Another amazing day

Today we set off bright and early for our trip to Luzern. It was a pretty easy 45 minute train trip from Zurich, but it seems many other people had the same idea, as the train was packed, even though they run almost one per hour. I guess the fact that it was Sunday, with a weather forecast of 28 degrees with brilliant sunshine, may have accounted for the crowds. The trains in Switzerland are brilliant. They are very fast, very clean and always run on time; that's right, always. I believe every station clock in Switzerland is synchronised each hour so that they are always on the exact same time. Gotta love the Swiss (why not, they certainly do).

Luzern is breathtakingly beautiful, sitting as it does on Lake Luzern and surrounded by the Alps. The most prominent mountain which can be viewed from Luzern is Mt. Pilatus, which attracts thousands of tourists, including us, each year to ride the cable car and/or the world's steepest cog railway in the world. Our plan was to ride the cable car up to the summit, and then take the railway down, although I believe most tourists do it in reverse. The cable car seems to go on forever (not recommended for Pete) and affords the most magnificent views of Luzern as it fades away below you and up to Mt. Pilatus above. It is, without doubt, the most amazing cable car we've ever taken. 

Water tower, dating back to around 1300.

Pretty Luzern

The water from the lake runs very quickly in this part of the city.

The Spreuer Bridge

One of the old wooden bridges dating back to the fifteenth century.

Mt. Pilatus watches over Luzern like a sentinel.

View over Luzern and the lake from a tower on the Musegg Wall.

The "Dying Lion of Luzern" commenorates the heroism in 1792 of Swiss soldiers who died attempting to protect the Tuileries Palace in Paris during the French Revolution.

Once at Mt. Pilatus, the views over the Alps are mesmerising for almost 270 degrees. Interestingly, Mt. Pilatus is not that high, in fact, even Mt. Kosciusko is higher. To be honest, this part of the Swiss Alps in general is not that high in comparison to the Andes, or even the Rockies, and they are certainly eclipsed by the Himalayas. Nevertheless, they make quite a spectacle, particularly when they're still covered with snow.

Beautiful Lake Luzern

Heading up to Mt. Pilatus on the cable car.

The Swiss Alps

There's a familiar face

And another one

The contrast to back home could not be more stark.

The ride back down the mountain on the cog train was equally as exciting. It was built by engineer Eduard Locher in 1889, and is the steepest such railway in the world. The train uses two horizontally revolving cog wheels which engage with a rack on the track to give the train the traction it needs to negotiate a gradient of 48 degrees; that is greater than 1 to 1. Amazingly, the mountain is very popular with hikers, and we saw many people going up and down the numerous track which crisscross the mountain. I could barely stand up on a gradient of 48 degrees, so I have no idea how they managed it. Bloody Swiss, it must be something to do with all that fresh mountain air.

My final photo of lovely Luzern, and probably my last of Switzerland. How very lucky we are to have seen this wonderful country.

We arrived back in Zurich around 5.30 pm pretty tired, and went straight to our apartment to relax. I think we'll have a night in before we leave tomorrow for Germany. I think Alison would agree with me that Switzerland is the prettiest country we have ever seen. The scenery is breathtaking, and I would move here tomorrow if I could afford a farm in the hills (and a Swiss maid to go with it). Oh well, there's no charge for dreaming.