Lucerne .... Almost Perfect

What can I say about Lucerne that hasn't already been said ... beautiful, orderly and tranquil, Lucerne is so picturesque you cant really say anything bad about it. 

We were lucky enough to stay in a lovely hotel on the lake and were rewarded with beautiful views the minute we stepped outside. Every street is ever so beautiful, I didn't see any graffiti, rubbish was absent from all the usual places and even the pollution you would normally find on old buildings in the form of  a black coating is absent. 

To put it simply Lucerne is heaven in a perfectly elegant Channel suit. Now here is the kicker ... it also costs as much as a Channel suit. The prices that we saw were expensive ... poor Mr V lashed out on a late night snack at the golden arches and a medium meal cost him $20 Swiss Franks!!! Saying that a dinner out would cost the same as in Perth, Australia so while its expensive its not "oh my god I'm going to have to sell a kidney for a steak expensive" just the usual ... my wallet hurts slightly. 

So we didn't really get much time to explore Lucerne, we only had a few hours before our flight out but even that was drama filled. Waiting in the lobby for the pickup I belatedly realised looking at the paperwork that our driver was waiting for us in the sister hotel in Zurich not Lucerne where we were currently sitting. A slight oversight on my behalf .... (yes its true, I am not perfect) which meant desperately trying to organise an alternative 1 hour and 15 minutes away with a very limited time window! Our poor driver reached speeds of up to 160 km's an hour to get us there on time. So leave Switzerland we did .... headed to our last destination for the trip and my personal favourite ... Prague!

So much excitement for our last destination but also coming home .... we actually miss home and while the trip has been fantastic our bed is really starting to feel like an oasis .... however still two more days to live to the fullest before back to the grindstone until the next holiday.

Top of Europe - Jungfraujoch

 

At 3454 meters above sea level Jungfraujoch is Europe's highest altitude railways stations and the highlight of our visit to Switzerland.

A series of small, super cute cog wheel trains shuttle visitors up the mountain starting down at Grindelwald (even the village names are like something out of a fairytale) the train travels at a leisurely pace past small towns nestled beneath the mountains, ski resorts and spectacular views. You reach another cute little ski resort at the base of three large mountain peaks, Eiger, Junfrau and Monch where you change trains for your journey through the mountain.

Now before we go into the mountain let me give you a bit of a spiel on this particular Mountain and whats so special. The Jungfrau is one of the main summits in the Bernese Alps. The  Jungfraujoch railway was constructed 100 years ago this year 1912 which is a feat of engineering in itself. The iconic Sphinx - an research observation base is one of the most recognisable in the world and I think (but don't quote me) that it was actually featured in a James Bond Movie!!! You may just be able to seethe little bump in the center of my picture.... the second one.

Ok now back to the experience itself. You wind your way up through the inside of the mountain, photo stops along the way giving you a look at all the original blasted out walls and views that seem to go on forever before finally arriving at top. Your poor ears have popped and you are breathing heavily after having been warned to move very slowly as lack of oxygen can be an issue, further compounded by a young Japanese girl passing out nearby. Im not going to name names but one of our group got particularly dizzy while up here ... he he he. 

There is a lot of stuff to see up here but for us the two main ones were the sphinx and the ice palace. So Ice Palace first .... this is a chance to walk THROUGH a glacier .... you can see here mum issuing poor missing dad a challenge - she has completed something else that he hasn't .... 

Bucket list item 87 - walk through a glacier - tick!

 

So back to the ice palace - eery shades of blue and white bath the place in a weird kind of glow, you slide softly forward excited at where you are but nervous as to staying on your feet. There are small little tunnels, carvings and photo opportunities and for a few minutes you get that excited ... "I just can't wait" feeling you used to get when you were little.

Finally the Sphinx. A elevator takes you out of the bowels of the Earth to the research station ... the problem, white out meaning everyone gets back into the elevator to spend more time at the palace. But not us crazy Australians .... of course we go out in the sub arctic temperatures and pose for stupid photos while frost bite starts attacking our extremities.

Overall today was so great - we did something totally different, saw something we mind blowing and had fun in the process. May tomorrow hold the same wonders!

Final Days of the Group Tour ...

The church in the meadow ... you here the name of this church and it doesnt really convey its specialness ... its a church sitting in a medow in a valley overlooking lovely mountains. The spot is picturesque but you really don't grasp the magic of this church until you go inside. 

Inside is heavenly. It's Rococo in the extreme and normally I would be starting to cringe at the idea of such over the top design but this is done in such a pretty subtle way you really can't help but love it.

