18 Oct (Sat)
Woke up early at 6am this morning for an early breakfast before heading to Interlaken Ost station for the 8.04am train to Lucerne. We were on the Golden Pass Line with breathtaking scenery. Highly recommended! It's autumn so the trees are in varying shades of green, yellow & brown against the backdrop of gargantuan snow cap mountains with a river in the front looks amazing!
Will definitely miss Switzerland! In fact, was already thinking of returning here while enjoying the paranomic view on the train.
Arrived in Lucerne at around 10am and was looking for our hotel which is on the banks of River Reuss, in the heart of Lucerne's old town.
Today is Saturday so we're lucky to catch their fortnightly Reuss River Market. the area was bustling with activities from stalls selling vegetables & fruits to meats, breads, flowers and cafes for breakfast.
There was also a cheese festival where we got try cheese bites & see Alphorn Blowing performance and even live baby sheep!
We had lunch at McDonalds near Lucerne Station. Gerald had the McEmmentaler burger which was delicious. A mac meal in Switzerland cost a whopping CHF 11.90!
The staff from Collyers Travel whom we got our Eurail Pass from highly recommended Mount Titlis for some fun with snow. Mount Titlis at 3,020m is the highest viewpoint in Lake Lucerne Region.
Scenic views on the way to Mt Titlis...
Especially loved the grass grazing cows with the huge bells around their neck...
After an hour Zentralbahn train ride from Lucerne, we've to take 3 different cable-cars from Engelberg (stopping-by in Trubsee & Stand) before transferring to the Rotair, the first revolving gondola of the world.
Going up via the Cable Car...
The view from Titlis Glacier Park.
Locals regularly come up for skiing & snowboarding.
Enjoyed a generous scoop of Movenpick ice-cream on Mt Titlis.
Lucerne city is more modern & it is extremely cyclist-friendly with dedicated lanes with traffic lights for cyclists. One can only take their bicycles or dogs on the train.
KKL Luzern (Culture & Convention Centre) on Europa Sq, one of the finest concert halls in the world.
Kapellbrucke Chapel Bridge which was constructed during first half of the 14th century &Water Tower on the background.
Similar to the other European countries, shops in Switzerland close by evening time. Late night shopping till 9pm is possible on Wed Thur. Shops close early on Sat and are totally closed on Sun.
We had dinner at Pickwick Pub below our hotel while watching the Man U match live on TV. Totally enjoyed my delicious fish & chips (replaced with salad).. Oh, how I missed vegetables!
19 Oct (Sun)
We decided to make an impromptu stopover in Zurich city before heading to the airport for our flight at 10pm. We therefore woke up early for the 9.10am train to Zurich city.
Took a stroll along Reuss River before checking out from the hotel. Streets was quiet & extremely peaceful around the river with white swan doing their morning cleanup.
Our hotel is totally self-service. Since we've made payment the day before, we just had to drop the key off at a checkout box when making the way out.
Arrived in Zurich after a short 40mins train ride. The train station is big & modern and there was even an Oktoberfest canival in the station today. Tourist info centre in Zurich is very friendly, providing brochures on all regions of Switzerland.
Walking along Limat River which splits the city centre.
Dual- towered Grossmunster
13th century Fraumunster
Tower of St Peterskirche, has Europe's largest clock face @ 8.7m diameter.
Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich's infamous shopping street with all the big brands.
Wanted to checkout Sprungli, said to be the mother of all chocolate shops & a legacy in Zurich. Unfortunately it's not open on Sun.
We head back to Zurich HB Station and to my surprise, there was the Sprungli shop! Happily got 2 small little choco pastry at CHF 5 to try. ;)
We also chance upon Marche. Happily heading in for lunch. Everything is so expensive in Switzerland so we ordered sparingly to share. Simply loved Marche's food.. =)
Train ride to Zurich Flughafen only took 10 mins. Did last minute chocolate gift shopping in Migros & Coop
Our final dinner.. Prosciutto Pizza for me & Emmentaler Burger for Gerald. Finally Kit Kat McFlurry which is not available in Sg yet.
Loved Switzerland & will definitely be back someday! =)
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