We are working on this year's trip, check back often for updates
Of the two major summits on Lake Lucerne, Pilatus to us was the more majestic. And has a more intricate climb. If Rigi had the oldest cog rail, Pilatus has the steepest. After another relaxing boat ride--though a little girl and her dog were pretty excited--we boarded the mountain train. It was close to an hour to the top, but what views along the way. See the zigzag path up one side of the mountain? That's actually one of the hiking trails. Folks of all ages climb here. Though we've seen so much smoking, even among seniors, that we believe they all must have lungs of steel.
At the top, after a 'fitness' plate of salads and fruit, I climbed two step trails while Jan watched our stuff. The second trail was pretty windy; a fellow tourist took my photo. Third trail was the steepest, so I held back. Another clear, sunny day. After the damp chill of Koblenz, the Black Forest and Freiburg, the warmth was very welcome.
You complete the circuit going down by taking not one but two cable cars--thrilling, especially if you get off one too early and have to hop back on! They keep moving round and round in their terminals, so you have to step lively. At the base of the mountain, we still had a long, hot walk to a bus stop for the ride back our hotel neighborhood.
So, the final video isn't a pre-Halloween joke, it's artwork from Lucerne's other historic bridge, the Spreuer, that illustrates a Danse Macabre, or Totentanz, in German. It was built in the 13th C so millworkers could dump waste into the Meuse (moiz) since the bridge then so far downstream. In the mid-1600s, someone thought it wouild be a great idea to remind everyone that, so matter who you are, death comes for us all. Such a cheery way to get from one part of the city to, again, our favorite eatery--the Rathous Brauerei.
On the way, we were treated to in impromptu band concert of what sounded like mostly Swiss folk songs, with a few pop classics thrown in.