Zurich, Liechtenstein, Mt Pilatus, Lucerne

23 October 2015, Zurich

 It was half term break for Kaeo’s school, so we decided to have short vacation, and because Kaeo always wanted to try sleepers train, we chose to go to Zurich by City Night Line Train. We booked the tickets online from http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/prices/europe/overnight-travel.shtml  We took sleeper train from Amsterdam Centraal to Zurich Main Station. The train left at 20.31 and arrived at Zurich Main Station at 08.00. We bought tickets for couchettes with 4 berth in the compartment. The price was a bit higher compare with 6 berth in one compartment, but it was worth it, as with 6 berth would be very packed.

 

They provided us with linen, pillow and blanket. The train had toilet, separated from shower room. We can also buy breakfast in the train. Not too long after we got inside our compartment, the officer checked our tickets. So after that we could directly locked our room and took a rest. Kaeo was really excited, he climbed up and down the bed, again and again. Then finally, he could sleep, throughout the journey. We woke up early in the morning, Kaeo had his breakfast while enjoying the beautiful scenery.

 

 

As we hadn’t book our hotel yet, we decided to had breakfast at the café in the station while browsing and booking for the hotel. We chose Easy Hotel, because it was not far from the station and the price was affordable. Because the check in time was at 3 pm, so we just put our luggage in the hotel locker (we must pay EUR 5/24 hours). Then we started our city sightseeing.

Almost all the attraction were near the Zurich Main Station and can be reached by foot. So we started from Hauptbahnhof (Main Station). We cross the street and walked to Bahnhofstrasse. It’s a shopping street that stretches from train station to the lake. It has so many boutiques here- the expensive one. Also, we can find some international brands shop.

Then we continued to Lindenhof, from here we can see a spectacular view of the Old Town Niederdorf, Grossmünster Church, City Hall and also the Limmat River. Lindenhof was a place for some historical events. Now, sometimes we can see people playing giant chess here.

Next, we visited St. Peter Church. St Peter Church is the oldest Parish Church in Zurich. It has the largest clock face in Europe. The church has tower with its five bells, and the largest one weighs over six tons. The tower was used as a fire watch post.From St. Peter Church, then we go to Fraumünster. Fraumünster was founded in 853 by King Louis the German. The highlights of this church are the stained glass windows.

Then we walked along the river, with its traditional houses in the side of it, until we reached the flea market Bürkliplatz. Flea market Bürkliplatz, is the Zurich’s second big flea market. It’s located conveniently in the heart of the city, connect to the high end shopping street Bahnhofstrasse. We can find many things here, from ordinary used staff to  antiques. It open every Saturday from 6 am until 4 pm.
Just across the flea market, we can take a rest by the lake. We can see the mountain range from the lake. It's very nice to spend some time here, while watching and feeding ducks, swans and birds. Kaeo enjoyed feeding those birds and also made pile from dried leaves.




Then we made our way back to the train station. On our way, we visited Grossmünster. The Grossmünster Church is Zurich’s Landmark. It’s the largest church in town. It was said that the church was built on the grave of the city’s patron saints, Felix and Regula. We can also climb one of the tower to see the panoramic view of the city.
We finished visiting all those places just before the sun was set. Then we had our dinner at small Asian resto in this area, and did our little grocery at Migro, bought some bread for tomorrow breakfast.

25 October 2015, Day Trip to Liechtenstein
We took day trip to Liechtenstein. It’s located between Austria and Switzerland. From Zurich Main Station we took train to Sargans (around 1 hour 30 minutes), then we continued by bus number 11 (30 minutes) to Vaduz, the Capital of Liechtenstein. Vaduz is the smallest capital in Europe. It’s famous for its medieval castle and its beautiful scenery.We stopped at Vaduz Post bus stop, where we could find the Liechtenstein Center. Here, we could get information about the city, ask for attraction map, they also had gift shop inside this center. We can also get the official stamp to prove that we have been to Liechtenstein, here. We just need to pay EUR 3 per stamp. The Liechtenstein Center is open daily from 09.00 until 18.00.

From Liechtenstein Center, it’s easy to explore all the main attraction. We can visit all the attraction by foot. In the Main Square, besides the cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops, we could find a lot of art sculptures. Some of them were The Phoenix, by Doris Buhler  it symbolises eternal life, resurrection and life after death. The Reclining Woman, by Ferndano Botero. It’s a reclining naked female figure. She is a symbol of the sleeping soul in figurative style.  The Tre Cavalli, by Nag Arnoldi. It’s a group of horse sculptures. They depict the myth of the horse and the human, between joy and pain.

Then we visited Parished Church Cathedral St. Florin. It was assumed to be built at the last quarter of first centuries. Beside the church, there is a burial place for the Royal Family.

From the church, we walked back to the Liechtenstein Center direction, and we can find the famous Kuntsmuseum-with its modern and contemporary art collection, The Postal Museum-displaying collection of Liechtenstein’s postage stamps, also the Vaduz Rathouse-the building with its frescoes along the side walls.

Just across the Rathouse, we can find a path leads from the centre of the town up to the Vaduz castle (Schloss Vaduz), which is 120 vertical metres above. The path is not that difficult, only some parts that was quite steep. At some area, there was bench to take rest. It took around 30 minutes to get to the Castle. Although the castle was closed to visitors, we still can admire the castle from outside. And the view of capital Vaduz from up here was breathtaking. So, it was very worth it to do this little hiking.

