Rome to London Chapter 3

From Venice which we left later in the afternoon and travelled north through Verona, Milan and on to the Italian Lakes where wer stayed at the Continental Hotel. A very nice dinner included this evening and some socializing and good laughs were had by all. We are the off for a good night sleep to start our journey in the morning.
Arrivederci to Italy as we head for Lucerne, Switzerland. Away early to get ahead of the conjested traffic which can easily happen in Europe. A quick stop for washrooms and snacks then on to the Swiss Alps with spectacular views of traditional Swiss farmhouses set on the mountainsides.
We arrive in the village of Stans where we board the open car, funnicular railway and then transfer onto the modern cable car that takes us up to the top of Mt. Stanzahorn at a height of 6300 feet. The panoramic views were amazing, the weather was sunny and clear. We took a little walk past Heidi's cottage, up the paths to see more panoramic views from all sides. There was time to sit and have lunch taking in the views from either the revolving restaurant or outdoors on the patio. On our descent, we passed quaint Swiss farms with Swiss Brown cows and calves eating right along the mountain side.
We are then shuttled 5 minutes away, to board the private cruise line where you could sit inside or up on the top deck where we all chose to sit on such a beautiful day to enjoy the warm, sunny weather, have a drink and enjoy the scenic views of the lake with aqua bluewaters and spectacular homes of the rich and famous. The captain was excellent, speaking of the points of interest along the way and keeping it light with a bit of humor. There was a large statue of Jesus with his arms extended over the shoreline and he explained it was to signify the blessing of the lake and the people of Lucerne, but also being an avid fisherman himself he said they also say it is to let us know the size of the fish caught in the lake which got a good chuckle for all of us.
We docked into the city of Lucerne and a short walk up to our hotel to the Hotel Weinoff, a centrally located hotel in town. After checking in and freshening up we take a stroll to view the points of interest, including the Lion Monument, the old Swiss architecture, the covered bridge and we all noticed how clean and neat the city is. We had time for shopping and looking at the Swiss made merchandise, the most popular being the Swiss watches, army knives and clocks. Our included dinner was wonderful, Beef Stroganauf and a night stroll through the town to walk off all the calories. Once again we say Auf Wiedersehen to Lucerne and Switzerland as we head to France and say Bonsoir to Paris.