With rain threatening, we headed off to the Schilthorn. Apart from being a magnificent mountain,well known skiing venue, Schilthorn is known for being where “On her Majesty’s Secret  Service” , a James Bond movie was filmed. To get there , you start with a Cable car that takes you high up the mountain  to  then catch a train to a little town called   Mürren.

 

From Mürren , you catch another two cable cars . It may have been raining but the views as the clouds swirled around us were awesome. One minute nothing but white ,and then, the next , mountains,sheer rock faces and patches of green or snow.

 Can you spot the white snow covered tops. You didn’t think it was all cloud did you?

 

 When we got to the top,all we could see was white clouds and rain. We grabbed a coffee or hot chocolate and decided to see if it would clear  but then it SNOWED?

What an amazing experience    It did clear briefly for us to see the Eiger in the distance with the sun glinting on the snow.

 Are you as impressed as we were. It is like a magic world appearing and then disappearing again.

  On the second floor of the complex is a James Bond display , showing background details. The information was interesting but the best was using the interactive simulations. We flew a helicopter, road a bobsled and laughed till we cried at the playbacks. Definitely a highlight and kid moment. Even the loos were in theme.

  

  

From here we headed down the mountain Birg. Here our adventurous lads ventured out on a glass platform that runs around the mountain.

From here it was down the cable car and up another funicular for lunch and then home again. No time to see the falls, so on tomorrow’s list along  . with the Eiger. You are keeping us busy.

 

 

 

Your intrepid travellers left Lucerne today for Meiringen. The husbands demonstrated their superior strength by taking the suitcases and heading to the railway station. We went to settle the hotel and city tax…..something you have to pay in lots of European cities. Gallantly we tried to catch them, they stopped. Yes, we will catch up , but no ,off they went rushing away. We could hardly see them as they went so fast. Finally we caught them….they were stopped by a red pedestrian sign. They said ,we just weren’t trying. Oh dear.

Today was a short train trip but the scenery was breathtaking.

 Green plains nestle beneath the soaring mountains. Farmers are mowing the grass for winter feed . Some of the farmers are using traditional methods still as we saw them using a hay fork to heap it ready to stack. Most were using modern machinery,even a blower. Cows, obviously contented, grazed along with the occasional small mob of sheep. We know the cows are contented as we had the most amazing ice- cream last night.

Once at Meiringen, we ditched the bags at the hotel. We were going not…. I know you will be shocked, to a mountain , but to a waterfall and gorge created by the ancient glacier and then water over a long period of time. Alpbach schlucht is the waterfall where Sherlock Holmes battled with his nemesis Moriaty. There is a star on the wall where they fell.

You get to the base of the waterfall via a funicular. It was not as steep as yesterdays but just as good.

 

Now , since we could only see the bottom section of the waterfall , we decided in a moment of weakness to go to the top.

Mike volunteered to stay and guard the bags in case Moriaty decided to return and steal our valuables. We headed off.

 

 

  

1000 + stairs later…

  

 That tiny spot is the star to mark the dramatic fight and death of Moriaty.

Every year , a group , dressed in vintage costumes, come to the waterfall to celebrate Sherlock Holmes and his stories. There is a museum at Meiringen for Sherlock Holmes as well. We were to visit the museum tomorrow , but oops it is not open in the morning.

A perfect place to enjoy our picnic lunch. Opposite this spot is the entrance to the Aareschlucht gorge.

The gorge has been created by the action of water ,the minerals in it wearing a way the limestone, and also the action of rocks from glaciers. Rocks carried in the glacier, were whirled around in crevasses and carved out the rock.

Surprisingly in the last War, a room big enough for 185  soldiers was built in the bottom of the gorge with exits to the train and gorge. The room was wood lined and heated. Enjoy the gorge.

 

        There are small paths into the rock, but most of the walkway is attached to the gorge walls. They are perched about one third up the walls above the water. As you look up, the walls tower over you and below is the rush of the water. Although you are aware of the noise, it is not until you leave the gorge , that you realise the strength of the sound. Amazing.

We needed recovery time ,so booked in and got settled . The town is a base for the skiing fields in the surrounding mountains , so is quiet at this time. We had plenty of time for the boys to consult Sherlock. He did not give us much guidance for dinner but we did find a great restaurant.

