25th Anniversary - Lindt Chocolate Factory and Mt. Pilatus

We slept in a bit this morning.

Chris had scheduled a tour of the Lindt Chocolate Factory between 10:30 and 11 am. After a power bar breakfast, we walked to the Lindt Factory.

We learned a lot about the beginnings of chocolate making and perfecting the art of the smooth and creamy chocolate that we have today.

Chris and I may have taken advantage of the samples at the end of the tour and ate our admission ticket worth of samples. We spent about 2.5 hours at the factory, picked up a few chocolates to take home and then walked to the train station.

The train took us back to Thulwil (Tal-veel) where we changed to another train bound for Lucerne. After arriving in Lucerne, we got a takeaway lunch of salad for me and a sandwich for Chris. And a pretzel to share. 

From there, we boarded a bus to the small village of Kriens.

The cable care ride from Kriens to Mt. Pilatus actually involved two different cable cars—a small 4-person gondola to Frakmuntegg, followed by the Dragon Glider (a larger aerial cableway) to Mt. Pilatus. The entire journey to the top took about a half an hour. 

You can buy tickets online in advance or at the ticket desk once you arrive. If you plan to stay at the hotel on top of Mt. Pilatus, you will get a discount on your ticket. 

As we stepped off the cable car, we were able to check in at the front desk that served both the Hotel Bellevue and Hotel Pilatus Kulm. As it was later in the season, most of the tourists at the top of the mountain were day tourists. Chris and I were staying in the Hotel Pilatus Kulm and it wasn’t busy at all.

Hotel Bellevue

Hotel Pilatus Kulm

The girl at the check-in desk gave instructions on places to hike, the time to see the sunset and the sunrise, and dining instructions. We dropped our bags off at room 207 and then set off on a 1.5 hour hike before dinner along the path at the top of the mountain to Tomlishorn.

We got to see paragliders, a cute little church, and kept a look out for ibex. We were told we might be able to see some. We didn’t (except for the stuffed variety in the hotel lobby).

The church was located below the two hotels at the top of the mountain. Apparently that is where the first hotel was. They used to carry rich people up the mountainside to the original hotel. When the “new” Pilatus-Kulm hotel was built in 1890, the old hotel began to lose customers and wasn’t as successful so it was closed down and later torn down. 

As we hiked, we could hear the sound of cowbells from below in the valley. Seriously, if I was a cow I would get so tired of having a bell always around my neck and the sound of it non-stop in my ears. The panoramic sight of all of the surrounding mountains, valleys, and small villages as far as the eye could see was incredible. 

We joined the other guests in the dining room around 7 pm for our dinner. The girl at the check-in desk said that it was perfectly ok for us to be seated for dinner and then leave the dining room to check out the the sunset and then come back. So glad that we did. We climbed up to Oberhaupt and made it in plenty of time to get some of the best views and to take some awesome pictures of the sun setting.

Dinner was great and we were pleasantly surprised to find that dinner was included in the cost of our stay (breakfast too). 

Chris and I fell asleep to the sound of mountain bells with cool mountain air blowing into our room. That was until loud, noisy Americans outside on the patio woke me up around midnight. I had a hard time getting back to sleep after that.

25th Anniversary - Bernina Express Train

When I woke up, Chris was rising too but had had a hard time sleeping. He finally got to sleep around 2 am. I guess delayed jet lag. 

We planned to catch an early bus at 10 am to the Bernina Express. Following the signs at the station, we stood where we thought the bus would pick us up. Unfortunately when the arrow pointed away from the station, we didn’t stand far enough away. We missed the bus. We should have gone about a 1/4 mile further across the bridge. The signage was pretty poor.

A couple and their baby from Perth, Australia had latched onto us and together we tried to sort out our missed bus and where we could meet up with the Bernina Express. There were about 10 of us who missed the bus. The French guy in front of us talking to the station agent was pissed off. I couldn’t tell exactly what he was saying, but I could definitely tell that he was mad. 

Chris immediately began looking for other options to help us meet up with the Bernina Express along its route and figured out a plan before the station agent. We got on a train to Bellinzano for 15 minutes and then another bus to Thussis. Chris and I, along with Marshall, Elisa, and baby Elena, settled in for a 1.5 hour bus ride through the Pre Alps. So beautiful. It was the beginning of a day for buses and trains and lots of transfers with our luggage in tow. 

Marshall and Elise decided to stay on the bus and just ride it to Chur (Cur). They had a lot of luggage to worry about along with their baby. It was probably the wisest choice for them. 

