We needed a lot of stuff from Interlaken as we’re hosting dinner tomorrow night. The weather forecast was dreadful, so we got away early this morning. It was actually very warm down in the valley, and we enjoyed our sandwiches on a bench in the English garden. We were soon back in the village, and now the sky has turned dark and the wind is howling around our roof. The storm has arrived.
It’s a sunny day, yay! All that rain over the last few days fell as snow higher up.
We’re off for a walk along the valley. Here’s the first waterfall, the Mürrenbach.
Val tried a waterfall selfie. It turned out she could get herself in the photo, or the waterfall, but not quite both.
Homemade ice cream at the little hut just before we reach Lauterbrunnen. It’s delicious.
It’s nice to have summer back again.
We checked-out of our hotel in Luzern this morning and enjoyed the scenic train ride back home. This is a village called Lungern on the approach to the Brünig pass.
We were soon unpacked and we’ve settled back in at chalet Iltis. Even the weather seems to be improving.
It’s wet and chilly today, but that doesn’t affect our plan, as we’re off to the transport museum. It’s just a few minutes away by bus. If it’s a man made object and it carries passengers or freight, you’ll find it here. We start with aeroplanes.
A Swissair Convair 990 and Douglas Dakota DC3.
Northrop F5-E Tiger, as flown by the Patrouille Swiss aerobatic team. We see them in Wengen every winter when we have the World Cup ski races.
This is a Mars rover.
And a model of the International Space Station.
Trains are well represented of course. Here’s one that came from the Jungfraubahn, just up the hill from our village.
And naturally there are lots of cars.
It’s a very good day out, and there’s so much to see that we could probably go again tomorrow without getting bored. We even had a nice lunch.
Our Swiss paella was a big success last night. I’ve never seen fillet steak or tuna in a paella before, but all the other traditional ingredients were there.
This morning we were up early. We want to get the first steamer to a place called Alpnachstadt. It’s very pleasant. We enjoyed coffee on board.
Here is our objective. Pilatus is the highest mountain in the Luzern area.
At Alpnachstadt, we board a cogwheel train. This thing is the steepest railway in the world, and the trains climb up impossibly steep slopes in convoys of 2.
At the top we have lunch, and then there’s a bit more climbing to do to get to the very top. It was pretty cold up there.
A cable car takes us back down the other side of the mountain to a place called Fräkmüntegg. Views back to Luzern and the lake.
From Fräkmüntegg we catch a gondola down to a suburb of Luzern called Kriens, and then it’s back to the city centre by bus.
We were very lucky with the weather – the forecast was poor and it started to rain not long after we got back. A great day out.
Or Lucerne, depending on your nationality. We had a short break here last summer and really enjoyed it, so we thought we’d come again.
We have a view of the famous bridge from our balcony.
The old town hall has been turned into a brewery. Nice views, and nice beer.
I’ve booked a table at a Spanish restaurant later, so it’ll be interesting to see what a Swiss paella is like.
It’s August the first, and that means it’s Switzerland’s 730th birthday. Traditionally we go out for a curry on the first, and this year was no exception.
All sorts of traditional events in the village, here are the bell ringers.
Band playing, trying to keep out of the rain.
But most of all these days, it’s about fireworks. Wengen had a particularly good display this year, and it was all set to music.
As always, a great day, despite the rain.
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