May 2-8, 2015
This post continues the first week of our European
vacation after Interlaken (Part I) in Luzern & the Bernina Express scenic
train to Lugano (Part II). I will continue in another post the second week
spent in northern Italy in Cinque Terre and Tuscany.
Wednesday May 6, 2015
We ate breakfast at Hotel
Stern Luzern this morning.
Luzern (Lucerne in English) is
where the Reuss River flows out of Lake Luzern. In German Swiss, Lake Luzern is
called Vierwaldstättersee or “Lake of Four Forest State” because it lies at the
intersection of 4 of Switzerland’s cantons.
We ventured out around 10am.
We headed towards the River Reuss which heads into Lake Luzern
Rathaus
Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) in Luzern
It was constructed in the
first half of the 14th century as part of the city’s fortifications.
Joe, Brooklyn & Jackie at
Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) in Luzern
Swan on the Reuss River
It is rumored that the swans
here were a gift for French King Louis XIV in appreciation for the protection
he got from the Swiss Guards.
Kramgasse and further west up
the River Reuss
Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) in Luzern
The bridge was built at an
angle to connect the town’s medieval fortifications. The water tower was built
around 1300.
The painted panels were added
to Kapellbrücke in the 17th
century. They portray scenes of Swiss and local history, including lives of
Lucerne’s patron saints.
In 1993 a leisure boat moored
under the bridge caught fire which set the landmark in flames. Notice the
rebuilt part that is a lighter wood color, but the painting panels were lost
forever. Now no boats are allowed under the bridge.
Luzern from the Kapellbrücke
Happy sightseers
We walked over to the boat
docks near the train station to inquire about going for a shorter ride. Our
options were limited since it wasn’t peak season yet, but we found a good 1
hour tour around this side of the lake but it didn’t run until the afternoon.
We adjusted our plans and decided to sightsee first and ride the boat later in
the afternoon when the weather was supposed to be better.
Julius Bar in Luzern
Luzern with Kapellbrücke and Alps in the distance
We walked among the
Alstadtplätze (Old Town squares). In Luzern, the buildings feature historical
frescoes.
Sternenplatz dominated by the
colorful façade on Restaurant Fritschi symbolizing Mardi Gras
Sternenplatz
Hirschenplatz
Weinmarkt in Luzern
This fresco depicts the
wedding feast at Cana which suits its location, the Weinmarkt (wine market) in
Luzern
There are also beautiful
fountains in all the squares in the city
Spreuerbrücke (Spreuer Bridge or Mill Bridge) is the oldest timber
bridge in Switzerland completed in 1408 as part of the city’s fortifications.
Painting depicting Judgement
Day
Beautiful wooden ornamentation
on the building
Jesuitenkirche and other
Luzern River Reuss buildings near Nadelwehr
Mühleplatz from across the
River Reuss
I love this old stair tower on
the side of this building
Nadelwehr (Needle Dam or
“spiked weir”) was installed in 1860 to regulate the water level of Lake Luzern.
The lake flows in the Reuss which makes its way to the Rhine. It is done
manually by removing or inserting the timber “needles”.
Looking back to Nadelwehr and
Spreuerbrücke from Kramgasse
Other Luzern River Reuss
buildings from Kramgasse
Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) from Kramgasse
Jason, Emily and Harper on
bridge over River Reuss in Luzern
Joe, Brooklyn and Jackie on
bridge over River Reuss in Luzern
Jesuitenkirche, the first
major Baroque church in Switzerland in 1666-1677
Window shutters and frescos
Swinging Harper on the streets
of Luzern
Luzern street up to Kornmarkt
by town hall
We stopped for lunch at Rathaus
Brauerei Restaurant
Our view of Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) from our lunch table at Rathaus Brauerei
Restaurant Luzern
Unloading our kids from the
backpack and stroller
Swan swimming near the banks
of River Reuss
Dining on the water at Rathaus
Luzern
Emily and Jason enjoying their
beers at Rathaus Luzern
The Rathaus Brauerei
Restaurant has a microbrewery in the cellar. We ordered beers, “gourmet”
pretzel sandwiches, Swiss-style mac and cheese (älplermagronen).
We took a ride on the Saphir, a
161ft panoramic yacht for a Lucerne
Sightseeing cruise for 12.50 CHF a piece.
Views of Luzern from the boat
KKL Luzern (Kultur- und
Kongresszentrum) (Culture and Convention Centre) by Parisian architect Jean
Nouvel is a concert hall is known as one of the world’s best and also holds the
Luzern Museum of Art.
Lake water is pumped up and
through this building. It can be seen in open channels and pond surrounded by
benches. It recalls the earlier times when this area was a swampland. The plaza
with the large roof overhang reflects the lake and weather, incorporating the
building into its surrounding environment.
