Switzerland ( 2)

Monday 20 September

Today we didn't have to leave so early which gave me a chance to catch up on a few things.  After breakfast we headed to a small Swiss Village, Stanz.  Again it was a perfect day, with a slight chill in the the air and Simon predicted the tourists would be out in the thousands so wanted to get ahead of them.

We boarded an old wooden clog train, which used to be used for transporting milk up and down the mountain, and traveled through the beautiful farmlands of the Swiss alps.  The sky was bright blue, sun shining beautifully and it was a picture of pure beauty.  The cows were grazing in the fields with their bells, around their necks, ringing out in the peacefulness.

                                        

                                                     

 

 Half way up the Alp we changed transport and jammed into a cable car which went very steeply to the summit of Mount Stanzerhorn.  We experienced magnificent views over Lucerne, the lake and surrounding mountains, including Mt Pilatus and Mt Matterhorn.

                     

Once we reached the top we could admire the view from every angle, especially after a short but rather steep walk to the lookout, which also gave information about the alps and pointed out the other alps.

                                                     

 Mount Stanzerhorn was the home of the famous children's story 'Heidi'. As we walked back down to the restaurant, we were able to look at the hut of Heidi's Grandfather and the area the movie of the story was produced.

                                                         Stanzerhorn hosts the highest Post Shop in the world so we made sure we posted postcards here before a lovely morning tea at the outdoor cafe then traveling back down the mountain.

    The crowds had certainly started to build up by the time we reached the bottom. As we were waiting for the rest of our tour group a Swiss high speed train pulled into the station.

                                                            

To return to Lucerne, we took a cruise on Lake Lucerne.  It was a beautiful calm morning and we enjoyed seeing very wealthy residence, castles and other features of this magnificent part of Switzerland.

              

                             

 

As we cruised closer to Lucerne we could see all the lovely hotels and commercial areas.  There were many yachts in the city docks and as we got off the boat we were able to get a daytime view of the wooden Chapel Bridge.  We then had time for shopping and lunch before meeting again for the afternoon tour.

                                                                  

 Our afternoon was spent visiting a Swiss village about half an hour out from Lucerne.  We were loaded into three horse-drawn carriages and shown around the village.  Our horse was called 'Heidi', so appropriate, and she was a 23 year old horse who struggled on her own, to pull us around in the afternoon heat.

                              

                                       
     

 The original village, many years ago, was built near this river but it was destroyed by floods and the weather conditions so was rebuilt on higher ground.  Hence, the village is quite modern but still has the old traditions - farming, gardening, thatched roof housing, hand plowed fields etc.

                                              

 We visited Pfarrkirche Grosstell Church and although modern was a very pretty, quaint church.

 

 Afternoon tea was hosted by a local couple in the storehouse for the produce they harvest.  The wife had made pastries, bread, cheese, wine, apple juice and coffee (all homemade) and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

                                                


It was a lovely afternoon and the local Swiss people made us feel very welcome.  We saw the children coming out of school and they were very excited to see us riding around in the horse-drawn carriages. Apparently the village likes their privacy so not a lot of tourists get to visit this particular Swiss Village.

            

We taken back into Lucerne for free time for more shopping or exploring on our own.  Chris and I looked at some of the smaller backstreet shops then walked back to the hotel.  Dinner was our own choice that night but as we were tired and my leg was extremely painful, we opted to eat the set menu provided at the hotel.  It was nice to have a quieter night to relax.

We really loved our time in Switzerland and is a place I would like to revisit and explore further.