switzerland – Two Black Dogs

Wishful thinking

January 18, 2015Two Black Dogs12 Comments

Another hot and humid day is looming, summer is definitely making her presence felt after several years of wet summers and lower temperatures. In an effort to cool down I am thinking of colder climates and wishing I could click my heels and transport myself and the doggies to the beautiful Lucerne in Switzerland. We were in Lucerne prior to Easter in 2011, the days were lovely and mild allowing us to fully enjoy all the delights that the old town had to offer.

Market day

Cast iron door stops, too heavy to pack in my suitcase

Easter decorations and wares on display

Easy to see the Italian influence with the cold meats at the local markets

DIY Hot chocolate

I love the local architecture

View from Mt Pilatus

Cold but happy on Mt Pilatus

Cable car ride down the mountain

Flowers coming to life, halfway point between Kriens and Mt Pilatus

Lucerne and Mt Pilatus

July 15, 2011October 17, 2011Two Black DogsLeave a comment

I want to share a few of my photos taken during our short stay in Lucerne, Switzerland during Spring 2011. All of my photographs can be found on my smugmug gallery but not everyone can be bothered looking through hundreds of images.

One of the most photographed sites in Lucerne (or Luzern) and possibly Switzerland, is the old wooden Chapel Bridge, a covered wooden footbridge across the Reuss River.

Chapel Bridge, Lucerne — Chapel Bridge with Mt Pilatus in background, Lucerne

The markets are a real treat to see on a sunny day, the river is lined with market stalls and at Easter time there are many stalls selling gifts and decorations to celebrate the upcoming event.

In addition to wandering around Lucerne’s old town, we took a trip up to Mt Pilatus via the bus and cable car, the views are spectacular on a clear day or so I am told, it was cloudy most of the time with temperatures of minus 3 and 4 degrees Celsius.

Every now and then the sun would come out, blue skies would appear and the temperature would rise making our day on the mountain even more spectacular.

At night the city was just as beautiful, the streets were crowded with people looking for somewhere to eat and tourists with cameras took prime position on the bridges to capture the reflection of the lights on the river and lake.

Lucerne, Switzerland

May 2, 2011March 29, 2013Two Black Dogs1 Comment

The sun decided to shine on us in Switzerland, beautiful warm days and not a rain cloud in sight. Mt Pilatus had a few hanging around which had me thinking that I would again find myself on top of the mountain and not able to see anything but fog or cloud. Switzerland is expensive, they don’t have the euro either so you have to be happy with getting Swiss Francs back for change or use plastic, we used a combination of both for the few days we were there and managed to leave with only a couple of francs in change.

Supermarket shopping in Lucerne was our best option for cheap, healthy meals and for picking up a couple of bottles of wine and beer. For a couple of days we dined on salad, sausage, cheese and chocolate plus some yummy bagel crisps and crackers. Our biggest dining splurge was had here and not because it was fabulous ala carte food, it was because we had 3 courses and a few glasses of wine which came to a total of 120 euro, still it was an enjoyable meal and the wine was very nice.

From the ground Mt Pilatus looked reasonably clear of cloud when we decided to make the journey, it was about 140 euro for the tickets to the top and that covered all of our transport by bus and cable car, the scenic railway was inoperable due to heavy snow. The trip takes over an hour in each direction and you can definitely feel the temperature drop as you get higher and the attendant tells us that it is about minus 3 degrees celsius. Travel to the halfway point, about 1000m up is in a small four person cable car, there aren’t many people travelling up to the summit today perhaps that is because of the weather or it could be because it is early spring. At the halfway point there is a good view of the mountains and there is also a playground for families and barbecue area, we wait for the larger cable car to provide transport for the rest of the journey, about half a dozen people hop in with us and a big slab of concrete pipe. As we near our final destination there is cloud and more cloud, the attendant identifies us as Australians and chats to us about his recent travels in Australia, the cloud is supposed to clear he says, sadly that didn’t happen. The facilities on Mt Pilatus are undergoing reconstruction of a terrace area and new facilities, you have to dodge workers, cables and building materials to get outside, we’re amazed because you wouldn’t see that in Australia thanks to workplace health and safety regulations. We spend a couple of hours on the mountain, most of it indoors drinking coffee and eating fries as we wait for the cloud to disappear, every now and then we get a glimpse of sunlight and the mountains that connect to Pilatus providing several photo opportunities and a break from the cold. Regardless of the weather and construction work it was still a great way to spend our time in Switzerland and make use of our winter thermals which could easily be discarded now that the temperature has risen.

Lucerne-0260

Our time in Lucerne (or Luzern in Europe) is quite relaxing, a bit of shopping, sightseeing and eating and taking much pleasure in the scenic surroundings. The Saturday morning markets were a fabulous way to spend a morning, lots of cheese and cold meats to taste and the flowers, art and crafts for sale provided colourful eye candy for browsers. The market stalls lined both sides of the river that linked to Lake Lucerne, locals and tourists mingled and the tables at cafes running parallel to the site were almost always full and a good vantage point for people watching. Being in Switzerland I thought that a hot chocolate would be a delicious alternative to coffee, huge disappointment when they bought out a cup of hot milk and sachet of chocolate powder for me to DIY the hot chocolate, this I can get at home and for alot less than 4 euro!

Lucerne and Switzerland in general is famous for being an expensive place to visit, I’m curious to know how high the cost of living is because it really is a lovely part of the world and the easy access to other European countries is enviable. Our three nights in Lucerne were just enough to get a taste of the country and have a little down time, our budget couldn’t really afford to stay longer but it would have been nice.