Jason and Emily boating on
Lake Luzern
Sailboat on Lake Luzern
Swiss flag on our boat on Lake
Luzern
Lake Luzern boat ride
Meggenhorn Castle and Chapel
that is often used now for weddings
We saw Mount Rigi (Rigi Klum) at
5,900ft which had Europe’s first cogwheel train that is at 48% grade and is the
world’s steepest. Also to the south of Luzurn is Mount Pilatus (Pilatus-Klum)
at 7,000ft.
More views of Luzern as we
come back from our boat ride
Brooklyn, little sailor girl
on the boat ride chewing on the plastic water bottle
Quintessential Luzern, Swiss
flag, swan and Lake Luzern
Old Swiss House
We did a little souvenir
shopping on our way to the Lion Monument. I don’t think we can get this Swiss
cow home
Lӧwendenkmal (Lion Monument)
is a famous monument of a dying lion carved out of a rock of the cliffside over
a reflecting pool. It commemorates the heroism in 1792 of Swiss mercenaries who
were killed or executed attempting to protect the Palace of the French king in
Paris during the French Revolution. It is big at 20x33ft. The inscription
reads, “To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss”. I agree with Mark Twain when
he said it is “the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world)”.
Emily taking a drink from the
water fountain in Luzern
Emily riding the sheep because
no vacation is complete without Emily riding an animal statue
Jason eating a waffle
Harper enjoyed a taste of
Swiss waffle too
We bought our Swiss souvenir,
a red spotted wooden cow with a cowbell around its neck for a Christmas
ornament.
We spent a little downtime
back at the hotel before heading out to dinner.
Jackie took Brooklyn’s 7
months photos (see 7 month blog post)
We ate a scrumptious dinner of
grandma’s swiss cooking dishes at Wirtshaus Taube.
We had a great view of the old
medieval city walls from the restaurant
We got back to the hotel just
in time before a thunderstorm rolled in. The dark clouds rolling over
Franziskanerkirche
We enjoyed our picnic lunch of
bread, salami, cheese and some head cheese or as Emily calls it: “face meat”.
More from our journey on the
Bernina Express
We passed through Samedan, home
to Europe’s highest altitude airport.
Thursday May 7, 2015
We used our final fourth day
of the Swiss Travel Pass for our epic 8-9 train ride today.
The Bernina Express train
travels from Chur-Davos-St. Moritz-Tirano and then a bus travels from Tirano,
Italy to Lugano, Switzerland. The Bernina Express is a UNESCO World Heritage
site. It is railway tracks of 122km that pass through 55 tunnels and over 196
bridges and viaducts which are masterpieces of engineering.
In order to get to the train leaving
Chur on time, we had to check a super early train out of Luzern. It wasn’t
worth staying the night in Chur since there wasn’t much to that town. We
changed trains in Zurich and made it into Chur as planned before the 8:32
departure. We had made reservations for seats in the panoramic car on the
Bernina Express train.
Family picture outside our
Bernina Express train car before departure
Our welcome packets and train
route map on the train car
We settled in our seats to
begin our long scenic journey across Switzerland
The beginning of the train
ride there were many castles and of course churches around Reichenau and
Domleschg.
Joe rocked little Brooklyn to
sleep
Solis Viaduct crossed over the
river Albula nearly 300ft below the 138ft vaulting span.
It was difficult to take
photos of the Solis Viaduct from the train, but here is a great shot:
We started to get closer to
the snow-capped Alps
Landwasser Viaduct is almost
466ft long with 328ft arches at a radius of 330 feet. The supporting arch
pillars were put in place without the use of scaffolding! Iron towers were
formed in the center of each pillar first and cranes helped hoist the bricks to
be laid.
Albula River below the viaduct
Once again we couldn’t get a
great photo of this Landwasser Viaduct as we travelled over it so here is a proper
photographer’s shot:
We were starting to get a
great view as we climbed up to the higher altitudes.
Brooklyn is still passed out
asleep on daddy’s chest
Not sure where we were at this point on the Bernina
Express but I think we were somewhere near Filisur or Davos, Switzerland.
A long bridge viaduct
Wiesner Viaduct is nearly 670ft in length making it the longest bridge on the line from Davos to Engadin.
Proper photo of Wiesen
Viaduct:
The village of Preda with the
landmark Hotel Klum was a shanty town of hundreds of workers that built the Albula
tunnel which is at 5,970ft (1800m) above sea level, making it the highest
standard-gauge railway tunnel in the Alps.
The Bernina Express is the
only train that crosses over the Alps without a tunnel.
Here are a few more photos during
the Bernina Express from our train car. Sorry for the glare.
