9 Dec 2007 (Sunday): Lucerne - Interlaken

The morning was cold... it was rainy since the previous night (oh yes, we had been checking out the weather from the balcony window).

Mt Titlis

• We were fully-geared up for the day, forewarned by Rin (our tour leader) the previous night. The thickest cap, sun glasses, chemical warmers, thick socks... hahaha... have everything with us... Oh yes, also an umbrella.
• Mt Titlis is 3020 m above sea level and we went up by cable cars - in 3 stages. The first one could only take up to 6 people whereas the next 2 can take up to 80 passengers per trip!
  It was exciting, when we saw so many people geared up for skiing!!! Yes, in the 1st car, we were with 2 Swiss boys who are barely beyond 10... and yes, they were all ready for the activity!


• The 3rd cable car was a special one, which is the Rotair... It rotates!!!

• Up in the top of Mt Titlis, it was very very cold... with one end closed because of the storm in the previous night. It was windy! haha... but we had some fun playing with the snow :D Hm... not much of scenery except the snow-coated slopes and trees!
  

• Oh yes, by chance, we saw some people sat on the chairlift... and some skiing too!

Ah ha... 'performing' my travel 'ritual

Lunch

• We also had our lunch there... surprising, a Chinese meal at the summit! There were sausages, chicken, vegetables, soup, etc...

• Our backdrop for lunch was the steep cliff coated with snow, with the afternoon sun piercing through the snow.

• Oh yes, also had my first cone of ice cream in Switzerland! Hm... yummy yummy... it's pear-flavoured (except that I finished it before boarding the cable car...)

• View the clips on Mt Titlis on the right panel

Lucerne

• Back to the city, on the way to see the famous lion monument, we pass by the Old Swiss House... probably nothing special about it (since no one stopped to alert of any happenings here?). But I guess, it's something unique to the Swiss-style houses... white background and lots of lines that go across... It can be red, brown or black... Oh yes, look at the roof! Hey, now I know why the 'roof' of houses in areas that snow are slanted... U know why? (Learnt this during my Hokkaido trip last year)
  

• The lion monument... it was emphasized several times that the lion was dying, rather than looking sleepy. Of course, there's some significance to it... but did not register the commentary in my head.

• Next was the Chapel Bridge, that spans across the 2 banks of a river. It's a mix of old and new (where the central portion was rebuilt after a fire).
  
• The Chapel Bridge reminded me of the Long Corridor at Summer Palace in Beijing.
• Here, we also saw lots of geese and ducks in the river... hey, they were not afraid of mankind!
• Not much time for us to hang around... it's a pity.

Next...

• At last we arrived at the Lucerne City. It was shopping time! The coach parked beside the train station and the whole group followed Rin, walked down the street. God knows, our hotel was just among the buildings that we walked past!
• What lousy planning!!! The guide could have checked us in before sending us out for a shopping spree! At least, that would offer a choice to shop or not. Not only walked extra in the cold and wet weather, also waited for almost an hour in the coach! What a waste of time and energy!!!

Our Dinner

• This was recommended by the tour leader.
• At Bebbies, we had Fondue feast - Cheese fondue, Meat fondue (that's like steamboat) and Chocolate fondue! Oh yes, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melted in the chocolate! Believe the cheese fondue had wine added to the melted cheese though the owner clarified the frangance and bitterness was due to the cheese reaction to heating.
• Among the three, I like the cheese one... hm... :P