Switzerland 10 - Lucerne II

Today we wanted an easy day, so we chose a boat ride and an easy hike. Short, flat, easy. We woke around 7, as always, to a cloudy day and a beautiful sunrise. I headed down to the river to grab a few pics of the bridges and the lake which are now devoid of tourists, and headed back to the room so we could finalize our plans. Adam and Dani went out for a run, we entertained the baby, and when they got back we headed out to the boat. We caught a ferry across the lake, and sat out on the back deck so we could watch Lucerne recede behind us. Much like mountains, adding a lake turns a good landscape view into a great landscape.

When we arrived at Bürgenstock the cable-car was waiting for us! We walked off the boat, across the landing, and right into the cable-car, using the combination ticket we booked (the Swiss travel app is amazing).  The cable car left moments later, and we were whisked up the mountain while we watched our boat set off back across the lake on the return-run. 

At the top* of the mountain we found ourselves in a snazzy resort. A $700chf a night, $100 a plate, golf courses and private spa type of place. So we set out to hike their snazzy trail! The trail was called Felsenweg, which means cliff-way.  My dad didn't translate that for my mother until we were well out it.  It was indeed cliffy, with great views out over the lake back to Lucerne, looking past the tips of trees that were growing just a few meters (horizontally) from us, but already so far down the mountain they struggled to reach our elevation.  Contrary to what we were promised by the tour books, it was not a flat trail. Maybe flat by swiss standards, but we headed steadily uphill for over an hour. Luckily, the trail made up for it, skirting along cliffs, passing through several tunnels blasted through the mountain, and leading to an ancient elevator near it's peak. The elevator was built as a response to the Eiffel tower, and while it was cool, we felt no need to pay the fees to reach the actual summit a few hundred meters above us. 

With the last tunnel, we passed through to the other side of the mountain. Now, finally, it was all down-hill - thankfully at a slow enough grade it didn't burn like some of our previous trails. We wound through the forests into farm country, passed several Moos and pricey hotels, and when we got to the bottom I took over Sage Transport.  I thought I had timed it for flat terrain... but I had not. Immediately I had to stop to shed my jacket, and then I cinched her down for the long burn. 30+ pounds of squirmy baby is definitely an intense workout, and I'm not sure how my Brother managed an entire mountain (except that he's had 19 months of training, working up from 7 pounds). But a slow incline and a steep shortcut down the mountain later, we casually strolled back into the resort, just as the rain began to sprinkle. I passed off the baby at the bottom of the final staircase, and we perused the giftshop waiting for our funicular back down. 

On the funicular, we saw an animal! Adam claimed it was a Martin, despite not knowing exactly what a martin was. I called it a stoat. Other opinions were fox, groundhog, or a meow.  The boat met us at the base of the funicular (gotta love Swiss scheduling), and our ride back across the lake in the rain was indoors, and uneventful. Some incredible estates around though... boathouses, private 18th century chapels, just boggling.

Who's that P̶o̶k̶e̶m̶o̶n̶  Wildlife!

It continued to drizzle on our way back, where we all split off to various bakeries, cafeterias, or grocery stores for lunch, and then regrouped at the apartment for naptime. After naptime, the rain had stopped, and my mom really wanted to show me the lion monument, so the three of us set off across the city for the final time. A memorial to the mercenaries who died when the French stormed the palace, Mark Twain called it "the most mournful piece of stone in the world" and I agree thoroughly. Great work, this giant stone lion sits above an old quarry, a kingly 30 feet long and a mournful 20 feet tall.  This was one of the other peak tourist attractions (along with our Felsenweg) of the late 1800's, so it incubated tourist-traps around it, which have persevered to the present. 

One of these tourist traps is the Bourbaki Panorama, painted in 1876 and showing 80,000 French troops surrendering to the neutral Swiss after Napoleon lost to the Germans. Surrounded, outnumbered, and fearing to surrender to the Germans, the French escaped to the Swiss border to claim refugee status. It's a cool painting, with lots of foreground props seamlessly blended into the background 360 painting, and would have been mind-boggling in the 19th century. Was it worth $12? My mom didn't think so, but she'd already seen it, so she bailed. However, my dad loves it to a slightly-irrational degree, and it was worth $12 to share his wonder.

Recrossing the city for the penultimate time, we rallied at the apartment, where Sage had a new toy! She got a little wooden cow, with an adorable little bell on it, that she SLAMS. AGAINST. THE. FLOOR.  It's incredibly cute to watch her smile and give it kisses, but we're gonna have to make sure she doesn't "walk" her cow this evening.

Dinner was at an Italian place around the corner. Pasta, clams, and another new white-wine (Cortese, and it was great! Dry whites are my favorite, and a regional specialty here). It was good, but extremely filling, especially after a late lunch. Over dinner we discussed our day (it turns out it was a Pine Martin!), and our favorite parts of the trip. The Via Ferrata received high marks, though my dad would never do it again, and Mürren scored very well overall. Of course, the best part was doing it all with family, so we decided we're doing it again! Except next time will be Scotland, and our other brother will be joining us with his family. Luckily, that's next year, so I have to recover.....