After the classical beauty of Florence, and the easy going ways of the Italians, Lucerne and Switzerland were very different. It was also getting a lot colder (two layers of long sleeves) but like some other places Lucerne had something for me to cross off on my bucket list, and this 'to do job' involved seeing Lake Lucerne.
I expected the Lake to be beautiful, and it was.
Seeing it and listening to my iPod gave the chance to "cross another one off the list!" That was to listen to a particular piece of music whilst actually looking at the Lake itself not a photo.
Many years ago, the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov wrote a beautiful piece of music called Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini. Because he was Russian, and I think Jewish, or from some other minority group, he had spent his whole life on the run, avoiding persecution from just about everyone. By the time he reached Lucerne, he was rich enough, and famous enough, to buy himself a little house and settle down by the lake. It is said that he wrote this piece of music while looking at the Lake and thinking about how fortunate he was to at last have friends, home and family, which brought him peace and happiness. Although my life has had far fewer dramatic upheavals than Rachmaninov, I also believe I have had much good fortune to marry into a family who accept me and care for me for who I am, and that I have been fortunate enough to have a family of my own. So I think it was fitting to pay homage to the great man, his feelings and his music, and to all my family too.
After passing the Lake we had to get to the town which meant passing through a long tunnel which had been cut into the mountain. Luckily for us the Swiss Police had closed it down. This was lucky because although it added a lot of time to our journey we had to drive through a pass over the mountain instead, which had lots of beautiful Alpine Scenes.
We got to the Town of Lucerne by late afternoon. Whilst some of the others went off on an optional trip to go yodelling or flag throwing or something, Julie and I took the chance to go into the town itself. It really is the quant little Alpine town that should be in a fairy story. The wooden bridge is nearly a thousand years old I think.
The day finished in an Italian restaurant before home to bed, because the next day was a trip up into the Alps. I thought nothing could equal the mountain views that we saw from The Eagles Nest in Germany earlier. I was wrong!
October 8th Day 2 Lucerne Up into The Alps,
The day had not started well with forecasts of cold temperatures, rain, and perhaps fog. Not the ideal weather to go Alpine sightseeing. However all due precautions were made: Everyone was wrapped up warm, a hearty breakfast was to be eaten by all (No excuses, you'll need it) and once on board the coach, another tot of Schnappes was rationed out to keep out the cold and for preventative medicine purposes.
A short drive took us to the cog wheel train which would take us up the mountain. We were told forty minutes to go up, thirty minutes to come down.
"You're joking right?!" Then I remembered being told by more than one person that the Swiss don't have much of a sense of humour they prefer fact, so it must be true. My apologies to any Swiss person reading this. Remember I was only in Switzerland as a tourist, so didn't get to know you very well. However once we climbed on to the cog wheel train... the magic started
Once we got to the top we were very very lucky. The sky has cleared with just an occasional high cloud drifting by to mist up the view, and the temperatures were only cold enough to make the moisture under foot a bit slippery here and there. The only big building at the top of the mountain was an old hotel, which had been used as a location for the film "Where Eagles Dare
No words, music, or pictures can adequately describe how magnificent and awe inspiring it all was. I remember thinking that although I had flown over these Alps at sunset on my migrant flight to Australia, and I thought them magnificent then, I never imagined I would be standing amongst them admiring their glory.
Once back down another glass of Schnappes was taken to warm us up on the way home. The day ending with a very nice meal near our hotel.
No comments:
Post a Comment