#lucerne boat

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moments of peace by the lake..

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rainy Lucerne..

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Rigi, Switzerland

September 9th, 2018

Went for a late afternoon hike with my dad, although it might be called something more like a walk, because we first took the train from Vitznau up to Rigi Staffelhöhe before hiking going up to Rigi Kulm. But before we did that, we made a quick detour to Rigi Rotstock to get a more panoramic view of Vitznau from above and Lake Lucerne stretching all the way from below Niederbauen-Chulm to Pilatus, the silhouette of which stood prominently in the hazy golden sunshine. Then we climbed up the cca 200 meter elevation difference to the very top, from where we now had a better view of lake Zug and the Mythen peaks behind lake Lauerz. However my eye was still draw to the mighty Pilatus and the sky that was absolutely on fire! After the sky finally recovered and turned back to blue, we made our way down, this time with a detour to the Känzeli lookout, where you can perfectly see Pilatus aligned in front of where lake Lucerne splits into four different parts. And since the haze slowly started to disappear with the cold air of the night, the stars started to shine bright and accompanied us back on our way to the Rigi Kaltbad, from where we took the train back down.

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Bauen, Switzerland

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Lake Lucerne

September 6th, 2018

This was a day of truly trying to fit in as many things into one day as possible, although the photos might not exactly reflect it, so here’s why. The day started at 5 AM in Zermatt when we woke up early in order to catch the first train out of Zermatt, because there were thunderstorms coming, so it was a good time to end the Matterhorn trip. But because we used day passes for the Swiss public transportation system, we only stayed home for a few minutes to drop our heavy backpacks and then quickly set off on another adventure to Flüelen, from where we took a boat all around Lake Lucerne. We went in between the fjords around Uri, turned sharp left in Brunnen to continue towards Vitznau, where we got off the boat and took the train up to the top of Rigi mountain, where we had a nice panoramic view of the whole lake and peaks around us. I honestly don’t know why I don’t have any photos from the top, maybe it was the fact that I only brought my half charged battery or maybe it was because the nice sunshine that had us worried about getting sunburned quickly changed into worries about getting hit by lighting, as the thunderstorms finally approached. Not going to lie though, but being at the top offered us quite a great view to watch lighting strike many many many kilometers away from us. So then we took the gondola lift down to Weggis, which has such a beautiful lakeside view and a really picturesque pier, so we had to stop to take a few photos, which turned out to be some of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken. It wasn’t just the fact that it was already raining a bit, so I was worried about not getting the camera wet, and then the camera battery was already basically dead, so it was a struggle to get the camera to work. But the dramatic clouds truly created a fantastic “mood” as the hip instagrammers refer to it nowadays. But even better than that was actually having a picturesque person walk on the pier, because the photo would feel pretty empty otherwise, but now the photo already seems to be telling a story. And I can’t forget to mention that we also had to hurry with the photos because there was a boat coming soon to Lucerne, which we wanted to get on. I have to mention this, because I’m apparently very annoying when I get stressed out about not missing a connection, whether it be a train or a boat in this case. Unfortunately by the time we got to Lucerne, it was already raining pretty hard. So although the view from the boat was still nice, the original plan to explore the city during sunset turned into buying some food in the train station grocery store and trying to wait out the storm. However, the train only got worse, so we ended up going home earlier than planned. And although this day didn’t go according to plan, the unexpected surprises, new sights and the shared adventure made the day a success nonetheless. 

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Lucerne, Switzerland

June 12th 2018 with Karman and Haley

Do you know those days that you plan out completely from start to finish, and everything goes to plan, except for one little detail? This was the first day of Karman’s and Haley’s visit to Switzerland, and that little detail was the fact that this day was one of the cloudiest ones I’ve ever seen! The plan for the day was to visit two mountain peaks and finish the day in the beautiful city of Lucerne with a boat cruise in-between on the lake. First we went up to Fronalpstock using the new funicular railway, which actually now holds the record for being the steepest in the world. And then as we took the ski lift up, it got so cold due to the elevation and all the clouds blocking the sunshine that Haley was probably close to freezing. So then we enjoyed the non-existent view at the top before hiking down to at least see some cows. Then we continued down to the lake, from where we enjoyed watching the mountains appear and disappear from the view as the clouds kept moving. (But it was a bit frustrating to see the top of Fronalpstock peak become visible only a few hours after we hiked down from it). Anyways, the boat was fun and then we took the train up to Rigi, from where we saw even less as the clouds became even more dense and quite a lot rain started coming down from the sky. So we got soaking wet before taking the train down, and then continuing with the boat again all the way to Lucerne, where we thankfully got to see the city without having to worry about the weather. And of course before we left, we saw the Rigi peak with no clouds around, which probably made me more angry than the girls since they didn’t know what sort of a view they missed out on at the top. Nonetheless, it’s always fun doing adventures with friends you haven’t seen in years, no matter what the weather might be.

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cloudy days at Lake Lucerne..

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Lucerne, Switzerland

June 12th 2017 

After getting sunburned while hiking the day prior, the cloudy weather was a nice change, so since the forecast called for a few rain showers here and there. So we headed out to the city of Lucerne where we could hide in the beautiful churches, underneath roofs of the wooden bridges, inside the city’s old walls or just get some “Flammkuchen” while it rained. But thankfully it didn’t (at least that much), and the weather was even so nice, that we ended up jumping aboard a “sunset cruise” around Lake Lucerne. And what a good decision that was, because it ended up being one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life! The peaks and fjords that surround the lake are already breathtaking enough on their own, but to experience them from the water, all while the sun was setting and the clouds started to become colorful, was one of the most beautiful sights I ever saw. Especially the very end just as the sun set in the tiny gap between the dark clouds and the lake’s surface, creating an intense orange reflection in the blue water!