 

 

 

 Well that’s your lot for today.

More adventures tomorrow.

Swiss people look forward to their days off. They head out of the city when it is fine to enjoy the outdoors. We joined them today and ventured to Mt Pilatus. There is two trips you can do:

1. Gold circle :- ferry, train,cable car, bus

2. Silver circle :- train,train,cable car, bus

As we had travelled from Flüelen by ferry, we opted for the Silver circle. You catch a train to the base of the mountain. From here ,you catch the steepest cogwheel railway in the world  to the top section of the mountain. At some points the railway appears vertical, although its steepest gradient is 48’. You stop half way up so hikers and climbers can start their climb , if they wish. Look carefully in the bottom photo and you can see the train going down.

 

Are you ready for the view at the top…..well it is spectacular but to see the whole vista …you guessed it , there are stairs!

Yes ,they are as steep as they look , but we puffed our way up all three sets to get you photos of the amazing views.

 Can you see yourself walking up the mountain on the paths?

Surprisingly there were walkers of all ages climbing up using mountain walking sticks. On the scree ,goats were grazing oblivious to the walkers.

 

 

 Once at the top, there are two hotels with restaurants for all visitors to recover

 Naturally, we had morning tea, and eventually,lunch . We were entertained by traditional music .This took the form of an Oompa band and two gentlemen playing the long wooden horns. Their music contrasted with the lively band ,as it was quite mournful…like a trumpet playing the last post.

 

On one set of stairs, a head appeared over the mountain side. It was a climber . He is the black bump one third from the top.

 Can you spot his hat?

Paragliders also use the thermal currents and entertained  us  as they swirled and floated with the Ravens on the currents.

 

You can return to the city by the cog railway or by two cable cars, then a bus. This was our preferred option.

 

 

Well after such an amazing day , I am just a little tired, excuse any errors and so good night  , I’ll be with you tomorrow.

 

 

Breakfast in Flüelen had been a frugal affair of bread and cheese……but fantastic coffee. The owner hovered telling us we should be staying longer and that they were trying to sell the hotel……maybe not what you should be explaining to guests.

Today we woke to the sound of church bells and a beautiful view. Sorry Pauline and John. Breakfast was in the sister hotel,down the lane and across the square. A traditional European breakfast of cereal, breads cheese,meats eggs,etc. John was in trouble for going and asking for more coffee. You sit, wait until I come! Then when I asked, the lovely lady got such a shock, she dropped all the cutlery she had collected. We did get another lovely cup of coffee.
Pauline and I were in trouble in a dress shop yesterday as we dared to get a bigger size off the shelf. The owner nearly smacked our hands in his desire to make sure we knew to look with our eyes and not with our hands. We didn’t buy anything.

Today we took off on rather an unplanned adventure.Following breakfast,we headed to look at the covered bridge near the weir over the river. We wanted to beat those pesky tourists that get in your way by stopping to take photos.

Lucerne has the two oldest wooden covered bridgesin the world.Both were built originally in the 1700’s as part of the city defences. In the roof arches are paintings showing the history of the city….much was gloomy with skeletons, probably the grim reaper, featuring quite frequently.There were battles, family dramas and not too many happy events shown.    They obviously just weren’t interesting enough for the painters.  The bridges had been adjusted in length over the centuries according to the needs of the city and the changing river bank. Paintings from the shortened sections were stored until needed. This proved providential as in 1993, the main bridge caught fire and some of the paintings were damaged or destroyed. 

 The tower in the main bridge has been used as a prison and also the city treasury in past times.

Now we were quite a way from the hotel and we spied the town wall. Would we go back and collect money etc ,or continue on to see the wall, we kept going. The wall was built at the top of a hill with nine towers,including a clock tower.A hill you say, yes a hill. This meant , you guessed it, stairs.

Then to get to the top of the tower…..stairs, but ,as usual ,the view of the city took our breath away, once we stopped puffing.

 

 The red line, in the diagram below, shows where we climbed up and then walked along the wall. Ravens and bees have nested in niches in the wall.There is a privately owned city garden,complete with cows,sheep and llamas,in the land adjoining the towers.

