Day 4: Lucerne September 10
Stanserhorn
Before we scheduled our trip we knew that we might have problems with walking, standing, or long rides on busses due to joint problems. One excursion choice was a day long trip that included a boat ride across the lake, then the cog railway up Mt. Pilatus, followed by a bus trip to a farm to learn about cheese making. That would have been on day two while we were jet lagged. We opted instead to take the half day trip to Stanserhorn Mountain which turned out to be a great choice.
After eating breakfast in the hotel, packing up and storing our luggage, we joined one other couple, Paul and Cindy, for the excursion. Our tour guide, Jim, was awesome and since we had such a small "group" we got to ask a ton of questions and get personalized attention.
A short bus ride from the hotel we arrived in the small town of Stans, a quaint Swiss town. The trip up the mountain uses two different forms of transportation, the first a funicular railway and then a Cabrio, an open top cable car. Even with my hesitancy about heights I loved being on top of this cable car to see the views. It was a spectacular experience!
At the top, a restaurant and gift shop are surrounded by a deck with wide open views of the Alps. There is also a trail to the top of the mountain. Sadly, Bob's ankle prevented him from taking the trail. I opted to go part way up but was being cautious not wanting to be too damage joints for future excursions. Jim and Paul went to the top. Cindy and I went as far as the marmot enclosure and then walked back to meet up with Bob for shopping and lunch.
In spite of Bob's ankle it was by far the best day of the trip. We were fortunate to have sunshine and clear skies at the top with amazing views of the Alps. Jim pointed out Eiger Mountain and many others not as familiar to us. We enjoyed lunch outside on the deck surrounded by views of the mountains, took a walk around the outside deck, a bit like scaffolding that made me hesitant, but the views were well worth it. Lucky for us the clouds didn't roll in until we were getting ready to depart.
We did some shopping in the gift shop and spent the rest of our Swiss Francs since we were boarding the ship that evening with no other stops in Switzerland. This was our second Ben & Jerry's sighting, the first in a grocery store in Lucerne!
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