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Oh man, what a day AGAIN! Every day is as spectacular or even better than the last!
But ooooh baby- I just found Les Miserables on tv! I didn't want to be up late again but I might now!
So today we rode the bus about 1 1/2 hrs to Lucerne, Switzerland. It's a bigger city with some amazing sights. We saw the famous Lion Monument. It's a huge lion lying down carved into a massive stone wall. It has a broken spear in it with a shield of the coat of arms from Switzerland & France. It's a tribute to 700 fallen Swiss military from the French Revolution. The inscription around it says, "To the loyalty & virtue of the Swiss". Interesting story Steve told us= apparently the sculptor didn't get paid so he altered the carving somewhat. If you look closely at the edge (outline) of the lion you'll see the profile of a pig!
Our guide, Steve, took us on a walking tour through town, over the famous Chapel Bridge. It's so old & beautiful, filled with flowers on the sides & a water tower in the middle. There were lots of very old paintings on the trusses up above (inside the bridge). Some were damaged by a fire years ago.
Steve also walked us around town & pointed out some highlights. These painted buildings looked so cool! Plus I loved this little girl carrying a stuffed Berner!
During our free time, a few of us walked up to the remains of the old city wall. We also climbed up the one tower-holy moley-LOTS of steps! But the view of the city was incredible!! Wowee-the pictures I got were great. Lake Lucerne is right there so it looked so amazing. If we had more time, it would have been great to take a boat tour on the lake.
Reda & I saw this sign in a bathroom. We couldn't stop laughing! Who does that???
Before we got back to the bus I got some awesome hazelnut ice cream again! Giancarlo, our bus driver, yelled at me for bringing it on the bus but then waved me off ok cuz we had to go. I promised him I wouldn't leave a drop! I guess he cares a lot about his bus!We then drove to Mount Pilatus. Oooooh-was this exciting! Going there, we could see a HUGE mountain with a building way up at the tippee top. Steve said we were going up there. WOW! We got off the bus in town & got on to a platform to take a cog train up the mountain.
It was crazy cool!! Like going up a steep hill on a roller coaster but going up, up, up, higher & higher for about 40 minutes! I should have videotaped all of us going, "WOW! WOW! WOW!".
Starting here
Ending here!
We passed some cows way up there. I think we were all surprised to see them up that high. We also were surprised to see hikers. It was funny. We're like, " There's people! People? Yea, people!" Holy Hanna, I can't imagine hiking up that mountain. We were 7,000' high!
We got out to an observation area with 2 hotels, a restaurant & gift shop. I climbed up to a lookout point- lots of steps! I was huffing & puffing. Saw incredible panoramic views from up there. Just spectacular!! I said to Reda, "let me take your picture". Then I said, "Where's Jay? I'll get the 2 of you together". She says, "I don't know, where did he go?" I said, "I don't know. Yodel for him!" So she DID! And he comes walking out from behind something, right on cue! It was hysterical!!!
Jay & Reda
Check out the switch back trail for hikers!
I walked/climbed up another path next to that one & got a different perspective. I loved the cows! They actually do wear the cowbells. They all sounded like wind chimes together. It was so cool.Then I walked over to a different, higher lookout point. A couple guys from our group were just coming down & said, "it's worth it!". Holy crap were there a lot of steps. Jeez-o-lu. I had to pause to catch my breath. But it was so worth it! Just spectacular views. Absolutely amazing! Surprisingly, it wasn't that cold up here, just a little windy.
When we were all finished, we rode gondolas back down. How cool!! It was like the longest, highest, biggest sky ride or ski lift you ever saw. It was so quiet & smooth. No worries at all! I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Tennessee Girls!
Going down into the abyss
Audrey & Penny
me & Steve, our tour manager
Swiss Stone Pines
Giancarlo met us at the bottom. It was an extra long ride home. There was a lot of traffic. I fell asleep for a while. My head was bobbing & I'm sure I was catching some flies. We had to push back dinner cuz we were so late.I changed into my dirndl dress. I brought it along & asked Steve if it was appropriate to wear. He suggested tonight's dinner at the Kornhaus Keller restaurant would be good. I doubted wearing it because it was raining but Reda & Jay really wanted to see it. Everyone went nuts over it! I came off the elevator in the hotel lobby to a bunch of cheers. Some wanted to take my picture, it was funny.
We walked nearby to the restaurant. It looked very old, historic & SO beautiful. Our waitress loved my dress. She actually said she was jealous! She wore several at a past job but not anymore & she misses wearing them. How about that?
Dinner was great. I had salad & minced beef with pasta with applesauce on it. It looked like Hamburger Helper. It was good! I put cheese on 1/2 & the applesauce on the other half. YUM! For dessert, we all got the Kornhaus variety of little cakes. Good stuff!
Now I have to pack. We're leaving at 8am for Innsbruck, Austria. First, we'll stop at Liechtenstein (which is its own country).
Now that I just watched Les Mis & bawled my eyes out, it's time for bed at 1am. Yikes! Let's hope the couple above me won't be going at it like wild rabbits like they did last night! Woohoo!
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