Chris and I had long day of riding trains with interesting people. One guy got on with his horns, plenty of food and at least two bottles of wine. He downed a loaf of bread, a roll of salami and the first bottle of red wine. Chris and I changed to another train and somehow this guy ended up across the way from us again. 

He sat down to finish his loaf of bread, a tray of prosciutto, and the started on the second bottle of wine. He was getting a bit tipsy at this point. He got up to take some picture, and as the train jostled about, fell back into his seat and then onto the floor. He spilled his glass of wine. With his hair in disarray, and his glasses hanging around his chin, he righted himself back into his chair and pour another glass of wine. 

We were glad to finally change trains and head in a direction that he wasn’t going. We rode the train to the bottom of a valley hopped off the train and back onto the train going in the opposite direction within two minutes. 

This was our day of train hopping with our luggage in tow:

Train to Bellinzano from Lugano train station - 15 minutes 

Switch to bus from Bellinzano to Thussis - 1.5 hours 

5 minutes to change to a new train in St. Moritz 

Get off at Sameden for transfer train to Pontresina (just one stop) 

Transfer to train going to Alp Grum.

After 7 stops change trains onto the original Bernina Express train from Turano to Chur (Cur). 

Take train to Poschiavo. 

We opted not to go all the way to Turano since we would have arrived back at the hotel at 11:30 pm. 

We switched to another train in Pontresina (back again) for a one hour ride. 

Changed at Sagliains to Landquart for another hour. 

From Landquart to Thulwil (1 hour 13 min) on the last train of the day for a 9:40 pm arrival. Whew! 

Chris found a pizza place not too far from the station. We walked about 10 minutes from the station and ordered a caprese salad and a margarita pizza. The owner made us a pizza with fresh dough and baked it in his pizza oven while we waited. Chris and I decided just to eat at the restaurant. It was late and we were hungry.

Jimmy, the owner from Kosovo, asked us where we were from, where we had been and where we were going. We answered his questions and then said we were planning to get an Uber to take us to our hotel from here. He said to us, “No, I take you.” As Jimmy went to get his car, Chris went in to pay and said, “Either we just met the nicest guy in the world or we are about to be murdered.” (Mom, if you are reading this, he was a nice man!) 

Jimmy happily drove us to the Belvoir hotel. He told us that he liked Americans. We had a view of Lake Zurich from our hotel window. I’m sure in the morning we would enjoy it. After such a long day of trains and buses, it was nice to finally be done transferring trains. I felt like I was still in motion kind of like when you get off a cruise ship.

25th Anniversary - Lugano, Switzerland

For the one full day that we planned to be in Lugano, the weather forecast called for rain. Boo. We decided not to change our plans and hope for the best. It rained a bit as we left the apartment but didn’t last too long. By the time we reached the base of the funicular, the rain had cleared and the skies were simply overcast. 

We hopped on the funicular and started our ascent up the mountain. We shared a car with a couple from the United Kingdom. Come to find out that he used to make small scale models for the movies "Wallace and Grommet" and "Chicken Run". As we reached midway on the mountain, Chris and I exited the first funicular. That’s where you pay for the ride up the mountain. 16 Swiss Francs each. Spendy. 

From what we had read and seen in pictures, the view from the top of Mt. Bre was spectacular. We missed out on that view as clouds filled the sky. There were two restaurants at the top of the funicular, but it was still earlier in the morning so we poked around a bit and then started hiking down the mountain toward Gandria. 

We were glad to be walking down the mountain and not up. With the steep descent, lots of rocks and steps, recent rain, and lots of fallen leaves, it was a bit slippery. I twisted my ankle on my way down but it didn’t seem like too big of a problem. 

Once we reached the bottom of the mountain, there was an olive walk and the cutest village. I had to stop and take pictures a lot. We walked from Gandria back to Lugano and grabbed a Mediterranean wrap to eat at the park. It was fun for some people watching time. 

We didn’t have too many plans for the afternoon and chose to take the ferry to see the lakes and stops along the shores. My foot began to hurt A LOT as we finally stopped walking and sat on the ferry. I took some ibuprofen and could tell when it began to start working. 

With Mediterranean for lunch we didn’t go too far astray with Persian food for dinner. We sat on the street patio and enjoyed falafels and chicken.

25th Anniversary - To Lugano, Switzerland

Our last morning in Monterosso. I slept in until 9 am and Chris dozed another 45 minutes. 

We should be pretty much adjusted to Italy time now. 

Kristen and Misha were flying to Utah to visit Amy for the weekend. They left a text that they were able to park and then land in SLC safely. They’ve traveled to the airport with us plenty of times, but this was their first time parking and making their way to the airport, through security and onto their plane on their own. 

