Land Trip - Europe (Day 39: Lucerne - Interlaken, Switzerland)

8 Sept 2011 (Day 39)

Lucerne

Woke up early to go to Mount Pilatus. It is a beautiful mountain near Lucerne and one of the must-go places here.

Took a cable car up the mountain and then I have to change to another cable car at about 3/4 of the journey. Then it became colder and colder and colder......and colder....

The cable car will bring you to a tourist viewing gallery. From there you can walk out and up to the peak of the mountain.

(Above the clouds in the cable car)

The moment I stepped out of the viewing gallery, I almost froze to death!! It was so cold and the wind wasn't helping. Suddenly, I realised that I was under-dressed. Way under-dressed. Super under-dressed.

(At the peak of Mount Pilatus. I'm cold, that's why.)

I have to force myself to walk to the peak, which is not very far from the gallery. Once there, I have to withstand the cold and the wind to take video and photos. It was crazily cold. I think my fingers went numb after a while. 

The peak of Mount Pilatus is 2,128 meters high. And I can tell you that this is one of the best experience in this whole trip!

(This is how I do video recording of myself. Hey, it's not easy ok!)

More pics!!!

(If you are wondering, Yes, that is my underwear! Ok, stop starring, will you?)

It shows that I've been losing weight after traveling for 39 days! Even my pants couldn't hold up!

(I'm on top of the world, baby!!!) 

 

What else can I say?

Just so you know, I was still in the process of freezing. I had to smile as if it was normal. The temperature was hovering at about 5 degrees Celsius. And I was only wearing 2 thin layers!

Just before I turned into ice, I went back into the gallery to defrost myself. Then I took the world's steepest Cogwheel Railway down to Alpnachstad.

From there, I took a train back to Lucerne. 

Went to The Lion Monument. I was amazed at how the dying lion was carved from the rock of the cliff! 

(The Lion Monument)

A lot people call The Lion Monument as the The Dying Lion. But the actual name is "The Lion Monument" and not "The Dying Lion". Even though the The Lion Monument shows a dying lion. Get it?

Anyway, the monument commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. It is really intricate and I can appreciate the details of the carving. Perfectly done.

After that, I went to buy a Swiss Army Knife and had my name engraved on it! (After all, I'm in Switzerland!) Got some Swiss Chocolate from the flagship store of Bucherer (the place where they sell luxury watches like Rolex). Don't ask me why they sell Chocolate in that super high class place. The chocolate was cheap. And very good too! They say that when you are in Switzerland, you don't really have to go to those specialty shop to buy Chocolate. You can just go to the supermarket and randomly buy a bar of Chocolate and it will taste good!

I went back to the hostel, got my bags, and off I went to the train station. Next stop: Interlaken, Switzerland.

Interlaken

Reached Interlaken in the evening after a short train ride. Interlaken is a small city between 2 Alpine lakes.

I heard many good things about the cheese fondue in Switzerland and I've yet to try it. So I went to this seemingly popular restaurant in the city center to try. And I regretted trying there. 

First, the service was lousy. Real lousy. Second, the wait was very long. Real long. I waited for 20mins to have my order taken and then waited for another 20mins to for my food to arrive. Maybe it was even longer. Third, the quality of the food (Cheese fondue) was bad. Real bad. I was disappointed. Forth, the price was expensive. Real expensive. That is not the place to try Cheese fondue. Please DO NOT go to Des Alps Restaurant if you are ever in Interlaken. Totally spoiled my impression of Cheese Fondue in Switzerland. Not worth my time and money at all. Lesson learnt. 

Went to shop around for Swiss Watches (I'm in Switzerland, remember?) and went back to sleep.

After going up to the peak of Mount Pilatus, MY LIFE WAS NEVER, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.........................EEEE............EEVER, THE SAME, AGAIN!!!

Land Trip - Europe (Day 38: Milan, Italy - Lucerne, Switzerland)

7 Sept 2011 (Day 38)

Milan

I decided to make a reservation for the train ride to Milan. Just to be safe. 

This time, I had a sleeper bed in a 4-bed cabin. Was sharing the cabin with an old Italian Couple. I felt they were scared of me for some reason. They were staring at me the whole time I was going in! Kinda uneasy you know.

I felt wrong. The next morning, the couple offered me a cup of Italian Coffee and a piece of cake. Initially, I didn't want it because I was afraid that they didn't like me and wanted to poison me with the drink! Ok, just kidding. Of course, I accepted their kind gesture and I got to taste the best coffee in the whole of Europe! Hey, that was home-made Italian Coffee! It was black coffee but it was perfectly sweet and perfectly fragrant. I thought it was going to be bitter but the sweetness was just perfect.

I can't really compare it to the Vietnamese Coffee that I drank in Vietnam because they are different. Both are just as good! But if you were to force me make a decision on which one I prefer, I would say the home-made Italian Coffee from the Italian couple. Because it was special. Never tasted coffee like that before. 

After a great small cup of coffee, I arrived in Milan with my mouth full of coffee smell. Great coffee smell I must add.

I took the Metro and went to Duomo di Milano (or Milan Cathedral). The Gothic Cathedral took nearly 600 years to complete and is the forth largest cathedral in the world!

(Duomo di Milano)

Went to the mother of all shopping malls in Milan - Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. An upscale shopping mall with boutiques such as Louis Vuitton and Prada. It is just beside Duomo di Milan. 

(Galleria Vittorio Emanuele)

Walked around the streets of the City of Fashion. Just in case you do not know, Milan is not only the home of Armani, Bulgari, Gucci, Versace, Valentino & Prada. It is also the home of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, The Last Supper.

(A street in Milan)

There was a Restaurant in Milan called Paper Moon that was highly recommended. I was told that they serve very good pasta. So I wanted to try their Carbonara since it was supposed to be very good. But when I finally found the place, it wasn't opened yet. It was 11am. The restaurants in Milan open only at 12:30pm. That is Italian time, I was told.

My train departing Milan was at 1pm so I would not have the time to eat there. What a pity! I will go back to Milan again!

So I resigned to the fact that I can only eat Milanese food at the cafes along the streets. I thought that it should be ok since I was in Milan. The thing is that, the pastas in the cafes are all "pre-prepared" pastas. I ordered Carbonara and hoped for the best. It was awful.

I can't believe that the Pasta (Carbonara) could taste so bad in Milan. I know I was at a Cafe and not a Restaurant. But surely it couldn't be that bad? Seriously, I can cook better Carbonara than that and I'm not even boasting. (But hey, my Carbonara is really very good. Better than some restaurants in Singapore! Yes, now I'm boasting.) I was greatly disappointed with the Pasta and decided that I need to eat something better to compensate that.

I saw a pastry cafe while I was walking and noticed the number of people inside. It must be good. At least the smell was. Went inside and bought a slice of pizza that many people were eating. 

Rushed back to the train station and boarded the train. Ate the pizza and it was superb. Great Italian Pizza! At least I ate something nice in Milan!

Off I went to Lucerne, Switzerland!

Lucerne, Switzerland

Arrived in Lucerne after 3 hours at about 4pm. The view from the train ride was spectacular.

I immediately fell in love with Switzerland.

Lucerne is soooooo beautiful with its pristine lake and the Swiss Alps. I can't stop smiling as I walked around the place.

Went to one of the city's landmarks - Chapel Bridge. This is the oldest wooden bridge in the whole of Europe!

(Chapel Bridge)

Walked around the Old Town and went back to the hostel. It was already late by then..... A long day....

After drinking the best home-made Italian Coffee, MY LIFE WAS NEVER, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE......................................EEEE.................................EEVER, THE SAME, AGAIN!!!