This morning we left the ship around 9:30 am on an AMA excursion BUT it is not offered to everyone, you have to make special arrangements, which our travel agent Nancy Nelson did for our group. Twenty-one of us boarded a private bus and drove an hour and a half to Lake Lucerne where we first ascended to the top of Mount Pilatus and then traveled into Lake Lucerne for the afternoon. These are the "WOW" photos of the day. The day started off poorly as we drove to Lake Lucerne Kim was battling motion sickness, but by the time we exited the bus she emptied her stomach and was much better and went on like nothing happened. My wife is a trooper - and that she enjoyed the day from that point on is a testament not only to her but to how amazing the day was. Our guide Nicole got tickets for the cable car which was a two-part event. The first cable car experience - about 20-30 minutes was a four-seater and was a gentle climb half way up Mount Pilatus. Then we got on the "Dragon Cable Car" to the exceptionally steep and high climb to the top of the mountain. Each of those cars hold 55 passengers. The first cable car was a smooth ride with some amazing views. The second car was fine for the first couple of minutes then went over a standard and the whole car rocked like a ferris wheel car. NOT FUN - drew an audible gasp from several guests and I can tell you for Kim and I, it was a two-handed, white knuckle grip the rest of the final three minutes to the top. But once there - the vistas were spectacular.....
Headed To The Top
The views from the first cable car
At this point we'd reached the half-way point and we exited the smaller cable cars and got to take in the first of the spectacular views. Nancy asked our guide Nicole to take a group photo which turned out great.
We now had reached the summit and we got a brief orientation. There was a large facility inside - with a small restaurant, gift shop and lobby. And then there were two levels of viewing platforms. We climbed to the top to see the view and it was absolutely stunning. No words needed for these photos......
After spending about an hour atop the mountain it was time to return to "ground level" but not via gondola but by the Pilatus Cog Train, which is the STEEPEST COG TRAIN IN THE WORLD! But I must say that this was a very comfortable ride and there were no breath-taking, white knuckle moments.
We arrived at the bottom and were met by our bus driver who took us into Lake Lucerne where we passed the Swiss House and then took the short walk to the Lion monument.
We went back to the bus and were dropped off in the Old Town City Center. We had a little over an hour for lunch and then were given the option to have free time or take a short, about one hour walking tour of Lake Lucerne. As I told Kim, I'd much rather have someone who knows what we are looking at explain what we are seeing than to wander around aimlessly. And even though we'd been here before, for me I didn't want to come all this way to just sit, so we opted for the tour. Much to our surprise and delight, Kim and I were the only ones who opted for the tour so we got a very personalized tour of the Old Town. It was wonderful!
We returned to the bus to find everyone else waiting for us and we had a smooth trip back to the ship where we had one last dinner and said a fond farewell the wait staff. Tomorrow 86 of us from the ship will board two charter busses for the trip to Lake Como. We have an excursion along the way and our hotel is a spa-resort so you can look forward to photos of that tomorrow!
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