Day 9 - Bus, Gondola, Cable Car, Horse Buggy, Bus

Wednesday we were on the bus by 0800 and headed for Mt Pilatus. We once again were lucky with the weather, it was a bit chilly, in the 40's, but sunny. To really appreciate the Swiss mountians, it is best to get high up on them, we did. 

We boarded a gondola, these are four passenger cabins that were first put in service in 1954, they take you up about 1000 meters vertical to an interim viewing point. 

This is Connor, Kate and our TD, Matt, getting in the first car. 

As you travel up the views just keep getting better and better.

At the interim point the views of the valley and Lake Lucerne are amazing.  Pictures just don't reflect the beauty of the country.

We only paused briefly before boarding the next part of our ascent on the 'Dragon Ride' an ariel cable car that takes you up another 650 meters to the top of Mt Pilatus.  

It is an amazing traverse up the side of a rock mountain. 

We packed our entire group into the cable car with room to spare. 

We had seats (most had to stand) in the front and it did feel like we were floating in the air. 

The views at the Cable Car off load are pretty amazing. 

The cable cars do appear to be flying through the air. 

On the top you have a few choices, one is to enter the Dragon Path that is a tunnel along the side of the mountain with stunning lookouts along the way.

 June wanted to bring the grand kids, they would love it, imagining we were entering the Dragon's lair. 

The lookouts are windows cut in the side of the mountain, again...the views!!

After touring the Dragon's Path we hiked the 212 stairs up to the summit. We were so lucky to have clear skies, some commented that it is often socked in with fog this high on the mountain. My watch altimeter said we were at 6805 feet. 

It was pretty chilly and windy at the top, but the sun made it bearable. 

This is the Cable Car station from the summit. 

I suspect the entire area with the picnic tables is full of people in the summer, escaping the heat. 

We enjoyed the ascent of Mt Pilatus very much, the views going down were just as stunning as going up.

After our mountain excursion we headed back to Lucerne for lunch. 

As we exited the bus Matt took us to view 'The Lion Monument'. The Lion Monument, also known as the Lion of Lucerne, is a famous sculpture commemorating the Swiss Guardsmen who died during the French Revolution in 1792.

Mark Twain praised the sculpture of a mortally wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world". It is a very sad depiction of a dying lion. 

We did not have a lot of time so we grabbed a salad and premade sandwiches at a grocery store, it was good enough for a quick bite. 

After lunch Marco picked us up and whisked us away to the town of Engelberg for a horse carriage ride and tour of a small dairy farm.

The drive to Engelberg was very scenic.

The town of Engelberg is a resort town, there is skiing still in operation, a ski jump, and lots of hotels. It is clearly still growing. 

We boarded our horse carriage and set off for a tour of the very picturesque town. 

It was cold but we were provided with very warm lap blankets. The blankets also served as seatbelts, strapped down on both sides, ingenious. 

Somehow we scored the best seats in the carriage, in the back and elevated above all the others. We got all the premium views. 

In this picture are a few of the Aussies in our group, I think they are the best represented country of our 36 tourists. 

The horses were beautiful, and clearly knew the route without much direction, they never complained once. 

This is a picture of the carriage behind us, it is great being in the lead, because for the carriage behind us, their view never changes... :-).

The carriage ride took us through the narrow streets of Engelberg, it is amazing that these towns are built on the side of a mountain with gorgeous views everywhere you look.

We eventually arrived at the farm, it is small, 18 acres and is surrounded by development to support a resort farm. Frankly, without diversifying their activities into tourism, I doubt they would survive.

The farmer and his wife run it, it is obvious that they take pride in keeping it running for over 30 years. 

The farmer's wife gave us a tour of the farm, it is small, about 20 head and they primarily make cheese with their milk.

The cows are friendly and are hoping you have some food for them, but we were told not to feed them. 

I can tell you the cow barns smell just like the cow barns we have back in Vermont and NY. :)

After the farm tour we were taken to their tasting room, which doubles as their work shop, and given samples of their cheese products and a chocolate brownie.  Everything was delicious. We were also given berry tea with Schnapps (optional) to drink.

We enjoyed the carriage ride and the farm tour, it was something we would have never done traveling on our own. 

As we walked back to our bus, the skiers were coming down the mountain, there is not much left for them to ski on but based on the hooting of one small kid, he was having a great time. 

We boarded the bus back to Lucerne and were dropped off for about 2 1/2 hours of free time.  Since the hotel has limited dining options, it was also our opportunity to get dinner. We were all still pretty full from all the cheese we ate at the farm so we mostly wandered the city. 

They have two wooden bridges that cross the Reuss River. The Kapellbrücke (literally, Chapel Bridge) dating back to 1365 is a covered wooden footbridge with a tower in the middle. The tower predates the bridge and was used to store water. Over the centuries, the tower has been used as a prison, torture chamber, and as a local treasury. Of course, today it is a gift shop.

The inside of the bridge is cool and looks out onto the Cafes and Shops along The Reuss.

The second bridge, the Chaff Bridge, was built in the 13th century and connected to the city mills in the middle of the river. It got its name because it was used to dump the 'Chaff' from the mills into the river, I don't think they do this anymore...

We enjoyed strolling both bridges and became thirsty. 

We found an Irish Pub and stopped for some Guinness and appetizers, we were not hungry enough for a full dinner.

We took a table outside on the second floor, even in an alley there are great views.

About 7PM we were bused back to the Hotel Swissever. It was the end of another full day; we were ready to call it a day but we did stop at the hotel for a night cap. 

Thursday we will move onto Italy.