Yet more mountains and one waterfall

After leaving Lucerne, we made our way to Grindelwald for yet more mountains and hiking. Grindelwald is one the highest drivable points up to the swiss alps, and having a car meant, why not? Apparently there was an end of season open-air concert the weekend we were there so we were actually pretty lucky to get a room! We didn’t know about it til we were there but none of the artists appealed to us so no biggie.

Lake Thun (on route to Grindelwald)

Similar to Baden-Baden, you get a tourist pass when you check into the hotel, which gives you some discounts. With the pass, we were able to use the sport centre swimming pool for free so that’s what we did. It was really quite wonderful to plunge into a pool of warm water when it was so cold outside. The lovely view of the swiss alps from the pool certainly helped too!

View of Mount Eiger from our room

After a day of relaxing at the pool, we went hiking again the next day and it was freaking hot!! Due to the open-air concert, some of the trails were closed however that didn’t stop us though our original plan was to hike up and then take the cable car down. In any case, it was another heart-stopping cable car ride up and then we spent some time playing with the snow up in the mountains. Ski season was officially over, however there was enough snow for kids to learn how to ski and there were quite a few of them doing practice runs, pretty cute actually. We just fooled around and threw some snowballs at each other, lol... The hike down was pretty alright except for the sun beating down on us, the two of us got totally burnt!

Before the long hike, why not have ice cold beer?

After hiking at Grindelwald, we made our way to Trummelbach Falls which are the only glacier waterfalls inside the mountain and still accessible in Europe. It took us a while to find it as there were many other waterfalls around that region and we thought we could view it from the outside. It turned out that we had to take a lift up to view it up close. It’s enclosed within the mountain so the sound of the water gushing down at up to 20,000 litres per second is pretty deafening. It was a bit creepy as well cos it was quite dark and it was pretty late when we were there so it was also quite empty. It was a bit of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ moment when Frodo and Sam were in Shelob’s lair, as it was so dark, otherwise the sight was quite majestic to behold.

Totoros in the alps!!!

(not native to this region)

Picture perfect Lucerne

Having landed in Geneva in February, we knew how picturesque Switzerland is and Lucerne proved to be the same. We did a walking tour and while nothing stood out architecturally, the scenery was indeed beautiful and everything you imagine a Swiss town to be like. The only structures I remember from the walking tour were the Chapel Bridge and the Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre. The Chapel Bridge is Lucerne’s most famous landmark and is the best-preserved wooden bridge in Switzerland. It also has 122 interior paintings created during the period of the Counter-Reformation promoting the Catholic Church. It probably looked pretty fantastic during its time but it didn’t do much for me. As for the Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre, I remember the guide saying that it looks beautiful but is very difficult to clean, lol.

Chapel Bridge

Honestly speaking, Lucerne doesn’t have much to offer other than its views and maybe skiing. Since we don’t ski, we could only enjoy its views, namely by scaling two mountains, Mount Pilatus and Mount Rigi, and doing a lake cruise.

Mount Pilatus from afar

To ascent to Mount Pilatus during the summer, you can take a cog railway up, but since it was winter when we visited we had to take the heart-stopping cable car. I was rather freaked out actually and avoided looking down as much as I can though I did sneaked in a few peeks here and there. There was a dip for about 2 seconds where it felt like the car was free falling, that was an experience I wouldn't want to try again. CS says that could scare the sh~t out of anyone. When we reached the top and caught the spectacular views, it was an amazing feeling, amongst the mountain peaks. Though it was very high, it was surprisingly warm. The sun was blaring down and perhaps being closer to it makes you warm up faster.

"Top of the world" views

There was no heart-stopping cable car ride up Mount Rigi, instead it was a good old-fashioned train ride up after getting off the lake cruise. There were quite a few people hiking up the day we went and I really admire their determination. It was a seriously hot day and also 439m high!!! Again the views were pretty good and it was also different from Pilatus. Pretty glad that we went up both mountains in the end, though it was also seriously expensive to do so.

Germany’s Highest Waterfalls and a new member to the family, no not what you are thinking

We went to Triberg purely because it had the highest waterfalls in Germany. The waters of the Gutach plunge over 160m in seven cascades into the valley below. We had a visitor card from the hotel so we were able to get in for free, but after 5pm or 6pm (can’t remember the time), it seems like you can get in for free as there is no barrier or guard preventing you from getting in.

Not a big plunging type of waterfalls but majestic nonetheless

Mesmerizing black forest

We ended up going to the waterfalls three times during our stay as there was really nothing much to do in the town other than visiting the waterfalls. There were hiking trails around the waterfalls so we did some of that. We also wanted to do the high rope course as well but it was never opened no matter what time we went, so in the end we gave up.

Had a "Return of Gandalf " moment here

One thing we did manage to do, or rather I managed to do, was eating black forest cake! Haha… since we were in that region, I thought we had to eat black forest cake in the black forest region and that’s what we did. I seemed to recall that black forest cakes were quite the thing in Singapore a long time ago, now they seemed to have disappear underneath all the macaroons/ cupcakes creations that are so in fashion now. It’s a pity though as I think those are really just for display and not so much for eating. Another thing to do was to buy a cuckoo clock, but we didn’t do that as I didn’t really fancy having something clucking at me every hour.

Black forest cake!!!

And lastly, say hello to Bonn, Haribo Bonn. Bonn was born in Germany, and his first name is Haribo and last name Bonn.

Bonn, not shaken not stirred, just sweetened

We picked him up when we went mad and bought all those sweets in Bonn. I thought he looked rather cute with his tuft of hair and asked CS whether he would like one. So now, he’s part of the family and joins our group of Totoros in the car and having an adventure with us. His picture is taken in the Black Forest, don’t you think the green background suits him so perfectly?

We were fortunate to get to savor the wonderful and beautiful food at Parkhotel Wehrle, Triberg