Despite the gloomy weather predicted, today turned into a beautiful day - the perfect weather to visit the nearby Mount Pilatus as we boarded the local city bus to ride into Luzern central.
There we boarded a lake cruiser for a 1 hour 15 minute cruise across the Vierwaldstattersee (Lake of the Four Forest Cantons) to the foot of Mount Pilatus, enjoying incredible views all around.
There we boarded a lake cruiser for a 1 hour 15 minute cruise across the Vierwaldstattersee (Lake of the Four Forest Cantons) to the foot of Mount Pilatus, enjoying incredible views all around.
Our next mode of transport was a cog railway, the steepest in the world in fact, with gradients of over 40%. That took us slowly up the mountain, taking 30 minutes for the full ascent to the very peak.
At the top there was still snow remaining from the Spring & unfortunately some footpaths were closed because of this, but there were enough paths open for us to circle the top of the mountain with great views around & occasional clouds drifting in so at time we were completely shrouded with mist!
After time for walking, enjoying the views, & even to eat at the peak, we began our descent - riding in a large cable car from the highest point of the mountain down to the first 'stop'. There most of the students (& some of the parents/chaperones!) rode the 'summer toboggan', a high speed sled on a steel track that careers own the mountain!
A final cable car ride, in 4-sater gondolas, took us to the bottom of the mountain from where we rode the city bus back into the city center.
After some final shopping/sightseeing time in Luzern & time to change at the hotel, we enjoyed an evening of dining, music & entertainment at the Stadtkeller - the 'City Cellar' dinner show.
There were plenty of opportunities for the group to participate, from blowing the alpenhorn to dancing, yodelling, petting a cow (!) & finally a farwell conga line. Lots of fun & a great way to end our time in Switzerland.
No comments:
Post a Comment