We had our first visitors come to Zurich last week. Our dear friends Vanessa & Andrew are on their six week tour through Europe and they decided to put Zurich on the itinerary (along with London, Paris, Rome, Monaco, and others. Have I mentioned how jealous I am??). They arrived by plane from Prague and spent the next six days with us. It was nice to show them around our town, the lake, and the city. We even got a babysitter and had a nice evening out on the town.
But the biggest thing we did during their visit was Pilatus. And I mean we DID it. Pilatus is not one of the tallest mountains in Switzerland, but it certainly can be counted as one of the most scenic. Pilatus is in Luzern, about an hour from us. We took the boys out of school on Friday and Tobi took the day off and we all drove to Luzern to begin our journey.
The beginning of our journey, on the gondola
Besties in the Alps . . . before the Cable Car (notice the unknowing smiles)
We decided to do what is called the Golden Round Trip. The Golden Round Trip begins with parking your car near the gondola and taking it up (about a 30 minute ride) to the top of one peak, then taking the cable car to the top of the mountain. This is where it got a little dicey. I did not realize (truly, I didn't) that two of my best friends in the world have a leeeeetle fear of heights. Vanessa wasn't sure she was going to be able to get on the cable car without a glass of wine, but she put her brave face on in front of the kids and we all got aboard, along with 16 other brave souls and took the five minute (really, it was only five minutes of terror!) ride to the top of the mountain.
The cable we just rode up to the top on. Yeah.
Once we got to the top and started breathing again (I confess to a little bout of shaky legs myself!), we sat at picnic tables at the top and ate the lunch we packed. Why didn't we bring a bottle of wine in that cooler, V?? After lunch everyone felt much better and we were able to listen to the alphorn player at the summit. Vanessa, Andrew, and I decided we'd gone high enough but Tobi took the kids up to the tippy top. After we took pictures and had our fill, we climbed aboard the world's steepest cogwheel train back down the other side of the mountain. It was a beautiful ride and we could see lots of people hiking. Lake Luzern was a glorious sight to behold as we made our journey downward.
The Laczkowskis on Pilatus!
Climb every mountain!
I loved the tiny white church on top of one of the mountains. So pretty.
Lake Luzern from the top of Pilatus.
The boys and their Fairy Godmother.
Caroline & Andrew became the best of buddies.
The view from the cogwheel train.
Tobi, Vanessa, & Charlie enjoyed the train ride.
After conquering Pilatus, the ninety minute ferry boat ride on Lake Luzern was a breeze. There were beers for the adults (well deserved!) and ice cream for the kids and everyone enjoyed some lazy time in the sun. The ferry made stops around the lake, with the last stop being Luzern itself. Then we had to take yet another form of transport, a city bus, back to the gondola to get our car. Whew!
Relaxing on the ferry.
View of Pilatus from Lake Luzern.
In addition to seeing Pilatus, Andrew & Tobi mountain biked in the hills around Zurich. They also tried out Tobi's new kayaks on Lake Zurich. Vanessa and I hung out with the kids at the beach. We grilled a few times at our place and we took them out for fondue for a very Swiss dinner. We played tour guide around the city of Zurich and I dropped them at the train on Tuesday so they could head to Munich for Oktoberfest.
Tobi & Andrew kayaking on Lake Zurich.
Caroline & Vanessa playing at the beach.
We had a great time with our visitors and can't wait to do it again!
OK, who's next?
Cheers!
Tiffany
P.S.
Some of the pictures above are ones Andrew took - he's a photography enthusiast and has taken really beautiful shots of their trip. Click on the pictures to really appreciate them.
Thanks for including us in your blog Tiffany. Just for the sake of accuracy, there were 25 other brave souls on that cable car. I was right next to the door (the one that opens to let people fall out to their deaths) and the driver and I clearly saw him write "32" in the column for "passengers". I'm just assuming the 32 included him....
ReplyDeleteAlso, for the record, it was scary to be on the ledges and in the cable car because of our fear of heights. But we'd do it again in a heartbeat - we enjoyed ourselves despite the fear.
Andrew :)