Mount Rigi

Outing to Mount Rigi

Breakfast at the hotel was continental with cereals, artisanal bread and cheeses.  No cold cuts but eggs on request.  The toasted muesli was unsweetened; that was news to me as I thought sugar (and oil) was necessary in the toasting process.  While it was delicious, I took a little bit too much and it was a jaw workout.

On the bus for a couple of minutes, I reached Verkerhaus/Lido where I walked past the impressive transport museum to pier where I waited for the ferry to Vitznau.  I could see hot air balloons in the distance beyond the city.  The ferry arrived from the city and I was the only person joining from here around 0820.

It was a scenic 50 min journey to Vitznau seated in the bow of the ferry in the sun.  Arriving at Vitznau, the cog railway to Rigi Kulm was waiting.

The journey uphill was stunning with views of the lake on the left and mountains on the right.  The half-hour journey took a little longer due to technical problems.  One door wouldn’t close and once that was fixed the train went backwards a little.

We arrived at Rigi Kulm around 1000.  My fears of being inadequately dressed for the altitude (despite summer) were finally put to rest.  It was perfect in shorts, sandals and a t-shirt with a pullover borderline required if one were in the shade.

A 30 min walk around the transmission tower hill is the easiest walk here.  It gave an awesome view of the surrounding area.  There was another 30 min to kill or enjoy before my downhill ride on the same train but this time I disembarked halfway at Rigi Kaltbad First where I changed to a large non-continuous cable car.

The cable car from Rigi Kaltbad First down to Weggis left earlier than scheduled because all connecting passengers had arrived.  It was a 10 min journey down and I couldn’t believe the large distance between the pylons.

At Weggis, it was a 10 min walk down to the pier where I waited for the boat back to Lucerne.  As it was past lunchtime, I opted to stay on the boat all the way to Lucerne rather than get off closer to my hotel.

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Exploring Lucerne

I grabbed a sandwich to eat at some seats near the famous historic Kapellbrucke bridge which was rebuilt after a fire in 1993.  I went a little further to cross at the older Spreuerbrucke which also had triangular panels with depiction of historic scenes.

Once back on the northern bank, I started my climb to Museggmauer, the city’s old city walls.  It was scorchingly hot and going uphill to the fort, climbing up to the walls and further up the clock tower.

I returned to my room for a wash and a rest.  I took the rest a little too far and the supermarkets were closed by the time I emerged after 1800.  My plans for another picnic dinner in the park by the lake were out the window.  I settled for an Indian thali in a shop run by an Afghan.

I tried getting an ice-cream after dinner by it was in vain.  I later found through Switzerland that there weren’t any convenience stores but only supermarkets which close early in the evening.  The only places I can get an after-dinner ice-cream would be from an ice-cream shop at high prices.

The Swiss Franc is currently on par with the EUR (and USD) making the country even more expensive than usual.  The Swiss Franc has usually been smaller than the EUR.