Our Train Adventure 9th September

We bade farewell to Fribourg early on a Saturday morning, to set out on a scenic trip to Lugano via the Gotthard Panorama express. Our first stop after travelling for two hours on the train, was Lucerne, where we boarded the good ship fluelen along with several hundred others to cross the lake. It was a three hour journey in the very hot sun, so when it was our turn to cross the gangplank, the only seats left were on the sunny upper deck. Fortunately, I talked Ray into swimming against the tide of people, to make our way downstairs and into the first class dining area. No one kicked us out so we took up a position at a large window and enjoyed the ride without sunburn. 

The Gotthard express was waiting for us at the end of the lake. Although already having spent a small fortune on the tickets, we thought it totally fitting to expend even more by buying champagne to sip whilst marvelling at the spectacular scenery. It was truly worth it. 

Arriving in Lugano, another picturesque city on a lake, we thought it would be only a five minute walk to our accommodation. It turned out that it was only five minutes, if we had walked straight to it, but we had to walk up and down stairs (Lugano is rather hilly) go into wrong buildings, take wrong directions and listen to advice from volunteer helpers who had as much of a clue as us. Finally, Ray was able to track down the owner, who whatsapped him, so that he could show her where we were. Eventually we found our room in a block of units, only 100 meters away.

We decided to spend our last night in Switzerland at an expensive restaurant (they are all expensive in Switzerland). Luckily it was early for dining, as we had not booked, and we could only get a table if we were gone by 9pm, as others had made a reservation. Lugano is near the Italian border, so everyone speaks and cooks Italian. I had the most delicious ravioli. The water we ordered came in a bottle and cost almost as much as the two glasses of wine that we enjoyed. We didn't much enjoy the sixty million steps that we had to walk up on our journey home.

This morning we walked down the sixty million steps and took in the sights of the town, by walking along the lake front for 11 kms. We had time to kill before our train departed for Bologna in the afternoon. We came across a car show where we found the smallest car and the latest e-kombi van. There was also a sports expo in the botanical gardens, including fencing and rock climbing. I am sure Ray would have liked to participate, but the five year-olds would have been a bit shocked.

We decided to boycott the steps and took the funicular to the train station, where we waited alongside every smoker in the town. They were making up for future lost smoking time, as fortunately it is forbidden on trains. Apparently in Switzerland smoking is allowed most places and is regarded as a fundamental human right. Ray was feeling a bit queasy by this stage, so the smoking didn't help. Finally the train arrived, and we waved goodbye to Switzerland.

We changed trains in Milan and had an incredibly fast journey to Bologna. Italian trains are fantastico - Ray's ability to find our lodgings not so much. After the debacle of the previous evening, he had detailed instructions to find our next apartment. Unfortunately, the SIM card he purchased in Switzerland no longer worked after crossing the border, so he could not contact the owner.  We knew the address and found the building, but couldn't figure out how to enter it. Serendipitously, someone exited, so we could get in. It then took a reconnoiter by Ray to find the room. 

By this stage Ray was not feeling well, so we decided not to dine tonight. I found some dry biscuits and feasted on them for dinner. However we did have to venture out to get some euros to pay a tourist tax. We haven't had to pay cash for anything up until now.  On our return, the key would not turn the lock of the front door. Ray went off to find another door, and I had visions of spending the night in the doorway, but fortunately people seem to want to exit the building quite often. We eventually made it back into our room and even discovered how to turn on the air conditioning (it will be 35 in Bologna tomorrow).

We pick up a car from the airport domani, so only one more train ride in the morning. I am hoping Ray will not be sick tonight and all goes well with the car hire. What could possibly go wrong?

After catching the train from Fribourg to Lucerne (not Lausanne) we start our trip on the Gotthard Panorama Express... on a boat. The paddle boat travelled the entire length of Lake Lucerne, stopping at various shoreline towns along the way

A teenager was riding this kite powered hover board. It can't be easy making the hover board hover at the same time holding onto a makeshift sail. There are no masts or ropes or any thing else to help him stabilise it.

At one of the shoreline stops was this building from around 1600. It had some significance but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Sorry about that.

Just about everywhere you looked on the lake were spectacular cliffs dropping into the lake and yet another town.

Ditto

Enjoying a glass of proscecco or should i say, indulging.

One of the many villages nestled between the high mountains of the Gotthard route.

High mountains and deep ravines

Looking down the steep stairs from our stairway restaurant table when having dinner in Lugano

On the shoreline of Lake Lugano, the Italian town in Switzerland

This electic car was so small we were thinking of packing it into one of suitcases and taking it back with us to Oz. They must have very high taxes on cars in Switzerland, as a Subaru Forrester was around $78,000. This little beauty was almost $40,000.