Bürgenstock, Above Lake Lucerne

On Friday, 2 February, my wife’s work was finished. After several days of exploring on my own, from now on we would be travelling together.

That day, we left Basel and moved to Lucerne. Rather than checking in and out of a different hotel every night, I preferred to stay in one place and make day trips from there, and Lucerne would be our base for the next few days.

An afternoon in Lucerne

By two o’clock, we were in Lucerne, walking along the river in the sunshine. It was a bright day, with blue sky and big white clouds, very different from my grey and snowy day on the Bernina line.

The old wooden Chapel Bridge crossed the river, with its stone water tower beside it.

The wooden Chapel Bridge and its stone water tower crossing the river in Lucerne, with painted old buildings on the left and snowy mountains in the distance under a blue sky with clouds. — The Chapel Bridge and the water tower.

Further along the river was a large church with two onion-domed towers.

A large white church with two towers topped with green onion domes beside the river, with a lamp post and bare trees, under a blue sky. — A church on the riverbank in Lucerne.

Across the lake

In the middle of the afternoon, we took a boat out across Lake Lucerne. As it pulled away, the whole of the town’s waterfront was laid out behind us, with the twin spires of a church above the lakeside buildings.

The waterfront of Lucerne seen from the lake, a long row of buildings with a church with two spires, under a blue sky, with swans on the water. — Lucerne from the boat.

The lake was calm, and the mountains around it had snow on their tops.

A wide, calm lake with a wooded point and snow-capped mountains along the horizon, under a blue sky with a few white clouds. — On Lake Lucerne.

Up the funicular

The boat brought us to the foot of the mountain, where we took the funicular up to Bürgenstock. The little red car waited in its station at the bottom.

A small red funicular car waiting in a covered station with wooden benches, below a screen showing a welcome message. — The funicular at the bottom station.

The track climbed steeply up the wooded hillside, and the lake dropped away below us.

Looking out of the window of the funicular car, down the steep track through bare trees, with the red frame of the car in the foreground. — Going up.

Above the lake

At the top, there was snow on the ground, and the terraces were quiet. The outdoor tables and folded umbrellas were waiting for warmer weather.

An outdoor terrace with empty tables and chairs, snow on some of them and two folded umbrellas, looking out over the lake and hills beneath a sky of white clouds. — A quiet terrace in the snow.

On one side, there were snowy hills and the high mountains.

Snow-covered hills and fir trees in the foreground, with a range of snowy mountains rising behind under a pale blue sky. — Snowy hills behind Bürgenstock.

A line of jagged snow-covered peaks with clouds around them, above snowy slopes and dark fir trees. — The mountains in the late afternoon.

On the other side, there was the lake.

From up there, we looked straight down over Lake Lucerne. The water was very still, and the clouds were reflected in it. It was one of the most serene views of the whole trip, and it is the moment I remember most clearly from that day.

A long, calm stretch of Lake Lucerne seen from high above, with wooded peninsulas, small towns along the shores and a band of cloud over the hills. — Looking down over Lake Lucerne.

We walked around for a while, down a long wooden staircase among the trees.

A long wooden staircase with orange railings and snow on the steps, running down through trees beside a tall modern building. — A wooden staircase among the trees.

By ten to five, the light was beginning to fade, and the lake looked even calmer.

Lake Lucerne from above in the early evening, with long green shores and towns along the water under soft clouds. — The lake in the early evening.

Down again

A little after five, we took the funicular back down the hill.

Looking down a steep funicular track through a rocky, snowy slope, framed by the dark walls of the station. — The funicular track going down.

At the bottom, the sun was setting over the lake. The water was calm, with a little colour in the sky above the mountains.

A calm lake at sunset with houses and a jetty on the shore, wooded hills and mountains behind, and pink and grey clouds in the sky. — Sunset by the lake at the bottom.

From there, we made our way back to Lucerne. We had not stayed at Bürgenstock, but we had spent a quiet afternoon above the lake together, on the first day of our holiday.