Leaving Spain for the second time, we jumped back on Swiss Air en route to Zurich. It was a quick and pleasant flight and Kate continued to devour an old copy of Jane Eyre that Soph had given her to read the day before. Our flight arrived on time and we jumped straight on a train to Luzern, marveling at how comfortable their preferred method of transport was, but understandably given the price for foreigners! Ouch – we bought a return ticket to help us with the costs. We couldn’t believe how beautiful the country side was as soon as we shot out of the main train station. The houses were all so typically…. Swiss… or at least what we had envisaged as being Swiss. The hills were green and the first lake we came upon, Lake Zurich, stretched out for what seemed like miles, with large, elongated and modern houses speckled along its borders. What I’d heard about Switzerland from friends who had been here before was absolutely accurate– it was green, quaint and peaceful, and all of this pondered from behind the thick glass of a spotless train, and less than twenty minutes out of the economic hub that is Zurich. We sailed into Luzern at around 3pm, and had three hours until Pascal, a friend who had studied at the law school on exchange in 2007, was to meet us. We trundled our gear down to a lake side restaurant, ordered bratwurst and a potato dish and a couple of glasses of wine, and relaxed, reading and taking photos of the water scene that faced us. The beauty of Lake Luzern is indescribable – that afternoon we marveled at just how green the hills surrounding Luzern were, and the beauty of the churches, hotels, restaurants and walk ways that bordered the lake. We sat by the main fountain of the concert hall reading and funnily enough, taking more photographs until 6pm when Pasci walked out of the train station. It was so good to see him! We went to a local brewery for a couple of jugs of Swiss beer, and partook in some traditional Swiss food, before taking Pasci’s bike and walking home amidst the thunderstorm that brewed over our heads. We stayed at Anina’s house, another friend from UTas who had studied for one year on exchange from Luzern in 2008. We fell asleep quickly, and spent the following day wandering around the beautiful city and lakeside parks that are spotted all over Luzern.
One of the best days of our trip so far began with Pasci picking us up in his parent’s car, and driving us out of the local area of Luzern to the base of some of the most drastic and stunning mountains we have seen on our travels. We had decided that instead of taking the ferry out to the base of Pelarus, and then a cable car to the top (the most famous of the peaks in Luzern, and also the most touristy route), we would head to Rigi, another mountain that is serviced by the oldest mountain railway in Europe. The gorgeous little steam trains first began service up Rigi in 1817, and after parking the car, we boarded one of the carriages and delighted in the views that presented snow, sunshine, green hills and drastic lake views. The photographs do not do justice to what we had seen, but we still couldn’t help ourselves in snapping the small houses perched on the side of the hill by the railway line, the snow capped mountains in the distance and the views of the lake from every possible angle. We alighted before the top and strapped on our day packs in the 35+ degree heat, ready for a morning of walking to the top in the sunshine. The walk was fairly easy at first, and we ambled through forests, with the traditional cow bells signaling where the great beasts were feeding. The forests gradually died away and the areas became more sparse, and we climbed higher more quickly now. There were a number of bonfires set and ready for the national day that was to take place on August 1st, the day after we were due to leave. We stopped at a little kiosk on the way up to drink what I like to refer to as a ‘bottom crack’ beverage – or so it goes in the direct translation in Swiss German. A secret recipe of the owners, the coffee with schnapps is traditionally a winter drink, but we were interested to try such a bizarrely named beverage. Not to bad I must say. After chatting to the locals, we made our final ascent, and on reaching the top were delighted to find hang gliders hearing up, cows and goats wandering over the moorland, and a lovely restaurant, hanging drastically over the side of the mountain, but well equipped with Swiss beer to entertain us. We made our way down after admiring both Lake Luzern and Lake Zug from the top, and took even more photos from the quaint little carriages of the mountain railway. Pasci’s parents, Edith and Silvio met us at the bottom and Edith joined Pasci in the car while Silvio took us out on the lake in the family boat. A gorgeous little motor boat, we admired the huge hotels, Rigi and other mountains, and the 50m square Swiss flag that had been hung from the side of the mountain range from the edge of our cruiser. We stopped in the middle of the lake for a quick dip, and were amazed at how clean the water was. So clean in fact, that apparently fishermen are getting a little irritated because the fish don’t grow past a certain length and weight – there’s just not enough gunk for them to nibble on. Somehow this made me feel a lot better about ordering fresh water fish varieties on Swiss menus! The day couldn’t have ended better with Pasci treating us to a ticket each to see ‘The Reader’ in English at the Open Air Cinema that graces the lakeside every summer for a couple of months. It was warm, Kate had plenty of tissues (for those who haven’t yet seen the movie, please remember to take these!!) and the movie was quite extraordinary, and the list of movies to come later that month made me wish (among other things) that we were staying longer.
The following day was spent relaxing in Luzern, again our time focused on the lake that seems to be the heart of this beautiful European city. We both agreed, this is probably the most beautiful city we’ve been to anywhere in the world…. the lovely Luzern.
We trained out to Zurich early on the 31st, and were on the plane to Kenya by 9.30am. We were nervous, excited, nauseous, and impatient to get there all at the same time. The next chapter was certainly beginning and we eagerly awaited the face of Duncan, one of the regional members of the GAPS team in Kenya, holding our names up on a sign as we passed through those gates…
