Lucerne

We're up at 6:30am and onto the bus. The fog from the Netherlands had caught up with us again, and it rendered the German forests like a scene from a World War Two film, as they drifted past our windows.

The guys on the bus get excited whenever a flash car busts down the autobahn, overtaking us at 200km/h. Then we reach Switzerland! We head straight to the base of Mt Pilatus, where we jump on a gondola and then cable car as we ascend above the fog.

The gondola was very quiet, and we heard light sounds of bells jingling on the hills, as we floated overhead of swiss cows, producing swiss milk for swiss cheese. The cable car took us just short of the summit, from where we ascend the last few meters up a thin mountain path to the very top. It's a small distance in comparison to our mechanical journey up, but the thin air makes even the fittest of our group puff the 10 minute trail.

But the view was worth it

The air was so clear

As the sun set, we descend back into the fog, and to our hotel in Lucerne. It's a pretty town with a medieval heart, featuring a fantastic wooden bridge that stretched across the river that ran through the town.

I was also lucky to be in town during the week long piano festival, where I came across an exhibition of very lovely pianos that the local residents were playing (very well!)



As well as formal performances, the visiting artists also played informal (free) gigs at the local bars. I went along to one in a very polished establishment, where Chris Hopkins played improvised jazz.

That night I also came across a giant advent calendar!

After two nights in Lucerne, we were set to journey through the alps to Austria.