We were able to check out a little later this morning at 11 am, but still had a lot of time before our 12:45 pm train to Milan that continued on to Lugano in Switzerland. Chris and I wandered around Monterroso a little more on the streets we hadn’t yet visited and then returned to the flat to pick up our stuff (Francesca kindly allowed us to leave our stuff). 

The view from our Airbnb

With suitcases in tow, we walked back through the tunnel toward the station. We had a little bit of time and stopped for lunch at Bar Lo Spontino. Paninis and water frizzante (soda water). So many carbs. 

I took a few more pictures while we waited. 

We arrived at the train just a minute before it arrived. We may have got on at carriage #5 but should have been on #7. We switched seats when we realized our mistake. 

Our train sped up the coast for three hours to Milan where we switched to a train to Lugano, Switzerland. We arrived at the train station in Lugano around 5:30 pm and had massages scheduled at Thai Spa of Lugano. You have to be really comfortable with your body when getting a Thai massage because they cover and uncover and climb up on the table with you! They worked mostly on my legs, but I would have loved more attention on my neck and shoulders. Still it felt good and was a nice treat for Chris to plan. 

We walked through the upscale shopping area to get to our next Airbnb about a 1/2 mile away. The host’s greeter, Martha, met us with the key. She didn’t speak any English but through gestures, we were able to figure out how to get in and out of the apartment. It was nice with upscale art decor. Perfect for our two night’s stay. 

We set off to find a restaurant and were happy to find Domino Pizza & Pasta Store. When the waitress tells you that the pizza is personal size, just know that two “persons” could eat it and be fine. We also ordered a delicious caprese salad, zucchini casserole and pasta bolognese. Too much food. 

Wanting to get a some milk and yogurt for breakfast, we went in search of a market. Most were closed for the evening so we settled on a convenience store at a gas station. Surprisingly they had what we needed.

25th Anniversary - Hiking in Cinque Terre

We didn’t get the earliest start this morning. We were planning to hike from Monterosso to Vernazza. It would have been much easier at six am that’s for sure. Less crowds, less heat, and less humidity. 

The signage at the beginning of the hike made it clear that hiking in flip flops could result in a fine. The family of four in front of us, three of whom were wearing flip flops, turned around at the pay station to avoid being fined. Now it was just all of the older, out of shape tourists that we began to pass one by one. 

The narrow path was not easy with steps going up from the very start. We walked for 2.2 miles with an elevation gain of 705 feet, stopping every so often to snap a few pictures.

It was hot and sweaty and we were dripping in sweat by the time we reached Vernazza. 

The hike took about an hour and a half. We hiked past little homes and terraced farms of olive trees along the way. The views of Vernazza were pretty awesome as we got closer. The colorful homes, the boats, the people swimming…all fantastic. 

We were happy to find a little piece of shade to rest for a bit. Chris sat and enjoyed the view while I explored with my camera. And then gelato… 

From Vernazza, we took the train first to Riomaggiore (the last of the five villages), then worked our way back to Manarola and then to Corniglia. Corniglia was higher up on the cliffs without any direct access to the water. We hiked up the stairs to the small village instead of waiting ten minutes for a bus. There were ~378 stairs up the side of the cliff. 

The towns in order along the coastline of Italy

Monterosso

Vernazza

Corniglia

Manarola

Riomaggiore

The towns were all somewhat similar. Colorful, but oh so crowded with locals, tourists, and cruise passengers. 

We took the train back to Monterosso where we freshened up a bit and then met Guiliano at 6 pm for a sunset cruise along the coastline to see all of Cinque Terre from a different perspective. Normally Guiliano hosts up to 8 people on his boat, but Chris and I were his only passengers for the evening. Guiliano shared tips along the way and we got to ask questions about life in Italy. 

Giuliano used to be a fisherman, but when Cinque Terre was made into a National Heritage Site, fishing close to the shore was no longer allowed. He now works from about May to September giving boat tours and then travels for the rest of the year. It was after 8 pm when we got back to Monterosso. Prime dinner time. 

We found that there were a lot of people already having dinner and many waiting in line for the next tables. We finally found a place and took our place in line for about a 45 minute wait. The restaurants in the town take turns being open every other night. The one we had wanted to visit, Trattoria de Oscar, recommended by Giuliano was closed so we ate at Ristorante da Ely. It was around 10 pm by the time we finished eating. Our Airbnb was just steps from the restaurant, so we were happy to crash soon after.