first saturday in switzerland

on my first sat in switzerland, i decided to take a trip out to Luzern, a popular tourist spot about 1.5 hr away from zurich by train. i got my eurail ticket validated and my first day of use started on 06-Sep-08 !!! so the day started early at about 835am as i set off to Luzern by train all by myself. i reached my destination at about 10am, the train ride was comfortable and there were a few nice sights to see (switzerland pride - lake and mountain).

Chapel Bridge is jus a 3 min walk away from Luzern train station, it is a wooden bridge that dates back to the year 1333. The bridge is covered by a wooden roof under which 111 paintings were added in the 17th century. Unfortunately a fire destroyed 86 of these paintings in 1993,and they had to be replaced by replicas. Although i cant really see the picture clearly, i enjoyed the walk (i walked across it twice). The view around the bridge is awesome with swans and flowers and at the end of the bridge, there is flea market selling cheese and lotsa fruits.

from the bridge, i moved on to my most anticipated destination - the Lion Monument. the Lion Monument, also named the Sleeping Lion, is a landmark of the city and was built in honour to all Swiss Guards who had died on a battle in Paris, defending the French Royal family when Paris revolutionaries stormed the Tuleries Palace. i started my search and it did not take me long given the helpful tourist information stand around Luzern center. when i found it, i was totally amazed by the sculpture. i stood there and just looked at it for at least half an hour i think ... it is so different seeing it in real in contrast to seeing its pictures on website. in fact, i think no picture will be able to capture the pain of the lion that the sculpture displays in life. the lion monument also turns out to be bigger than wat i expected to see, all in all just seeing the lion makes the trip to Luzern worthwhile for me personally.

next, i decided to sit down by the Lake Luzern and jus admire the view and the beauty of Switzerland. it was very relaxing jus sitting there, looking into the blue blue sky and blue blue lake...
in the later part of the day, i went for a roundtrip up to Mount Pilatus and it was quite an adventure. it first started with a lake cruise (tat set off at 1pm) that brings me to alpnachstad from luzern. there was still a bit of sun then, the entire ride took about 1.5 hr and was really beautiful (though after a while, everything looked the same). on the cruise, i met up with a bunch of canada students doing schoolwork here in switzerland. they were quite a noisy and nosey bunch i must say.

after the cruise, i went on to take the cogwheel railway up mount pilatus (known to be the world steepest cogwheel railway). the ride reminded me of the peak tram that i took in hong kong, but it is much much steeper. it was quite a pity because the weather was cloudy and rainy, so after a while up the mountain, i cant see anything else other than fog. i can hear the sound of cowbells from all directions, but i cant see a single cow! when i reached the top of mountain pilatus, the fog get worst. everywhere was covered with a cloud of mist and it was freezing cold, even my hot chocolate din stayed hot for long... during then, i was still very eager to make the trip worthwhile, so i decided to take a few scenic walks as suggested despite the fog.
1st walk was a 500m long stroll through the mountain - rock gallery, but i barely made it to the entrance. it simply looked too dark and claustrophobic to venture on my own, so i chicken out hee.

2nd walk is an easy-difficulty level walk up to Oberhaupt which supposedly should provide a spectacular 360 degree panorama: alphine range and lakes. of cos i cant see anything except fog, but i still felt a sense of accomplishment when i got to the peak.

3rd walk is a medium-difficulty level walk up to Esel which is another peak much higher then Oberhaupt. unlike the previous, this walk is quite difficult cos the steps are quite uneven and the stones are wet due to the mist. going up was tiring and since i was the only one who taken the walk, it really felt like a ghost town up there with no one there and having fog everywhere. coming down was even tougher, i was glad for once that it was foggy otherwise i supposed i would have fainted on the way down with the heights. it was like a winding route up, with one side covered with rocks and the other side is jus some wooden stands tat i could hold for support ... when i think about it now, it still scares me and i will always wonder wat gave me the courage then to conquer the walk. nonetheless i did it !!!

after taking the scenic walks, i somehow felt tat my trip was not so wasted. from there, i decided to head back down to mainland by cable car. i couldnt see much on the ride down as usual, but i met with a bunch of old german folks who muttered a series of german exclaimation whenever the cable made a sharp descent. it was really funny cos i cant made out what they were saying, but it sounded something like "oh my god, i dun wanna die". at the end of the ride, the cable car operator is really kind, he even offered to help me take a picture seeing that i was all alone.

after the cable car ride, the roundtrip then ended with a bus ride back to Luzern city. it has started to rain then and though i did attempt to find a recommended place to dine in Old Town, it was to no avail (instead, i found the rolex house - a five storeys gallery selling rolex watches *gasps*). so for the second time, i walked across the Chapel bridge and head back home to Zurich.

(left) Luzern Old Town - they like to paintings on their wall, dun ask me why











(right) rolex gallery house - imagine 5 floors selling all rolex watches !!!

and of cos the minute i got back to my room, i crashed ... zzz ....