Very early Thursday morning, August 15th we checked out of the hotel and headed back to the Rome Airport on the Leonardo Express for our flight to Zurich, Switzerland.
Luckily our Swiss Air flight left and arrived on time. We did enjoy the in-flight treats
of croissants and Swiss chocolate! This is a view of the alps from the plane.
Being timely was crucial for our day. We had hoped to get to Zollikofen where the Bern Temple
is located to do an endowment session that day and if we got their early enough not have to
stay in Zollikofen for the night, but get to Lucurne and spend 3 nights there instead of two.
We would have never made it had it not been for our prayers being answered and angels
being placed all along our way to help us.
When we arrived in Zurich airport we headed down to the train station.
We had already purchased a ticket to Zollikofen so we looked for a train
to Bern. Found one and ran to hop on before it took off.
Well, it stopped at Zurich HB (main station) and was an end of line. How could that be?
The board said it was going to Bern...oh well...hmmm, where to head now.
A young man (angel #1) saw us wondering what to do and asked if he could help.
He spoke pretty good English and started looking at the screen in the train to find a platform
for us to go to, while he was doing that someone else (angel #2) stepped in to try and help and
offered suggestions. They got us to the right platform just in time to catch the train to Bern.
We walked through the 1st class coaches until we finally found 2nd class.
We found a couple seats in the same coach and rode to Bern.
We got off the train in Bern and found a WC, had to pay a Euro to use it.
Now to look for a train to Zollikofen. We were looking at the boards and could not find
anything. The boards don't list all the destinations, so you kind of have to know where else that
train is going to find the right one. We asked a gentlemen (angel #3) if he spoke English
for some help. He was so great. He got on his phone app and found us the right platform.
We went to it, but the train was just pulling out. We turned around and saw the same
man coming toward us. He saw we missed it and looked for the next train and platform on his phone. The next thing we did was download the Swiss train app on the phone!
We are doing pretty good, we made it to Zollikofen!
We knew we could walk to the temple from the station, so we open google maps and
started out from the train. A man starts to walk by us (angel #4) and we ask him
if he knew which way the temple was...other way. Whew, glad we didn't walk
forever the wrong way!
The Swiss temple and grounds are beautiful. We needed to change our clothes so we tried
to find the accommodation center and were headed in the wrong direction. There was a little boy (angel #5) playing with his little brother on the grounds and he pointed us the way. There are several buildings around the temple area. We never would have found it without this boy. Luckily we made the 2:15 session by 2 minutes because the next session was at 3:30. We thought the session would be in German, but it was in French. There were lots of people in the session with headsets on however.
The Swiss Temple is considered the sister temple to the London Temple.
Built the same time, same design and basic floor plan.
Now, back to Bern to catch a train to Lucerne . We walked back to the Zollikofen station, caught a train to Bern (we are starting to catch on to how to do this, plus my Swiss SBB app was working great). We got to the right platform and train and sat by a really nice woman who we chatted with and before she got off at her stop, said the next stop was the one we wanted.
Yay! We got to our hotel and walked down by the lake. It was a beautiful evening.
In my mind, this is what Switzerland would look like. It did not disappoint.
Chapel Bridge was originally built in 1365 and is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe as well as the worlds oldest surviving truss bridge.
The River Reuss runs from Lake Lucerne through the city.
The views around town are breaktaking.We spent the day walking along the lake and sitting on the benches all along the way. We stopped and bought a large soft pretzel from a truck.
We loved watching the boats steam around with their large Swiss flag flowing out the back.
That evening we had dinner at a cafe along the river. Joan had cheese fondue with bread and potatoes to dip in the cheese. Yum
The views were spectacular.
Lake Lucerne
There is a hotel a the top as well as a couple places to grab a bit to eat.
When you are riding up the cableway you get your first glimpse of this church.
It is quite a hike to get there, but you could see people all around it.
The mountain is covered with hiking trails.
The aerial cabelway
On a trail
The way back down is by cogwheel railway.
The view at the beginning of the trip down the cogwheel.
You can see other trains headed down the mountain on the tracks.
The cows are like mountain sheep. They are all over the sides of the mountain.
Love the sound that all the cow bells make.
This is a view of the cogwheel train station from the boat. You can see a train
just starting to creep up the mountain above where the white stone on the side.
We boarded the boat and headed to Lucerne.
We stopped on our way back at a Lindt chocolate shop.
Chocolate and cheese, oh yummy Switzerland!
At Bachmann Chocolatier in Lucerne has a has a flowing chocolate wall.
We again had dinner along the river. On our walk after dinner we passed by
this family playing their alphorns.
This is Fritschi Fountain.
Sunday morning we hopped on a bus and rode to the Luzern Ward for church. This is a photo of their building. It was of course in German, but the sister missionaries translated for the many visitors that wanted to hear in English. We really enjoyed church that day. What a blessing to stop into church and have everything familiar; the songs, prayers, sacrament, talks, scriptures.
After church we checked out of the hotel and walked back over to the train station to head to Zurich.
We got ourselves to our hotel. Boy, it was hot that day! We enjoyed the A/C in our room.
Monday morning, August 19 we once again headed to the train to ride to Rheinfall.
It was less than an hour on the train.
We were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of these falls.
And it was a beautiful day. Not as hot as the prior day.
