More of Day 3. Luzerne to Lugano

The trip on the William Tell paddle steamer was excellent and the scenery stunning. Pictures will follow soon but the one here is taken from the steamer on the Lake.We were a little disappointed with the two course lunch....we were given a voucher for CHF 18.50, and most things on the menu were 24 or over, so this left little for a full meal. Luckily we had a fairly substantial breakfast so we only needed a snack. We had several beers, bottled, and at 4.90 Swiss Francs a shot it meant that if we had 3 each it would blow our meal ticket sky high. However, all was well, and although with food and drink we went a little over our allowance, the nice lady on board said we didn't need to pay any more. We will pass our comments on to the Swiss travel service so they can update their meal vouchers...perhaps.  The picture here was taken on board where we had our meal.........very nice...dating from 1929.

We are currently on the William Tell Express train on our way to Bellinzona and eventually Lugano. The weather has changed considerably for the worse. We left Lake Luzerne in brilliant hot sunshine, and now up in the mountains there is low cloud and it is raining. Perhaps it will stop by the time we need too change trains.15.09.

22:04...well another day of travel!!  No hitches, changing trains was a doddle and some of the scenery from the train was stunning once again.  The weather was still a little on the bleak side but we passed many large waterfalls tumbling from the mountains and could see lots of snow on them tha' hills!  We had no trouble finding our next hotel where we will stay tonight and also tomorrow night, giving us a free day to explore Lugano in more detail.  We took a short walk down to the lakeside and town......which is quite steep and has a cable car to get you back up again!  Looking at the times of running we made sure that our return journey would not involve a breathless walk up the side of a mountain......however.............after eating a nice Itlalian meal of pasta and pizza 'lika mumma usta maka', we discovered the cable car was closed!  Oh no!  A voice in the distance called......'over here'......it was a bus driver, sitting waiting patiently to take the abandoned passengers up the side of the hill.  So....our first cable car ride turned into a bus ride instead, but we all felt jolly lucky we didn't have to walk!

Day 3...I think!

Loosing track of the days already!  Today we board the William Tell Paddle Steamer across lake Luzerne to Fluelen.  Then a train ride to Laguna.  More of that later.

We had a fabulous night last night.  After having a mediocre meal at an extortionate price, we found a small, smoky (yes, no rules out here it seems) bar where the locals play a very strange game of cards with even stranger playing cards! After a bit of negotiating we managed to borrow a pack....mmmm...we've taken some pics of them so will get them posted soon.  They consisted of Kunig (King), Ober (we named Queen), Under( our Jack), a strange 10 and the rest of the pack up to 6.  Each suit was an acorn, a flower, shield and.....orbs.  But we had a great time making up our own games of gin and trumps.  We laughed so much the whole place thought we were mad and wondered why we could make their local card game to funny!

I think my internet connection is about to time out, so will leave this  now and write some more when we next hit a wifi hotspot.  We are having a great time! xx

Day 2- Lucerne

Hi all you intrepid followers!  We made it to Lucerne......in our 2nd class 1st  class carriage!  Yes, we were supposed to be in 1st class but completely missed the two carriages at the front of the train and ended up in the last carriage in 2nd class.  However, all was well as we were the only ones in there apart from one brave fellow traveler!  Lucerne is lovely, much better than where we stayed last night in Basel, where we witnessed some poor soul getting a kicking outside the train station and when we walked down the road every one of the shop front windows looked like they had been attacked with a hammer or a hand gun!!

Today we wandered slowly around Lucerne taking in the sights.  First we had breakfast/brunch in a small bar where we ordered what we thought was sausage, eggs and whatever it was we couldn't pronounce on the menu.  Only to find out that we had coffee, croissants , bread and jam!  Oh well, the joys of traveling. Nothing is in English and they seem to speak a lingo all there own which we have christened swingo or swerman as it is a combination of German and something completely different!

We are getting by and wondering what dinner has in store for us!  We struck lucky last night and went for a pizza......ordered pasta....but it was the best that any of us had ever had so we were well chuffed.  We went into an Irish bar today......yes I know, not very Swiss, but the beer was cheap and we had three ltrs of the stuff, before getting back to the hotel and now everyone is snoozing while I update the blog.I'm having trouble uploading the pics we took today, but hope to have this sorted soon.  In the meantime, here is a picture of the river through Lucerne which running mighty fast!

On Our Way!!

Well, we are on our way at last. Picked up on time at 06:00 by minibus, got to Cambridge an hour early so caught an earlier train to Kings X.  Presently sitting having a lovely coffee after gin and tonics on the train!!  Care of Sue, who kindly provided glasses and lemon! 

Pre-Trip Nerves......

You're lucky! I have a wedding to oversee and have to ring the bells as well...take the dogs to Nick's to be looked after, finish packing, water the plants.......have a nervous breakdown worrying whether I've forgotten anything....like the tickets or my passport.....stuff Richard in his rucksack......have a drink......have another drink......have some beer, then another drink....oh...go to bed....get up and then......and THEN...................... GO ON HOLIDAY!!!!!! JB

Well its nearly upon us

Well its nearly upon us and I have produced our currency convertor on the back of my business cards. They are durable & lightweight - so not too heavy for Bushy to carry but easy for Sue to lose!!. Have got a hockey club hen do to fit in the day before i go so should be nicely relaxed for a 6.00am departure. Fran

Some Comments !!!!!

Chris - Enjoy, remember no beer is too expensive!


Teresa - I shall be following your Blog with interest, particularly as there is a comedy element, already evident in your initial musings!

Nicky - £10 a pint…ouchhhh! You’ll be on detox then!!!!!

Kus – Dark chocolate please!

Nearly time for the off!

Well, time is ticking away and we are ready to go.  The tickets have arrived, the currency is here.....we have started to gather our bits and bobs ready to pack........oh joys!  Richard has invested in vacuum pack bags and has succeeded in packing EVERYTHING (so he tells me) in a small daysack with a total weight of 4.2kg.  Mmmmmm, now there's a challenge!  Maybe that means I carry all the heavy stuff!  I still can't decide whether to take my netbook or rely on my phone for posting blog updates.  The netbook has started to crash and the wifi is not reliable......will have to think on that some more.  Maybe I take both, then I have a back-up. Now.....do I take a rucksack.....or a case....or both!  HEEELLPPP!!!!
xx

Almost ready for the off

Well, at last all the different elements of our trip have been finalised.  The Swiss Francs arrived this morning along with the Euros. 'Hopefully' the travel documents will arrive next Tuesday!

As far as we can tell, we've only made one 'tiny' mistake.......well, it was ME really.  I have booked us in to the Hotel Central in Basel, only to find that it must be one of THE worst in the country!!  Oh well, never mind, at least it's only one night.  With any luck we'll be so travel weary, that we will slip nicely into an alocohol induced deep sleep....ready for the early start in the morning!!  YIPPEEE....can't wait!

Early Entry

An early entry to test the system. We still have to book the train from Attleborough to Kings X. At the moment bookings are only available up to April. This is the same for the flight home. We are getting impatient, and want everything booked NOW!!!! Talk is all about travel and food....things we can do/see. Oh and who can pack the lightest bag! Richard says he's going to cut the handle off his toothbrush...........JB has limited her supply of knickers....Fran and Jo are squabbling over whose going to carry what and Sue is just plain panicking!!