Lucerne, Switzerland.

I am happy to say that we have been really fortunate to have come across such wonderful, friendly, and helpful people. I am sad to say that it was on this train from Buchloe to Lucerne that we encountered our first truly nasty individual. We decided to leave on this particular train at the last minute, so we couldn’t buy a reservation. No worries according to the station worker, “there will be plenty of seats.” HA!

It was Sunday, the last day of Oktoberfest, so everyone who had come up for the festival and had to work the next day were traveling home on Sunday. There was not a single seat available. Since we’re not spring chickens, we don’t qualify for the youth (under 26) rail pass. We had to purchase the adult rail pass, which only comes in first class. So, we actually didn’t even walk to 2nd, and this is why… While we walked through 1st and saw the seats full, there were 6 seats at the end of the car that were empty. Because the seats were empty, the space above for luggage was also empty. Since our bags are so big and heavy, we have to take whatever space is available to us. We stowed our bags and there happened to be an attendant that works in the restaurant car that walking down the aisle with his coffee cart. He told us that the seats were reserved for the conductors. BUT, he told us to go ahead and have a seat until they arrive, and then we can nicely ask them if it would be possible if they could spare two of their 6 seats for us. I should add that there are only 2 of them, so why they need 6 seats is beyond me. So, we plopped ourselves down, ate our Chinese food and waited. Our comfort lasted for just over an hour, and up comes this red-faced, middle aged, portly man already yelling at us halfway down the car. We told him we understood this section was reserved, and we only sat there because we were told we could until he arrived. Blah blah blah. The guy was an absolute _______! Feel free to fill in the blank with whatever comes to mind. Needless to say, we had to move. We walked through about 2 or 3 cars, and there were no seats whatsoever, so we went back to be closer to our stuff and had to sit/stand by the toilets for the next hour or so watching this jerk sit with his 5 empty seats around him. Thankfully, they added two more cars when we arrive in Switzerland, so we grabbed some seats right away, and had a pleasant trip the rest of the way.

So, I have to say the best thing about Norway is that it was so ridiculously expensive, that everything else pales in comparison. So, had we arrived in Switzerland straight from the US, we probably would have been knocked over by the prices, but thanks to Norway…no surprises here. It was expensive, but we now know how to survive these places- i.e. McDonalds and/or Burger King. Did you know that McDonalds has some pretty tasty salads, while Burger King, has much tastier chicken options? 🙂

Our hotel.

Our hotel was very cute and in a great location, and the best part about it, free breakfast. Now most hotels in Europe offer free breakfast, but most do not encourage you to make a sandwich for later! The breakfast was good, with lots of fresh fruit and swiss hot chocolate every morning! Yippee!

After breakfast on our first morning, we set out with our sandwiches to hike Mt. Rigi. We had to take a bus to a train to get to the base of the mountain. Our plan was to take the cable car to the top and then walk around. We had a map from the hotel that showed all the different trails, the distances, etc. No problem, right? Hmph…

Alphorns … right before hiking to see the Swiss Alps

As we made our way from the train to the cable car we came across three men dressed alike playing Swiss Alphorns. It sounded really cool, and was such a treat. We walked on to the cable car, and when we arrived saw that it was closed for lunch. No problem, except that their lunch break had just started and lasted for 2 hours. What!?! So, we decided to hike up the mountain instead of waiting for

On our way to RIGI

the car. After all, I had a map. Well, to make a long story short, we couldn’t find the trail that went up the mountain. Now that we’ve actually hiked up, it seems pretty obvious to me that not many people do this. We asked several people, no one knew about this trail. A woman at a hotel looked it up online, and tried to tell us, but it seemed hopeless. The entrance was somewhere along the road

The Rigi is a mountain and massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland

from the cable car to a roundabout (about a 1 kilometer distance), and we walked back and forth several times, with no luck. We finally made it back to the cable car, and even though they should have opened by then, there was not a soul in sight. Javier pointed out some signs that he thought could be the trail, but they were not on my handy dandy map, so they couldn’t possibly be right, right? Well, out of sheer irritation and desperation I conceded to abandoning my map and following the signs, and lo and behold, there was the trail. Looking back, I think I did see a sign on the street we treaded over time and again that said “Wanderweg.” This place “Wanderweg” came up several times while we were walking, as did the name of our destination, Küssnacht. We chose to ignore the signs for Wanderweg and stick with our town signs. We noticed that the signs we not all that clear, and not very often. We kept seeing wanderweg, and kept repeating that we sure hope wanderweg is on the way to Küssnacht because we’re going in that direction! IF YOU ARE EVER HIKING IN A GERMAN SPEAKING COUNTRY AND YOU SEE WANDERWEG, FOLLOW IT! IT MEANS TRAIL!!! Unbelievable! About 4 hours into our hike, we were crossing over to the next town I finally decided to try and translate “Wanderweg.”

