Swiss Alps

What a great day!  We woke at the Basel Pullman Hotel around 6 am and went to the complementary hotel breakfast at 7 am.  There were scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage links, fresh fruit, cheeses, breads, cereals, smoked salmon and meats and much more.  We all especially enjoyed the orange juice that was squeezed as we were being seated.  After breakfast we took the streetcar to the train station where we purchased tickets for Mount Pilatus near Lucerne in the Swiss Alps.  The route we preferred was recommended by our concierge, Jean, and called the Golden Round Trip which took the train from Basel to Lucerne then a boat from Lucerne where we caught a cog rail incline train (Funicular rail) up to the town of Alpnachstad that would take us up on Mt. Pilatus.  We would take a gondola car down the mountain to Kriens then a train to Lucerne where we would change trains for our return trip to Basel.  It turned out that our chosen trip was currently on sale for a 20% discount which pleased us all.  In addition, our tickets included a $10 voucher for food at the top of the mountain for each of us.

On the ferry from Lucerne to Mount Pilotus

Our 9:04 train left the station precisely on time and we had a pleasant ride for about an hour from Basel to Lucerne.  Since the train station was at the edge of Lake Lucerne we had a short walk to the boat that would carry us to Alpnachstad.  There was a covered area on the boat but everyone was enjoying the day out in the breeze.  Ian saw a number of water birds including gulls, mute swans, grebes and a few others.  The boat stopped at a number of small villages along the way and let a few people off and on at each stop.  Most people disembarked at Alpnachstad.  

Funicular railway up Mount Piliotus

We picked up the passes for the mountain quickly and caught the cog railway incline up the mountain.  We learned that this is the world’s steepest rail line and includes grades up to 48%.  The ride was very nice and passed through for beautiful scenery.  

Contented Swiss cow on Mounty Pilotus

Everyone enjoyed seeing the Swiss cows grazing in the Alpine meadows with the large melodious bells around their necks.  We arrived at the end of the line at the top of the mountain around 12:30 and walked around the visitor center there.  

Alpenhorn players on Mount Pilotus

We saw Alpenhorn players and a small band playing traditional Swiss music.  A number of visitors danced in the visitor center including a fun loving nun.  There was also a great deal of yodeling involved.  We attempted at have lunch at the restaurant but it was quite busy so we went to a sandwich stand were we had some local beers and very good cold sandwiches.  After lunch we walked out the “Flower Trail” that had excellent signage marking the many Alpine wildflowers along the trail.  The trail was quite narrow and had a very steep drop off into the valley below.  

Steinbock on Mount Pilotus

As we walked along the trail a small group of 4-5 Alpine Ibex (Steinbock) were spotted by Emily & Ian.  We hadn’t watched them long when the fog rolled in and we were no longer able to see them although we could hear their high pitched bleat.  Mary, Emily & Ian decided to take a break from the walk while decided to continue along the rocky path to the top of Tomlishorn and visited a geocache near the peak.  I chatted with several nice visitors along the way including a family from DC, a couple from Texas and two sisters who grew up in Lucerne and one sister who now lives in Australia.  As I started back toward the visitor center, I ran into Ian who pointed out a group of 20-30 Steinbock grazing within a few feet of the trail.  There were animals of all sizes including several playful wooly babies.  We were entertained by them for some time before we started back toward the visitor center were Mary & Emily were waiting. 

Gondola car coming down Mounty Pilotus

We took the short Dragon Trail through the mountain that has a great deal of folklore associated with it.  At one time residents of the area believed that the caves held fierce dragons.  Other stories held that Pontius Pilate lived in the mountain.  That story gave Mt. Pilatus its name.  The caves have many windows that open into the side of the mountain that overlook steep valleys.  After a quick stop at the gift shop at the visitor center we caught the gondola down the mountain.  The first gondola was a very large car that held about 50 of us crowded into a small space with only a very small area to stand.  Fortunately, the ride only took about three minutes until we arrived at the lower platform where we caught a gondola car with only four seats that took us the rest of the way down the mountain to the small town of Kriens where we took a bus to the Lucerne train station and had only a 3 minute wait before our train left for Basel. 

A nun having fun dancing with musicians on Mount Pilotus.

We got to the Basel train station around 7 pm and the streetcar back to our hotel arrived a few minutes after we left the train station.  As we crossed the Rhine River we saw even more people floating down the river than we saw yesterday.  Although the Rhine is a large navigable river, there are a surprising number of people who get in the river and float along with the swift current.  We got off the streetcar a couple of stops before our hotel to have dinner at the same restaurant as yesterday, Kaffi Sandwich.  I was still full from the lunch of the mountain but was very thirsty.  Like throughout Germany, beer is less expensive than water so Ian and I enjoyed a .3 liter glass of a local lager.  Everyone reported that their sandwiches and salads were very good. 

We walked the short distance from the restaurant to the hotel and crashed in the room.  We didn’t want to go to sleep too early so we could sleep throughout the night so we watched the BBC, the only English language station we have on the television.  Our room is very nice but the air condition is not very strong and we felt that the air was stuffy.  We really liked the remote light and other electrical controls.  When we enter the room we must put a room key in a slot to activate the electricity in the room.  It took us a while to get used to it but the system appears to work well.  Tomorrow, we will walk around Basel in the morning but need to return to the Pullman Hotel by 11:30 to checkout and have our bags picked to be placed in the Viking River Cruise ship.  We understand that we will have much of the afternoon on our own in Basel before the ship leaves.