Tour of Europe - Switzerland

Switzerland was beautiful. On our bus ride in, we were surrounded by mountains and cascading waterfalls. Two of Theresa's favorite things.

For dinner we were treated to a Swiss Folk Show at the Stadtkeller.

Swiss fondue (or as I presume they call it here, just fondue). 

Our table was right next to the stage.

We had a very fun energetic server.

Up on the stage there were lots of demonstrations going on. I went up and tried my hand at the Alphorn.

There was traditional dancing and singing.

It was a lot of fun.

Flag throwing

Dancing

As we left we learned our server's last name was Flowers (or some version of it) too.

The next day we found ourselves at the base of Mount Pilatus.

The ride up was so quiet and peaceful, except every once in a while, you'd heard a clanging bell. Eventually we figured out it was from the cows that were grazing below us, and the bells they had on their necks.

The top had beautiful blue skies and we were above even the clouds.

Some of those cows we'd heard on the way up.

We were above the clouds, but then they came rolling in and it got cold! I felt like we were in Cloud City from Star Wars. Time for a hot beverage to warm up.

On the way down, we took the Pilatus Railway, the steepest cog railway in the world.

To round it out, a ferry took us across Lake Lucerne to where we started (known as the Golden Round Trip in the tourism industry).

While out on the water, Theresa got a surprise. Her very first bee sting! And it's a good thing she wasn't allergic! That wouldn't have been fun to deal with out over the water.

Next, we were left to explore on our own. T and I found the Lion of Lucerne, a tribute to the fallen Swiss Guards during the French Revolution.

It's massive. 30 feet long and 18 feet tall.

Switzerland and Lucerne were just beautiful.