Was it the real Swiss Miss?

We arrived in Lucern, Swizerland with visions in our heads of a small village high in the Alps with mountains looming in all directions. It turned out to be fairly close to what we imagined, but just on a much larger and more modern scale.

After settling in at the appropriately named Tourist Hotel, we explored town, found some food and ate a picnic lunch along Lake Lucern. It was a great day and surprisingly warm for the end of October in Switzerland. In the afternoon, we spent a good amount of time walking along the lake admiring the crystal clear waters and Swiss Alps in the distance. Later, we walked atop the old city walls and climbed up into several of the watchtowers. The views were amazing looking down on Lucern and the mountains looming in the distance. We climbed up the final watchtower just in time to see the sunset. We snapped a few photos and then went searching for food.

Our goal for day two was to get a little closer to the mountains. Some of the tourist pamphlets we had picked up were advertising trips to several of the nearby mountains, but they were all absurdly expensive. We were in a bit of disbelief that it could be that expensive for a trip to the mountains, and thought maybe it was a conspiracy against us tourists. As it turns out, the mountains really were that expensive – unfortunately. Trying to outsmart the system, we rode the city bus just outside of Lucern to the base of Mt. Pilatus. From there, we were hoping to catch the tram to the top just as we did in Austria. At the tram station, we found the price for a round trip ride was more expensive than a lift ticket at Vail. We decided it was best to take the more traditional route up the mountain - on foot. Our destination was to the first tram stop. It was about a three hour round tripper that gained nearly 2,000 vertical feet in elevation – no easy task for our out of shape legs and lungs. The trail took us through forests and cow and sheep pastures while listening to the chorus of cowbells (and sheepbells). At the end of our hike there was a large picnic area and playground where families were cooking lunches over campfire and playing around (they rode the tram). We made a couple peanut butter sandwiches, slide down the Alp-sized slide and then headed back down the hill. Though we didn’t make it to the top of Mt Pilatus, it turned out to be a nice hike and a fun day in the Alps.

Our legs had taken a beating and we were pretty eager to relax for the evening. For dinner, we decided to try a meal of hash browns and cream sauce, a local specialty we had read about. Our plates were huge, and our hungry hiker stomachs were pretty happy.

The Tourist Hotel in Lucern was a nice place to stay, and had a great view of the mountains. The best thing about it though, was the delicious hot chocolate served with breakfast. Each morning it left us wondering… was it the real Swiss Miss? 

In the morning we boarded a scenic train from Lucern to Interlaken. When the clouds broke, it was pretty apparent why it was labeled a scenic route. The train chugged up and down steep mountain passes, along pristine rivers and lakes, and quaint Swiss towns. When we arrived at the train station in Interlaken, we decided to be whimsical travelers and hop directly onto a train leaving for a small village high in the Alps called Grindelwald. We were shut down though when the conductor informed us that our train passes didn’t work on that particular route. And due to a temporary Swiss Franc shortage in our wallet, we weren’t able to buy the tickets on-board. We got off at the next stop, tucked our tails between our legs, and caught the next train back to Interlaken.

We were only able to get a quick glimpse of the massive craggy mountains just beyond Interlaken before the clouds and rain moved in. We didn’t take any pictures either, so you’ll just have to take our word for it. The temps dropped in a hurry when the weather rolled in, so we decided to stay indoors that evening, cooking and doing some laundry back at our hostel.

The clouds and rain were still lingering when we boarded our train the following morning. We weren’t too concerned though because in just a few hours we’d be relaxing in the French Riviera.