They are the most powerful falls in Europe.
Lots and lots of fish,
We decided to take the 15 minute boat ride up to the falls.
That was really fun,
And we got a little wet!
Then it was back on the train to Zurich.
We walked around old town and the river in the evening.
We were sitting on a bench for a while enjoy watching the people and we noticed this
police officer directing traffic in the middle of the street. No street light or anything, just her.
For dinner that night we stopped at a COOP (grocery story) and bought a baguette a bunch of cheese and grapes. It was the most delicious dinner ever!
We loved Switzerland, the chocolate, the cheese and the beautiful scenery.
of croissants and Swiss chocolate! This is a view of the alps from the plane.
Being timely was crucial for our day. We had hoped to get to Zollikofen where the Bern Temple
is located to do an endowment session that day and if we got their early enough not have to
stay in Zollikofen for the night, but get to Lucurne and spend 3 nights there instead of two.
We would have never made it had it not been for our prayers being answered and angels
being placed all along our way to help us.
We had already purchased a ticket to Zollikofen so we looked for a train
to Bern. Found one and ran to hop on before it took off.
Well, it stopped at Zurich HB (main station) and was an end of line. How could that be?
The board said it was going to Bern...oh well...hmmm, where to head now.
A young man (angel #1) saw us wondering what to do and asked if he could help.
He spoke pretty good English and started looking at the screen in the train to find a platform
for us to go to, while he was doing that someone else (angel #2) stepped in to try and help and
offered suggestions. They got us to the right platform just in time to catch the train to Bern.
We walked through the 1st class coaches until we finally found 2nd class.
We found a couple seats in the same coach and rode to Bern.
We got off the train in Bern and found a WC, had to pay a Euro to use it.
Now to look for a train to Zollikofen. We were looking at the boards and could not find
anything. The boards don't list all the destinations, so you kind of have to know where else that
train is going to find the right one. We asked a gentlemen (angel #3) if he spoke English
for some help. He was so great. He got on his phone app and found us the right platform.
We went to it, but the train was just pulling out. We turned around and saw the same
man coming toward us. He saw we missed it and looked for the next train and platform on his phone. The next thing we did was download the Swiss train app on the phone!
We knew we could walk to the temple from the station, so we open google maps and
started out from the train. A man starts to walk by us (angel #4) and we ask him
if he knew which way the temple was...other way. Whew, glad we didn't walk
forever the wrong way!
The Swiss temple and grounds are beautiful. We needed to change our clothes so we tried
to find the accommodation center and were headed in the wrong direction. There was a little boy (angel #5) playing with his little brother on the grounds and he pointed us the way. There are several buildings around the temple area. We never would have found it without this boy. Luckily we made the 2:15 session by 2 minutes because the next session was at 3:30. We thought the session would be in German, but it was in French. There were lots of people in the session with headsets on however.
Built the same time, same design and basic floor plan.
Now, back to Bern to catch a train to Lucerne . We walked back to the Zollikofen station, caught a train to Bern (we are starting to catch on to how to do this, plus my Swiss SBB app was working great). We got to the right platform and train and sat by a really nice woman who we chatted with and before she got off at her stop, said the next stop was the one we wanted.
Yay! We got to our hotel and walked down by the lake. It was a beautiful evening.
That evening we had dinner at a cafe along the river. Joan had cheese fondue with bread and potatoes to dip in the cheese. Yum
When you stay in Lucerne they give you one of these cards that lets you ride the buses for free.
So, on Saturday, August 17 we rode the bus out to catch the gondola to start our Pilatus adventure, the silver rountrip. It starts with a gondola ride partway up the mountain. You continue up to the top in an aerial cableway with floor to ceiling windows to the top of the mountain. On the way back down you ride the cogwheel train down, and a boat trip on Lake Lucerne back to town.
There is a hotel a the top as well as a couple places to grab a bit to eat.
It is quite a hike to get there, but you could see people all around it.
The mountain is covered with hiking trails.
The aerial cabelway
It has a grade of 48 percent in one section making it the steepest railway in the entire world.
The view at the beginning of the trip down the cogwheel.
You can see other trains headed down the mountain on the tracks.
The cows are like mountain sheep. They are all over the sides of the mountain.
Love the sound that all the cow bells make.
just starting to creep up the mountain above where the white stone on the side.
Mt Pilatus where we had just been.
Chocolate and cheese, oh yummy Switzerland!
this family playing their alphorns.
Sunday morning we hopped on a bus and rode to the Luzern Ward for church. This is a photo of their building. It was of course in German, but the sister missionaries translated for the many visitors that wanted to hear in English. We really enjoyed church that day. What a blessing to stop into church and have everything familiar; the songs, prayers, sacrament, talks, scriptures.
We got ourselves to our hotel. Boy, it was hot that day! We enjoyed the A/C in our room.
Monday morning, August 19 we once again headed to the train to ride to Rheinfall.
It was less than an hour on the train.
We were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of these falls.
And it was a beautiful day. Not as hot as the prior day.
We walked around old town and the river in the evening.
police officer directing traffic in the middle of the street. No street light or anything, just her.
For dinner that night we stopped at a COOP (grocery story) and bought a baguette a bunch of cheese and grapes. It was the most delicious dinner ever!
