European Vacation - Day 14 (Mt. Pilatus)

When I planned our summer holiday several months ago, I stumbled upon a site that featured hotels on top of Mt. Pilatus (elevation 7000 feet). Cool, right? Absolutely.

We drove to Alpnachstad and took the steepest cogwheel train up the side of the mountain. As I posted before, I've suddenly realized that I have a (slight) fear of heights. My palms were sweating the whole way up the mountain. Once we arrived, it was breathtaking. Pictures just don't do it justice, but enjoy the ones I picked out below (out of the 100+!).

There are several trails of varying levels that you can take. I liked the one that was clearly on firm ground, a huge sturdy railing between me and falling to my death. However, I did agree to a walk on a trail that appeared safe. I made it about 15 minutes and then stopped, sat on a bench and waited for Chuck to go around several more bends. His comment, "I bet they don't have too many emergency situations here," was the icing on the cake. I was envisioning walking on a 4-lane highway (while hugging the mountain wall on the 2' path) and then he says that! I immediate thought, hmmm, he's right. There wouldn't be any emergencies; you'd just fall to your death. Ok. That was enough hiking for me. I waited and kept imagining my 4-lane highway.

We took the aerial gondola half-way down the other side of the mountain and got off to ride "Switzerland's longest summer tobaggan run." Honestly....sooooo much fun! For 8 Swiss Francs, you ride on a sled down a metal runway, curving through the meadows and surrounded by Swiss cows with those HUGE bells around their necks dinging and donging. When your run is over, you get hooked up for a 'backward' ride up to the starting point. The picture below is of one person heading down the track and another person being pulled up backwards.

We stayed at the Hotel Bellevue. Where it lacks in plush amenities, it surely makes up for it in the shear beauty of the surroundings. It's quite a feeling to have all the tourists leave the mountain at 6pm and then you have the whole place to yourself (plus about 20-30 other guests) until the next day at 8:30am. There was a welcome on the main deck with drinks and snacks and then we all headed into dinner. What a great way to end our short stint in Switzerland!