On top of the World

The cog railway took maybe 20 minutes of continuous climbing before leveling out at the station near the summit of Pilatus.

The first thing that struck me was how warm it was up there- 65 degrees F and how many people were already there. You can see one of the two hotels on the extreme left: the Pilatus Kulm hotel. There was an outdoor restaurant there. Some people have already climbed the stairs to the highest point. Everyone is dressed for colder temperatures, including us.

This is the second hotel, the Bellevue, next to the cable car station which is how we were getting back  down later

There is a 1300 feet drop below the cable car after it leaves the station. It's a big car holding about 30 people and takes you down to another station where you change into small 4 seat gondolas  for the ride back to ground level.

For now we are on level ground at the summit and enjoying the sunshine and the view. There ae some tunnels cut into the rock and viewing windows have been carved out as you can see from the rock in this photograph. Hidden below these windows are heavy gun emplacements for defense....

Looking in the opposite direction- he cog railway came up next to the rocks on the left, hugging close to them. There are also trails for hikers and some had walked up from Alpnachstad.

You can see a little white church along the ridge of the mountain down below!

Lucerne and the surrounding towns laid out below

We entered one of the tunnels to look through those carved windows

One of the things that made our time on the mountain even more special was a man with an alpenhorn who played from time to time. Hard to play in tune obviously as it is so long but the sound from it wafted through the air and echoed off the surrounding cliffs. A very soft, haunting sound.

There were many wooden deck chairs laid out and some were occupied by people relaxing in the sun.
Carol was one of these. The fresh Alpine air and the warm sun ensured that they all would be taking a short nap.

After a couple of hours on the mountain top and already past noon we were getting hungry. The outdoor restaurant was serving and wonderful smells drifted in the warm breeze and glasses of cold beer sparkled in the sun. It was time to eat and in my case sit down for a while.

The food was, as expected, simple and good. Weinerschnitzel* with crisp French fries for me, washed down with some ice-cold beer and for Carol a wonderful charcuterie platter, with pate, cold meats and cheeses with crunchy fresh pickles. We will definitely eat there again and who knows-we may spend a night in a hotel atop Pilatus. Sunset and sunrise up there must be spectacular!

* Weinerschnitzel you'll notice is one of my favorite foods and I even cook it for us at home. It says "Europe" to me and not something you'll see on American menus.

All the while we were there the cog train and the cable car when shuttling people to and from the summit. By 5 pm all the tourists will be gone and the hotel guests will have the place to themselves.
Hopefully one day we can experience that peace for ourselves.

A man launched himself off the top on a hanglider and soared above us in the warm currents for some time. The Alpenhorn sounded softly. Beer glasses clinked and there was laughter. People posed for photographs or continued their nap in the sun. The gift shop was busy selling souvenirs.

It's a place you can spend hours relaxing in. The views are mesmerizing.

What goes up.....must come down and it was eventually time for us to return to Lucerne, so we made our way to the cable car station and got in a car with a dozen other people for the journey down to Kriens, where we would catch a bus back to the city.

The big cable car, swinging back and forth as it leaves the station and in mid-air 1300 feet above the green pastures below, only takes you part of the way-the steepest part and then at another station you exit and catch a small red gondola, one of maybe 80 in constant motion along the cables down to street level. We jumped into number 56 and had it to ourselves for the next 25 minutes as we came lower and lower, maybe 50 feet above the meadows where cows wore bells (more cowbell!) and that sound really travels on the hills. We loved that easy ride, passing so many cars coming uphill along the way, along a tall avenue cut through the lofty pine trees, then over the rooftops of the houses as we got closer to our destination.

A leisurely bus ride with many stops and we were back by the bridge in Lucerne within 30 minutes of arriving from the mountain. A great excursion!