The clock tower is still working and has a counter weight system.

 

   

 

 

We wandered on and found ourselves back at the hotel. Now there was a discussion of a visit to the Swiss Transport Museum. Two of the party were very keen to catch a bus or train and visit it. Two other members of the group heard the call of end of summer sales, …….check us out, you need to visit us…….come……nooooooow….. Pauline and I answered the call and visited the shops. We even found some very jazzy shoes for Pauline…..the husbands had a fantastic time at the Transport Museum, they got to drive the new Ice train on a simulator, see how they are building the tunnel from Milan to Zurich, planes and helicopters.A perfect afternoon for all.

Tomorrow we visit Mt Pilatus….train, funicular and cable car….come and see how we fair on our high rise adventure.

 

Six trains today……we were running late for the Glacier Express but it is a tourist train so it was running even later…..which makes us early.

All the trains took us through the Swiss Alps which, as you expect is amazing scenery so I looked with my eyes and not so much with the camera. We had not been able to get window seats either which means lots of strangers and somewhat strange pictures with reflections so you will have to take my word for the picture postcard scenery. I will give you a taste. Oh did I mention we were up in the clouds for some of the time…..fog/cloudy pictures.

  

  

 Now for a little fun , I took some  quirky photos.

Look at the following photos and see if you can spot :-contented cows, a castle or two, a red train down in the valley, a church on a hill, a stone cottage, a car tunnel, a train tunnel, a train coming out of the fog, sheep behind a pole, a very heavy car, a trumpet,  a shoe shop.

Have fun and I promise to do better on the ferry to Lucerne tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No rain today, haze, cloud but no rain.

Well readers, I hope you appreciate the torture we are experiencing to further your travel knowledge. Our first hurdle was to purchase a travel pass for all the types of transport available in Zurich city. Now the book said you go to a machine on the station ,select day pass and purchase for 8.60 Swiss franks. Mmmmmmm. There are a dizzy array of day tickets. We gave up and went to a ticket person. No worries. Off to the trams. You would be proud, we caught two different trams and arrived at lake to catch the ferry around the lake.   Zurich as a city has grown around the lake and now extends up the slopes on all the sides.

As you can see it is closely populated but unlike the old city, there is open space and plenty of green areas for people to relax and enjoy the beauty of the lake.

Torture you ask, what torture…trams and ferries…we then walked to the Grossmünster. This a church built with two towers that can be seen on this skyline from many parts of city. It has magnificent carved doors, stain glass from both modern and Renaissance artists and winding steps up to the top of the tower. Yes we climbed the 187 steps  so you could experience the view.

  Look at the view two thirds up.

From the top!

 

From here we had to recover with coffee and try a local fast food…the shape of a pastie with unusual fillings. We’re down near the blue carousel on the bottom left photo.

Now where would you expect to see murals from a famous painter..a church, art museum, you would be wrong. You would find them in the police station. In the entrance and adjoining room,the ceiling and walls are covered with brilliant reds,greens,gold. Patterns and flowers are on the ceilings and on the walls are pictures of workers building, an astronomer, Pythagarus and women.

Next a river ferry, and walking along the lake.

  

 

Swimming…..no sorry too cold for us.

Well that’s it for today…enjoy these final pictures as its trains again tomorrow as we head for Flüelen.

  

 

Readers you should be proud of us…and the European train system .

Rothenburg to Steinbach.  Due : 8.06am. We arrived 7.45am✅

Steinbach to Ansbach           Due : 8.29.       We arrived 8.20am✅

Ansbach to Stuttgart.            Due : 10.07.         We arrived 9.07am✅

Bored travellers waiting, waiting, here comes the train!

Stuttgart to Zurich.                Due: 12.29.   We arrive 11.53pm✅

Zurich, Switzerland

Rain,rain go away. We can’t wait and visit another day.

We arrived at the station and found our hotel by walking straight off the end platform and down the street. So easy. Stowed the bags and off we went. As in many European cities, the old city has beautiful buildings,even in the rain.

 

Enjoy these few

. 

 

 

  

If only it was this easy to get there!

And for dinner we had:-

 =

Tomorrow, we are off to the lake and to the Town Hall. See you then.