I LOVE THIS CHURCH. What makes this whole experience even better is that as we walked in the choir and orchestra was just warming up for the Sunday service. The trumpets blasted ... the voices rose and I will admit even my soul smiled at the pure pleasure of being in such a beautiful place listening to such beautiful music.

As we left the church we passed parishioners walking up the hill in the meadow to Church arm in arm chatting to friends and truly appreciated just how lovely this moment was.

 

After this was a visit to another one of Mad King Ludwig's palaces ... small but extremely ornate and a quick visit to a small village at the bottom of a mountain that was famous for its painted houses. All the houses we saw are painted in various fairytale themes and were quite charming.

Finally we are off to Lucern and we come to the end of the group tour part of the trip. From now on its the three musketeers on our own ... I'm sure things will go smoothly ... I mean really. What on earth could go wrong!

Christmas Day

Ahh the joy of Christmas. Opening presents .... eating to much .... lazing around the pool trying to stay cool and eventually napping because you have eaten to much. This Christmas was slightly different but also quite similar. This Christmas started like any other ... those who are home wake up and open presents over coffee. Now normally I would dread showing pics pre-makeup however as its Christmas I wanted to prove just how .... normal the day started.

So opening presents from under our Christmas tree over coffee ... then a light breakfast ... oh yes, Mr V is loving the continental breakfasts before the three of us snuck away from the group for a hike through the forbidden zone.

See the thing is this time of the year is usually covered in snow and icy hence they close all the mountain trails however this also meant we were unable to reach this lovely bridge we had noticed during our castle tour as this route was also closed. Obviously the freakily warm weather meant that this christmas wasn't white ... no ice just perfect weather for a walk!

Our guide advised up earlier that these paths were forbidden and we agreed that morning wholeheartedly to steer clear of these areas ... however we did say that if we had not returned by nightfall the bridge area is the first place she should look.

 

So hike we did .... up the bloody mountain to the scary bridge. This thing is so very high up and seem extremely structurally unsound. The floor is made from wood which flex and groan with every step. I did manage to make it across the bridge ... very very quickly and even managed to get a perfect shot of the fairytale castle from a different angle. 

 

After the bridge we noticed a set of stairs going all the way down to the waters edge .... we humm'ed and haaa'ed over being able to get back up the stairs later but eventually made our way down. What we found at the bottom were 100's of little piles of rocks ... obviously man made scattering through and around the river. Apparently these are called Cairns and are either made to mark a train or in memory of someone - we built two ... one for my wonderful daddy and one for my sister. See they now joined us on our journey in spirit if not in body.

Now this is where things get interesting ... halfway down the river ... we were walking down hill with the water as no one wanted to walk back up the stairs, the walk train ended and a metal bridge built into the rock walls jutting out over the river started ... so we walked and walked and walked .... over waterfalls, rapids and fallen trees from the relative safety of our walkway before finally reaching a man made water-trap which appeared to be built for funnelling this water into town.

Overall very cool walk. We all raved over how much fun it was when we got back to the hotel. The others had been on a sleigh ride without snow ... a rather sad endeavour apparently as some of them had even fallen asleep.

Finally we took a cable car to the top of a lovely ski field where we had views that seemed to go on forever.

So this christmas day was totally different to what we have experienced before and while my father and sister were missed we made a good effort to turn it into something special and memorable. The hike ... one of the best parts of the trip so far! 

Christmas Eve ... German Style

Usually Christmas Eve is a stressful time full of last minute running around, preparation as well as a fair bit of excitement ... 2012 for us was actually the complete opposite. 

Our family christmas started with a leisurely walk around the lake to feed the ducks.

We then visited the small town of Fussen to find any last minute Christmas gifts. Such a pretty little town the name actually means 3 feet or legs. Every town we seem to visit is just as pretty as the last, is it possible that Germany holds the monopoly of pretty little towns??? Perhaps. 

After that we travelled to the nearby town of Hopfen where we lunched and wandered around the most picturesque lake I have ever seen. Imagine if you will how very different our Christmas Eve is ... slowly wandering around this lake instead of trying to entertain family and friends. Finally we were lucky enough to join the locals in singing Christmas carols with the local band.

I am aware that I possibly overdid it on the Lake pictures but seriously ... have you ever seen anything this spectacular ... I would be hard pressed to think of a place that matches this place on this day!

Such a lovely way to celebrate Christmas ... now its time to dress for Christmas Eve dinner ... oh joy ... time to dress up!