After we had enough sleeping in 8 hours trip from Amsterdam Centraal – Frankfurt finally we arrived in Basel. In Basel we were following our trip with another 2 hours train to reach our final destination.
Our next destination is Lucerne, Switzerland. Lucerne is a beautiful small city in the heartland of Switzerland, across the lake from Altdorf, where legend has it William Tell shot an apple off of his son’s head. In addition to being a fine place to visit in and of itself Lucerne is a great base from which to explore famous Swiss sites such as Mount Rigi and the Rütli Meadow.
Why Switzerland?
Well, one of the specific reason why we decided to come to Switzerland was the snow. Yes, snow is something you can’t get in tropical country like mine, Indonesia. The second reasons was Snowboarding, i was really excited to try snowboarding. Switzerland also well known of it’s amazing views of Swiss Alps.
Day 1: The Chapel Bridge
Named after the nearby St. Peter’s Chapel, the bridge is unique since it contains a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century. The bridge itself was originally built in 1333 as part of Lucerne’s fortifications. It linked the old town on the right bank of the Reuss to the new town on the left bank, securing the city from attack from the south.
We were staying in the hotel that close to the river. The rivers were very clean, we can see everything down the water clearly. If the water wasn’t too cold, we could jump in and swim on it..
Day 2: The Lion of Lucerne Monument & Mount Titlis
Having a warm sun shower and a few minutes walk from our hotel, gave us a bit energy to start the day during the cold weather (8* Celsius, It was cold enough for South East Asian people like us). The sky was so clear and the sun shine so bright, it was a perfect day to explore & shooting.
The Lion of Lucerne, is a sculpture designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France. Mark Twain praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as “the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.”
After a few hours walking around the city, we finally ready for the main course of Switzerland…
Yes, the snow!!
There are a couple of places in Switzerland that have a snow during the season (October-November). One of them is The Titlis (also Mount Titlis) is a mountain of the Uri Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Obwalden and Berne. At 3,238 metres above sea level, it is the highest summit of the range north of the Susten Pass, between the Bernese Oberland and Central Switzerland.
It is mainly accessed from Engelberg (Obwalden) on the north side. We took intercity train from Lucerne to Engelberg and we ride around 45 minute. During the ride, we were served with an amazing green landscape with Swiss Alps in the background. A view that will make your jaw drop!
Engelberg also famous as the site of the world’s first revolving cable car. The cable car system connects Engelberg to the summit of Klein Titlis (3,028 m) through the three stages of Gerschnialp (1,262 m), Trübsee (1,796 m) and Stand (2,428 m).
The last part of cable car way leads above the glacier. At Klein Titlis, it is possible to visit an illuminated glacier cave from an entrance within the cable-car station. And Finally The Titlis Cliff Walk, the highest elevation suspension bridge in Europe, opened in December 2012, giving views across the Switzerland’s Alps.
Day 3: Zurich, Switzerland
Actually we weren’t spending a lot of time in Zurich, it was just for transit to our next destination, Paris. While we were waiting for the train to Paris, we spent some time by walking around a few block from the Zürich Hauptbahnhof train station.
Next Euro Trip Day 7-10: PARIS
