8/30 Lucerne

Wednesday was started off with a breakfast buffet and then a quick with a walk down to the boat docks where Simi had booked us on a Golden Route Tour. We boarded the boat and went on take a nice leisurely cruise across Lake Lucerne while gazing off in the distance the soaring Mount Pilatus - were we'd be standing at the top of in a few short hours. The boat stopped at a few docks to unload some passengers. Our boat dock stop was at the base of the world's steepest cogwheel railway to take us to the top. A rail car with big windows and bigger teeth grab the specialized train track as the little engine chugs up the side of Pilatus. The teeth prevent the train from jumping the tracks or giving in to gravity as the slope maxes out at 48%. That's steepness near impossible to walk on, but if you are adventurous and don't mind the exercise, you can walk the hiking switchback filled trail to the top in a mere 4 hours. The cog is about a 40 minute clickity-clackity ride to the summit.
At the summit the views are incredible. Lucerne below with the lake feeding its inhabitants. In the other direction the snow capped Alps are just cresting the horizon. We had a clear blue sky and what felt like infinite visibility. This place was made for the cell phone camera panorama mode. Lunch was at the scenic overlook followed by exploring the touristy plaza built on top of the mountain. There's a hotel if you want to stay up at the top (if you've hiked up and need a recovery day before going back down). We started an adventure to climb a few dozen steps and get around some peaks for more photos. A "trail" up some steps, down a man made ladder inside a hole in the side of the mountain to a cave, and finally wrapping around the sheer cliff of the mountain with a chain embedded into the granite for you to hold onto.
The hiking loop around the crest was completed and survived, and now it was time to go back closer to the city below. The way down is by giant gondola cable cars. They sway in the wind, and put your stomach in your throat when they pass over the support towers. This is a fun little laugh as you descend. The ride is a good 15 minutes down and the station at the bottom points you to a short walk towards the bus station and back into the heart of Lucerne where you started the trip. The Golden Route Tour of boat, cog, gondola, and then bus back to the start point is really a well executed way to spend a day.

Before dinner that night we dropped off a load of laundry at a place near the hotel. There were no self service laundry facilities in Lucerne and the clothes were measured by weight. It needed to be done, and would be ready by the next morning. The glamorous part of travel - clean socks! Our phone app pointed us to a place a few blocks from the hotel and it was a more casual diner inhabited by locals. Their English was a bit more broken and they clearly didn't have many outside visitors. What they did have was epically good food. The customary gelato dessert we'd rewarded ourselves with most nights we were averaging 7-10 miles of walking was not to be that night.

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