Zurich, Switzerland (Alpes - Pilatus) Part I

April 6, 2015

We started our day at 6am at the Rümlang, Switzerland airport hotel. We had a typical hotel breakfast and headed straight to the train station (which was quite "traveller" friendly). We arrived in Zurich, Switzerland around 8:30am with an hour to spare before leaving on our coach bus for the city of Luzern. Of course being a typical Canadian (and a converted Canadian Frenchmen "Gauthier")  we headed straight for the beautiful... glowing... STARBUCKS! 

At 9:30am sharp we boarded our coach bus and headed straight for Lucern! Along the way we saw many traditional Swiss villages which were absolutely beautiful (pictures of these villages will be posted later in our journey as we plan to revisit these villages on foot, taking quality pictures through a tinted bus window did not have good results). 

The city of Luzern lead us to the Lion Monument, one of Switzerland's most sentimental Monuments. It was built to commemorate the Swiss mercenaires who served and lost their lives for the French King Louis XVI during the French Revolution. Engraved above the monument is an inscription that reads "Helvetiorum fedei ac Virtuti" which means "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss". 

Beautiful trees surrounded the monument along with a beautiful pond which laid before it. The monument itself along with its surroundings truly make the experience a heartfelt moment that evokes emotions and the story of an event that has happened years ago.  

When in Switzerland it would be a crime not to visit a chocolate factory! The store had  all kinds of flavors, styles, and well just pure awesome goodness! We definitely indulged, and I must say I don't think I've ever had chocolate that tastes so amazing! 

Once we were done indulging, shopping and taking in the city culture, we hopped back on our coach bus and continued on our way towards the mountains of Zurich. We past some beautiful houses within the hillside of Luzern which were absolutely breathtaking. At the top of the hill we would soon face our biggest (and personally one of the most physically and mentally challenging) treks yet... Mountain Pilatus!

We trekked up the mountain which was absolutely amazing, and an experience I am so glad to have had. We also used a gondola cart to bring us from one peak to another, as some part of the mountain are too steep and dangerous to climb during the winter. The gondola wasn't as scary as expected, it ran rather smooth, with little movement. Overall I felt pretty darn safe and was nothing more than a fancy ski lift.   

Once at the peak of the gondola, we decided to have lunch, and what an amazing view to have while sitting back and relaxing! I had a chicken... creamy sauce... on a huge hashbrown thingy, and damn was it tasty, however, I don't even want to think of how many gym hours that will equal when I return just to burn it off... fair to say it was extremely fatty and probably not a good idea as a meal for anyone who is terrified of heights (right after lunch you must head up another gondola, but this one is not as stable, huge and must be shared with 45 other people and moves pretty quickly while jumping to a huge height). The first peak is at approximately 5000 feet in the air, the Dragon (45 person gondola) brings you to 7000 feet. 

We got off the gondola and made our last trek up the mountain, and was the view ever worth all the hard work and patience. The view was absolutely mesmerizing! At the top of the peak we were dressed in typical Canadian attire, but it truly felt like a 0° day in Canada (I expected it to be really cold, however, the sun was shinny upon us all day so perhaps this isn't always the case). It was a funny experience for me to see the hundreds of people who gathered and were more in awe of the snow than the mountains and the view... being Canadian this truly made me giggle. 

Along the mountain there are caves which are pretty cool, and have look out spots which allow you to look down on the city of Luzern and the surrounding mountains of Zurich. Todays peak for us capped at approximately 7,200 feet! It was a beautiful experience : )

ENTRANCE TO THE CAVES SURROUND MOUNTAIN PILATUS 

   

I would say that these caves are more like a huge tunnel that incircles the mountain allowing you to peak out of the frosty snow side, nonetheless, they were very cool!

It is currently midnight here in Switzerland and not only are we sleeping in an amazing hotel found in the peak of Mountain Pilatus, but we have this massive facility for only 4 people!!! The excursion season only started 3 days ago, and these tours don't get much attention until late May. We have been spoiled with amazing service, had one-on-one talks with the staff and overall, I'm still a kid somewhere deep down past the "responsible and serious Sandra" so a hotel all to our selves is pretty freaking amazing!!!!

We enjoyed a beautiful 3-course meal in a cute and cozy room, with some amazing service. The owner of the hotel served us himself, he was an incredibly friendly and pleasant man. We exchanged some stories and got more information for our voyage tomorrow.

The wi-fi was also down in the hotel and since it's Easter, no one works on holidays in Europe, so there was no hope in it being fixed! I really wanted to take advantage of today to blog a little, and was quite disappointed to learn I was out of luck... The owner took it upon himself to find me a place to blog away, the result... I got my own personal land connection in a beautiful bar area! 

I'm off to bed now, as I have a long day a head of me tomorrow! Thanks once again for following along, and for being awesome : )

- San