{"id":3813,"date":"2012-08-15T14:52:44","date_gmt":"2012-08-15T18:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1_1345056764"},"modified":"2018-08-12T04:12:52","modified_gmt":"2018-08-12T04:12:52","slug":"boats-cable-cars-and-cog-railways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cncadventures.com\/?p=3813","title":{"rendered":"Boats, Cable Cars, and Cog Railways"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vitznau,  Switzerland <\/strong>Wednesday, August 15, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Cable Car Above Weggis<\/p><\/div>\n

Another great day being a couple of observers in the European world. We left Lucerne on the 0812 steam paddle wheeler for a short ride to the village of Weggis. A fairly steep 15 minute walk which had us sweating, landed us at the base of the Rigi Bahn Cable car. Our first cable car which is like a oversized gondola and stands around 40-50 people. It is also a much steeper ride up then a ski lift would be and sways eerily when you pass one of the massive poles holding the cable pulleys. Although there was still some haze, this morning was the clearest one we have had yet in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

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Carol in the Front Seat<\/p><\/div>\n

From the top of the cable car, we boarded a cog railway to the top of Mount Rigi. This was the first cog railway in Switzerland and has been in operation since 1871. At the last stop we got out and walked up a short way to the summit of Mount Rigi. We had the high Alps to one side of us with snow on some peaks and a large glacier on others. We could see Lake Luzern, back to the town and another large lake nearby.
\nWe walked back to the station and took a joy ride on another cog railway to the town of Goldau. It did not look pedestrian friendly by the station so we stayed on the railway back to the top where we changed trains for our final descent to Vitznau, home for the night. We did eat a lunch of bread and cheese on the way back up to Rigi.<\/p>\n

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Our Vitznau Hotel<\/p><\/div>\n

The railway to Vitznau was pretty full so we went to the front car and snagged a seat right in front next to the driver. We could really see and feel the steepness and understand why the cogs are needed. In Vitznau, we left the station for the long 200 feet walk to the hotel. The room is nice, clean, and has a view of the Swiss Mountains and a peek a boo lake view as well. However, it is hot in the room and there is no A\/C so we shutter it up and hope the sun is off it later and it cools off.
\nVitznau is a lot different after the hustle and bustle of Lucerne. It is a not much to do kind of town, so we blend right in, sharing a bench by the lake with an old woman eating some ice cream. We eat the rest of our bread and cheese and after watching a local girl go down a ladder and swim in the lake, my inner child beckons again. In just my shorts, I jump in. It is cold but in a pleasant way, not where you have an immediate urge to get the heck out. I get out and Carol says she did not get a good picture, so in I go again. Now it is Carols turn and she gives the local boys a show in her sports bra and bikini underwear. She too gets refreshed and we sit on the bench watching the paddle wheel steamers come and go as we dry off.<\/p>\n

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Steam Paddle Wheeler<\/p><\/div>\n

We then walk the streets of Vitznau, visit two small churches and the town museum, and decide on a place for dinner. We go back to the hotel to dump off our day pack and have a beer in their bar. The bar tender is from Slovakia and has only been in Switzerland a week. He has been working in Germany but says the economy is better here for work. They must pay well as he does not think the prices are that bad here. He speaks pretty good English which he says a colleague in Germany, from Ireland, helped him with. He is also self taught in German, French, And Polish. It still amazes us how people learn so many languages here and the different ways that they learn them.
\nOur dinner place was a local restaurant where we were the only non-locals, and after being given the English menu, we order off their special board written in German. Both dishes were very good but not exactly what we thought we were ordering. We shared as usual and as far as we could tell there were no internal organs of any animals on our plates!
\nThis may be the last update for 5-7 days as we will be hiking on Friday and staging in a small hut tomorrow. I may also have to start removing pictures from my older blogs as the IPad keeps resynching all the entries and it is taking longer and longer to post. The re- synching of all the pictures in the old blogs takes the longest so unless I figure a better way they may go for now. Catch up if you haven’t seen them.
\nCNC
\n“It’s a hot one, like seven inches from the noon day sun” – Carlos Santana<\/strong><\/p>\n

Expenses
\n3.15SF- loaf of bread and a croissant
\n6.90SF- 2 beers in the bar
\n49.80SF- 2 dinners and 2 small beers
\n150SF- Hotel Rigi<\/p>\n

Miles Walked – 3.5 Miles<\/p>\n\n\t\t