Vaduz Castle is the palace and official residence of the Prince of Liechtenstein. Considering its location, it’s thought the castle was constructed as a fortress. The castle had been through some renovation and adjustment to make it fit for royal family residence.

We still continued our hiking a little longer until we reach the parking lot area. We decided to take a rest for a while on the bench in this area. 


Then, we took the same path to back to the center. After having a little snack at one of the café, we continued to The Red House. It is located in the Mitteldorf area. It can also be reach from the center. The path is a bit up, but still much more easier then to the Vaduz Castle. As for its name, the house is in red color. The house has many owners over the years. Since 1807, it has been in the possession of the Rheinberger family. It was closed to visitors.
After the Red House, we headed to the river, passing the beautiful vineyard. Walked along the river until we reached the center again. At around 6 pm, we finished exploring Vaduz and back to Zurich.

 

 

 26 October 2015, Mt Pilatus and Lucerne

Mt Pilatus

To go to Mt Pilatus, we bought ticket that included second class train from Lucerne Main Station to Alpnachstad Station, and funicular from Alpnachstad Station to Pilatus Kulm. The ticket price was EUR 83,20 (adult), EUR 42,60 (child) for both ways. The train ride from Lucerne to Alpnachstad was about 20 minutes, then we continued with funicular for around 40 minutes. From Alpnachstad to Pilatus Kulm, we took funicular, its famous as the world's steepest cogwheel railway. Along the way, can see huge rocks, meadows and also we can see the sea of clouds! Yes, we travel passing the clouds and be above the clouds.

The funicular arrived at Pilatus Kulm. In here, there were Pilatus Kulm Hotel, which was built in 1890, some restaurant and panoramic deck. We had our lunch (we bought Asian food from small stall at Lucerne Main Station) while enjoying the view.

Also from here, there were three easy tracks that we could climb, it took around 10 munutes to reach the peak: From From Hotel Pilatus-Kulm  to Tomlishorn, From Hotel Pilatus-Kulm to Oberhaupt and From Hotel Pilatus-Kulm to Esel. We chose only to climb the Esel track, since we did not have much time because we must explore Lucerne after this. The track was easy, but still we need to catch our breath once in a while. When we reached the peak, we can see the sea of clouds below us. It was amazing. There’s a myth about dragon in Mt Pilatus. That’s why the logo of Mt Pilatus is dragon. It was believed, there was a dragon who have healing powers lived in Mt Pilatus.

Beside the funicular, visitor can also take the Aerial Panorama Gondola from from Kriens – via the Krienseregg – to the Fräkmüntegg summit terminus. It takes around 30 minutes to travel. And there’s Aerial Cableway where vistors can take 3.5 minutes ride from  Fräkmüntegg – Pilatus Kulm, enjoying view from the top. At around 3 pm, we decided to go back to Lucerne.

 

Lucerne

One of the most beautiful city in the world.  When we arrived, the sun was still shining brightly. We follow the route from the tourist city map. Just across the Lucerne Main Station, we can see the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrucke). It’s Lucerne’s Landmark. The bridge was spanning across the Rheuss River. The Chapel Bridge was built in two periode of time. The first construction was in 14^th century and the paintings were added in the 17^th century. 

From the Bridge, we can see The Water Tower. Its shape is octagonal. It was used as a prison, treasury and archive. It’s also Lucerne’s Landmark beside the Chapel Bridge.

At the end of the Chapel Bridge, we arrive at Jesuit Church, the first large sacral Baroque church in Switzerland. It was constructed in 16^th century. Then we walked passing Ritterscher Palace.The palace was built in 1557 as private residence for Lucerne’s mayor Lux Ritter. It has Renaissance style. Today it serves as the seat of the cantonal government.

Continued our walking tour, we arrived at Franciscan church (Franziskanerkirche), the medieval Gothic architecture that was built in the 13^th century. It has the most ornate pulpit in Switzerland. From here, we also visited the Water Spike. It is a place to adjust the water level of the Lake Lucerne. They use the “spike” to regulate the water level by lower it into or withdrawn from the water manually. It’s also a good spot to take photo of the Chapel Bridge. 

Not far from here, we can see the Spreuer Bridge. This bridge was constructed as a part of the city fortification. There were 67 paintings which represent the “Dance of Death” in this bridge. 

From here, we walked a bit up to the hill, to see the remnants of the old town walls. It still has the eight watch towers. We can climb to the top of the wall and see the panoramic city view. And the last place that we visited is one of the famous sculpture in the world, The dying Lion of Lucerne. It was carved by Bertel Thorvaldsen to commemorates the heroic deaths of the Swiss mercenaries at the Tuileries in 1792. Mark Twain described the Lion of Lucerne as the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world.

Then we backed to Lucerne Main Station, which is also a famous building, with its fine architecture, designed by Santiago Calatrava. The station was rebuilt between 1984 and 1991, as it had been damage by the fire before. The main portal with its impressive arch is from the former station, which survived the fire. While waiting for our train to Zurich, we had our dinner at the Asian small resto in the station.

Our train left Zurich Main Station 20.42, for this trip, we bought the sleeping cars tickets with 3 beds in 1 compartement. So we got the whole compartment for us. Inside the compartment, we got wash basin complete with towel. As for breakfast, it was included in the ticket price. They gave us a box breakfast with 2 breads, jams, butters and orange juice. We also got coffee or tea.  We arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station at 08.56.