St. Moritz is a famous glitzy
resort destination with luxury hotels and tourism.
Diavolezza cable car in St.
Moritz in the Swiss Alps
Looking back at the Diavolezza
cable car station base
Gaining in elevation and snow
cover as we approached Bernina Pass
The waters north of the
Bernina Pass flow via the Danube into the Black Sea while the water south of
the pass end up in the river Po and the Adriatic Sea.
In 1911 there were efforts to
trap water into artificial lakes: Lago Bianco and Lej Nair named for their
different colors: light for Lago Bianco and dark for Lej Nair.
Ospizio Bernina station dates
around 1925 and lies at 7,391ft (2253m) above sea level, making it the highest
altitude station on the Rhaetian Railway and marks the Bernina Pass.
Alp Grüm is surrounded by a
unique mountain setting of the Palü Glacier and Lake Palü. The station and
restaurant building from 1923 by architect Nicolaus Hartmann in their
distinctive style offer panoramic views over Cavaglia and to the Italian Alps
beyond.
Riding the Bernina Express
down from Alp Grüm to view Lago Palü
Views of the front of the
Bernina Express from our train car in the Swiss Alps
This is a good angle at the
panoramic train car ahead of us. The windows curve up the roof slightly
offering more views of the towering Alps
Emily & Harper enjoying
their train ride on the Bernina Express
Choo-choo UNESCO Bernina
Express coming through!
Another stone arched bridge
Joe rocked Brooklyn back to
sleep for another nap
We cruised down to Poschiavo
with views of Lago di Poschiavo beyond
Lago di Poschiavo
Brooklyn is a 30 minute
napper. She is awake again eating corn puffs
The Brusio Viaduct spirals a
360-degree curve to make a change in height in a very short space on a nine
stone arched structure. No cogwheel required on this rail line.
Sadly we were preoccupied with
Brooklyn and not snapping photos as we came to the iconic Bruscio Viaduct.
As the Bernina Express train
pulled into Tirano, our final destination that railway line was pretty much
shared with the street. We whizzed by residential buildings before we pulled
into Tirano station.
Jason and Joe went to find
water and food for the babies at a local grocery store. That proved harder than
it should be since we arrived during siesta. Many shops were closed for their
afternoon nap. Jackie, Emily and the baby girls enjoyed a glass of wine and a
milkshake at a neighboring café to the train station.
The bus left Tirano at 14:25
and arrives in Lugano at 17:30. We probably pushed the limit showing up a few
minutes before departure. The amount of luggage we had took some serious
reconfiguration to fit beneath the bus. Fortunately the boys were up to the
challenge. The good news about arriving late was we did not have to sit long in
the stagnant air on the hot non-air conditioned bus. Both girls were in need of
a nap at this point.
The bus went through Veltlin
is a renowned Italian valley famous for its fine wines.
We passed some beautiful
village churches
More vineyards
The bus made a stop in Sorico for
WC use as we begin our journey alongside Lake Como.
Lake Como
Our bus arrived at the Lugano
train station after 6pm.
Lugano was extremely expensive.
Switzerland was expensive in general, but Lugano was even worse. There weren’t
any good VRBO or Airbnb locations nearby the train station just like our issue in
Luzern. We paid 279 CHF at Hotel Walter Au Lac.
We made our way to the hotel
as fast as possible because our girls needed to get to bed on time. After
checking in, the ladies got the babies settled in the room while the guys went
out in search of some dinner to bring back to the hotel to eat on our balcony.
We got some pasta and pizza and wine.
Friday May 8, 2015
It rained overnight in Lugano and had more in the
forecast for the day.
It was a beautiful morning on Lago di Lugano
Good morning from our balcony
This is the view of our balcony from Jason’s balcony
We decided to skip touring Lugano in the rain and head
onto Cinque Terra in Italy.
As soon as our train crossed the border from Switzerland
into Italy, the train times became a suggestion. We already started to miss the
timely manner everything ran in Switzerland. We were delayed 10 minutes before
departing at the border control stop. It’s time to get used to the Italian
lifestyle for the remainder of our trip. We transferred trains in Milan to make
our way to our destination in Riomaggiore. As we neared our coastal town, the
conductor had an announcement in Italian that we could barely here. All we
could tell was that certain stops had a short platform so the last few cars
might still be in the tunnel. We quickly grabbed all our luggage and moved up a
few train cars in case. After a few bumps and bruises from going through the
crappy small Italian train doors that don’t stay open, we arrived and saw the
platform. Success! We arrived in Riomaggiore, our home in Cinque Terre for the
next 3 nights.
The rest of our week in northern Italy will be in
subsequent blog posts.
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