did not disappoint. Clear green water, beautiful communities, lots of green (mostly conifers but some deciduous trees too). 

The piece de resistance of the boat ride was going under a bridge. This required the boat masts and smokestack to lower which was fascinating to watch — I was not the only “child” to move toward the front of the boat where we were advised we could experience the best views. A group of bicyclists waited atop the bridge to cheer and wave as we passed under the bridge (yes, I waved back). We were not in the low rent district - there were homes along the lake whose “lowest level” was parking for the boats. 

We docked and headed for the cog railway. Oops. I had a ticket but not a reservation so I was assigned a time in 2 hours. There was a nearby cache which I retrieved, though I resisted the urge to walk a kilometer and back for a second cache, I simply entertained myself with my phone and some conversations with other North Americans. 

The cog railway is the steepest in the world with a 48% grade. Wouldn’t want to walk it either up or down. We climbed from just above sea level to 7000 feet in about 30 minutes. Stunning views of the lake, steep mountains — places where if one were foolish enough to climb one would need serious mountaineering equipment. We even saw a herd of cows — each wearing a cowbell so it was very melodic as we passed them. At one point we stopped — apparently there are four trains sharing the (mostly) single track, two going up a couple of minutes apart and two going down a couple of minutes apart — so we had to allow the downward trains to pass us. The last of these pictures was taken from the top, but it shows the steepness and the cog rail cars. 

At the top was a large patio and an indoor area. Lots of hiking trails though given the heat the only one I chose to do was the “dragon’s trail” which was carved out of the rocks so very comfortable temperature-wise. Great views of the Alps (Pilatus is considered the “pre-Alps”), the lake, cities, etc. I probably stayed up there for a couple of hours before descending. 

No trouble with the 55-person cable car. But also no pictures of the ride. Likewise the 4-person cable car (trouble with the tickets but not with the experience). It was deceptively silent and very restful. 

After descending the next “puzzle” was to find the bus. I teamed up with a couple from Louisiana (who did not seem to be a model of matrimonial bliss) and eventually we succeeded and soon I was back at the train station. 

Sunday I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to do another boat ride because the short ones were duplicates of what I’d already seen and the long ones were more than I was willing to spend. So, good geocacher that I am, I decided to let geocaching be my guide. I found a couple of caches and failed to find a couple of others. I happened upon the last few minutes of a brass band concerns. Eventually I wandered over to a Thai restaurant — which turned out to be my only Swiss restaurant — for a tasty cashew chicken lunch. Then I meandered my around the area, iPad in hand, and finished my book. After returning to my room I did some preliminary planning for Austria (until internet access failed). 

I really like Switzerland and hope I return someday because there’s so much more to see and experience. It’s a place with lots of “outdoors” to explore — mountains, lakes, valleys, greenery, etc. Unfortunately, it’s also a place with a high price tag.