I think it’s fair to say that we had a rough start to our hike. We looked for the trail for almost two hours, and were close to giving up several times, but for some reason we didn’t. About 45 minutes into our hike, Javier wanted to take a picture. I was squinting because of the sun, so he told me to put on my sunglasses. When I reached for the glasses, they weren’t there. I checked all of my pockets…they were gone. We had been several places by now, cable car place, hotels, bathrooms, they could be anywhere, and I had no idea when I had them last. I was so frustrated I wanted to cry. I told Javier that this was the type of day where I just want to go home, pull the covers over my head, and start over tomorrow. We started walking back to check all of the above mentioned places, when about 5 minutes into our return, Javier found my sunglasses. He found my brown sunglass on a leaf covered dirt trail. Let me repeat…brown sunglasses, brown dirt, brown leaves, and he found them. It was such a boost. We had only backtracked a few minutes, so without any discussion, we hugged, turned around and continued hiking. I don’t know about Javier, but I was thinking…what else is going to go wrong?

Rigi Mountain: The “Queen of the Mountains”

The hike was by far the most gorgeous yet. It was a steep uphill. We walked past several pastures of grazing cows all with jingling bells around their necks, abandoned and dilapidated farm houses, and old weathered restaurants closed for the season. On the way up, we realized that we were the only one’s hiking this trail, and the signs were so few and far between, it would have been very easy to accidentally

Practice driving in viagra france pharmacy all types of weather, drive in the dark, in the city and County of San Francisco. Other things that help contribute to this condition that can not be controlled, such as age and levitra 20mg canada gender, but there are many things that someone can do to lower and control blood pressure. There are actually some studies showing that walking briskly may perhaps support when you have cialis in australia prostate cancer. These herbal pills are canadian discount cialis free from additives, preservatives and chemicals.

Let’s continue… ” it doesn’t look that far”

diverge from the trail. Once at the top, we decided to transverse the mountain to another town. We noticed that, once again, we were alone in our journey. There were other’s on the trail, but they were doing the hike in reverse, and after an hour or so, we realized why. The town we were hiking to was significantly higher than where we started. Everyone, except for us, was enjoying the same views…well, almost the same, by walking

Above the Clouds!!!

downhill. We were the only suckers going uphill. After what felt like an eternity, we arrived to our destination. The views were breathtaking. We were above the clouds, and we could see the peaks of the alps poking up through a blanket of clouds. We stayed there and ate our sandwiches and watched the clouds cover and dissipate over the terrain below. Absolutely gorgeous. Javier and I have decided that this

Breathtaking

moment was made extra special by the obstacles that we faced and overcame leading up to this point. There were several times, I wanted to turn back, and we almost did a couple of times. Plus, we did the hike backwards, which meant that it was even more physically taxing than it should have been. All of this was worth it when we sat on the little bench and took in the changing view. We felt on top of

Rigi Mountain: The “Queen of the Mountains”

the world- renewed and refreshed. It was one of those magic moments where we were so grateful and thankful for all the blessings in our lives. We didn’t want to leave that place, but since we had arrived much later than expected, it was getting dark, and our sweaty shirts were getting cold. 🙂

We took the cable car to the base of the mountain and retuned to our hotel the way we arrived. That night, we grabbed a quick bite for dinner and walked around so Javier could take his night pictures.

Kapellbrücke, Lucerne. (Chapel Bridge)

The next morning, after another delicious cup of hot chocolate, we did a self guided walking tour. We walked through the Chapel Bridge, which is the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe with pictures painted on the interior, and walked the streets of the old town. We walked to the Lion Monument, which is a magnificent sculpture of a dying lion carved into the cliff face. The sculpture is to

The Lion Monument, Lucerne

commemorate the swiss guards that were killed in Paris during the French Revolution. The lion rests in the wall, is reflected in the pond below, and is tucked away amongst the trees and flowers. It is a very beautiful sculpture, and a very peaceful and tranquil setting in the otherwise busy city.

We enjoyed Lucerne, and our adventures there even more. The hike will be remembered as one of the most beautiful and rewarding yet. We would have enjoyed more time there to experience some of the other hiking, but the honest truth is…we just couldn’t afford it. 🙂

To see more pictures of Lucerne, click HERE.

We captured a moment that we will never forget. Mount Rigi: