Um. Yeah. There's a reason this town isn't suggested in any guidebooks. This was a total of four hours we'll never get back.
On the bright side though, we leave for Rome tonight. We are taking the night train and will arrive there around 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. Because we are taking a train that leaves after 7 p.m. our Eurorail passes will be dated using tomorrow's date, giving us the entire day tomorrow to travel for free, too. We plan on getting in to Rome, then hoping on the train to Naples then to Pompeii for the day and return home that afternoon. We are there until the 21st, our plans are to then head to Bologna. The things I've heard about Bologna all seem to revolve around food as opposed to sights and history. My kind of town. We aren't sure if we'll stay one night or two there, play it by ear and wait to see if I find more than four places I need to eat at before we leave town.
From Bologna we will head to Venice and a town called Vicenza where a friend of Jim's lives. We plan on being in that area until Thursday morning when we take the first train back to Zurich, come to the apartment and change out the clothes in our small backpacks and head to Paris. I went to Paris when I was in college and just detested it, I am giving it a second chance. Jim's sister-in-law is from just south of Paris and her niece, Elodie, lives 15 minutes from Paris, she has promised me through emails lots of cheese and wine. I love her already. We will also be in Paris for the end of the Tour de France, something I am very excited for. I've followed the tour religiously since college and am finally getting to see some of it. I have to say this might be the highlight of the trip for me.
From here we aren't sure where we will go. We've talked about storming the beaches at Normandy ourselves and I'd like to see Provence, something I didn't get to do on my first trip to France. The best part of having the Eurorail passes is that we don't really have to plan much and can come and go when and where we please.
Look for an update on the 24th when we hit home base here in Zurich for a few hours before heading to Paris.
Ciao!
Showing posts with label European vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label European vacation. Show all posts
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Lego Train Track
On Sunday we got up early, around 5.30, as we seem to do every day on vacation, and decided to take the trip up to Mount Pilatus. Pilatus is the amazing backdrop to Luzern and we had two goals in going there: 1. To take the steepest cogwheel railway in the world, and 2. Ride the nearly mile long toboggan track at the midway point on the gondola line on the backside of the mountain. We got to do at least one of those planned items.
Because we got up early and made the 8:15 boat out of Luzern there were hardly any other people on board. The looming dark clouds in the distance probably kept a lot of people in bed, too. The boat left from Luzern and took 90 minutes to get to Alpnachstad where the cog wheel leaves from. It was at this point, where I saw how steep the mere beginning of the train ride was that I looked at Jim and asked whose stupid idea this was. He took the blame. I have a freakish fear of heights but was not willing to give up the adventure to my now churning stomach. So we board the train.
When the brochure reads the Mount Pilatus cog wheel train is the steepest in the world they aren't just blowing smoke. It isn't like the diner down the street claiming "the world's biggest hamburger," or "the world's best nachos." There are several points at which the train is chugging its noisy cogs up a 48% grade. The world's steepest cog wheel train. The photos on Flickr don' t do it justice since there is no way to get the full effect of what 48% feels like on a train track that appears to be built out of Legos.
Even on the noisy track and with the steep terrain, the sound of cowbells was always present. The cows, as you can see in a couple of photos, are herded up to the higher lands and left to graze all summer. The meadows they were in must have been at least a 38% grade, easier way of thinking about it: If their head was pointed up the mountain their ass was lower than their bell.
Once to the top it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. We were only 7,500 feet up, but it felt like the top of the world. There are legends that dragons live on the mountain and that Pontius Pilate is buried in one of its lakes. This legend gave way to me providing a quick, and possibly totally inaccurate, telling of who Pontius Pilate was to Jim. We spent an hour or so up top and watched the clouds begin to roll our way. In order to ride the toboggan we had to high-tail it down the other side on the gondola before the weather got too bad, the toboggan closes when it rains.
We lost that race. Something for another day.
Because we got up early and made the 8:15 boat out of Luzern there were hardly any other people on board. The looming dark clouds in the distance probably kept a lot of people in bed, too. The boat left from Luzern and took 90 minutes to get to Alpnachstad where the cog wheel leaves from. It was at this point, where I saw how steep the mere beginning of the train ride was that I looked at Jim and asked whose stupid idea this was. He took the blame. I have a freakish fear of heights but was not willing to give up the adventure to my now churning stomach. So we board the train.
When the brochure reads the Mount Pilatus cog wheel train is the steepest in the world they aren't just blowing smoke. It isn't like the diner down the street claiming "the world's biggest hamburger," or "the world's best nachos." There are several points at which the train is chugging its noisy cogs up a 48% grade. The world's steepest cog wheel train. The photos on Flickr don' t do it justice since there is no way to get the full effect of what 48% feels like on a train track that appears to be built out of Legos.
Even on the noisy track and with the steep terrain, the sound of cowbells was always present. The cows, as you can see in a couple of photos, are herded up to the higher lands and left to graze all summer. The meadows they were in must have been at least a 38% grade, easier way of thinking about it: If their head was pointed up the mountain their ass was lower than their bell.
Once to the top it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. We were only 7,500 feet up, but it felt like the top of the world. There are legends that dragons live on the mountain and that Pontius Pilate is buried in one of its lakes. This legend gave way to me providing a quick, and possibly totally inaccurate, telling of who Pontius Pilate was to Jim. We spent an hour or so up top and watched the clouds begin to roll our way. In order to ride the toboggan we had to high-tail it down the other side on the gondola before the weather got too bad, the toboggan closes when it rains.
We lost that race. Something for another day.
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