Stunning Switzerland (III) - LUZERN/ ZURICH/ ST GALLEN

LUZERN/ LUCERNE, ZURICH & ST GALLEN

25-26 March 2008

Considering how late this is coming out, i shall attempt (as i have in vain the past posts) to keep this short.

i can hear my primary school classmate, shawn, heaving a sigh of relief now.

I shall also take the opportunity to try producing more photos for mummy's close examination, by putting them up on a separate site, links below.

LUZERN

An hour south of Basel and Zürich, and boasting invigorating mountain views,
lake cruises and a picturesque old quarter, LUZERN (Lucerne in French and
English, Lucerna in Italian) has long been one of Europe’s most heavily
touristed towns. The River Reuss splits the town, flowing rapidly out of the
northwestern end of the lake. River banks on both sides are clustered with
medieval squares, frescoed houses, ancient guildhalls, churches and chapels, and
filled with a liveliness that belies the city’s age. Whether you’re charmed by
Luzern’s sense of history and tradition, or by the misty lake at its doorstep
and the snow-capped Pilatus rising above, or even by its nightlife, charmed is
what you’ll be.

Maccann and Luyi were really nice to go with us even though they've already been there once before. poor bingkai had to stay home because some guy was coming to repair the bathroom window (when it wasn't even spoilt). If we went prepared to be charmed, the first emotions that greeted us were that of disappointment. The weather didn't treat us too well, with strong winds at the top of Mt Pilatus (better known as the 'ricola mountain') because it was supposed to be really beautiful, and also 'cause it has a long toboggan run which you can use to get some way down the mountain, and that costs nothing!

Pilatus was named after a local legend which alleges that Pontius Pilate was buried there.

Pilatus has the longest summer toboggan track in Switzerland (0.88 miles or 1.350 km) and the biggest suspension rope park in Central Switzerland.

Nonetheless, the walk around the city proved to be a profitable one, and like a typical swiss city, the whole sense of nature engulfing the town gives a very calming effect. There were also hardly any tourists around, though the shops there were well armed (with banners in japanese and chinese) to deal with hordes of tourists who will probably descend on the peaceful little town in summer.

However, luyi and maccann had to abandon us halfway because of an urgent recall from bingkai to head back home, after an attempted break-in at their place. Thank God bingkai decided to stay home that morning/afternoon. Nothing was stolen, and i hope nothing happens to their place since they have since left for a 3 week holiday...



Zurich, St Gallen

we only had a short 1 hour there, so jianfeng, david and i decided to split up. david headed to see the famous buildings in zurich which included some churches and the river; jianfeng wanted to just walk around; i wanted to see if i could do some shopping and see the churches on the way. it turned out that i couldn't afford anything much on that street, so i went in search of st peter's church instead, because it supposedly has this huge clock face thats the largest in europe. i thought that the fastest way to get there would have been to just keep walking towards the clock tower. but that took me through numerous tiny alleys and i found some cute exotic shops.

but the weather was also quite bad and I was none too keen on taking too many pictures because that would require me to take my hands out of my pockets. hence the incredibly few pictures i have of such a famous city. i would hardly call it a city though, it still looked like a small swiss town to me, although admittedly busier and noisier. the onimous alps with its towering presence, coupled with the lack of tall modern-ish buildings make the city a pleasant one.

time moved a lot faster than the general pace of that city though, all 3 of us reported to the platform, just in time to catch our train back to st gallen - our home in switzerland.

ST GALLEN

this time, bingky met us at the train station and showed us around the city centre of the puny little german-speaking town of st gallen. again, the snow made the city lights look like christmas lights and helped to hurry us along our walk down the main street. back in the warmth of the apartment, we helped to cook cabonara for dinner and proceeded to have a feast that night. luyi also whipped up curry pork, and then we had chocolate and cheese fondue with the cheap 70 cents ikea chocolate (ikea choc rocks - cheap and good. why don't they have it in singapore, or copenhagen for that matter?! argh) btw, the st gallen trio prepared 10 bars each, as a welcome gift for jf and me. how sweet! we're carefully and slowly savouring them back here in copenhagen, a land deprived of good, cheap chocolate. anyway, for some strange reason, we didn't take many proper shots of us in the apartment as well, wasted. it was a good dinner. laughing and chatting and feeling like we're home with friends, yet so far away from home. i guess home is in the heart- it doesn't always have to be physical. though it would be nice to finally go home physically, soon enough.



i love switzerland. i could retire there, maybe?