Maria departed for the Zurich airport a little after 8:00 am. I had the rest of the day to myself. I walked back toward the old part of town and decided to go over to the train station.
 |
| Chapel Bridge |
 |
| Our hotel from the train station |
Next door to the train station is the Art Museum. It was too early to go inside, so I decided I would return later in the day.
 |
| Exterior of the new train station |
 |
| Another view of the remaining city wall and towers |
Then I remembered our guide yesterday mentioning that one could take the funicular train up the hill to a hotel (Chateau Gutsch, https://www.chateau-guetsch.ch/en/) for some great photos of the city. So, I started walking that direction.
 |
| Hotel on the hill is just visible in the center |
Finally, as I was about to give up (and go find a drink), I noticed a little button on the side of the shed in which the funicular train resides that said "push button to summon train". So I pushed the button and the cables started moving. The train arrived and I was pulled to the top of the hill. Once there, I realized that the ticket the signs below said I needed were for the observation deck, which was closed anyway. There was also a ticket dispenser at the observation deck if I wanted to buy a ticket to the deck, which was closed anyway.
Our hotel on the lake is at an elevation of 1425 feet. The funicular brought me up to an elevation of 1725 feet.
As it turned out, the view from the observation deck was no better than the view from the hotel veranda where guests were having their breakfasts. They did not seem to mind my taking photos while they drank their coffee.
 |
| Part of the remaining city wall is just left of center |
After taking my photos of the city, I noticed some walking trails into the forest. It was still early and cool, so I decided to go for a little hike.
I passed a few other hikers along the way, but for the most part, it was a very relaxing, cool and quiet morning. Most of the city noise being left behind...and below.
The direction signs all showed time required to reach destinations and not distances. I decided to head for Boshenhof.
After about 1.5 miles and 200 feet of elevation rise, the trees thinned out.
I finally got to the top of the hill. The elevation was 2,200 feet and I had walked about three miles. There were some good photo opportunities of the city, the lake and Alps in the distance.
Yes, I found many signs declaring this "Wanderweg" was in many different directions at the same time. When I got back to the hotel, I found wanderweg is German for "hiking path".
Starting down the hill in a different direction than I came up, I followed the signs pointing to Luzern.
I walked past an organic farm. According to their web site (https://bioluzern.ch), their guiding principle is:
Bio Luzern is committed to ensuring that producers and consumers jointly promote organic farming. Through a lively exchange of ideas, organic farming should be optimally developed for all involved. This will ensure that healthy organic food is produced, in harmony with nature and respecting human and animal dignity.
They had a lot of solar cells on their barn!
They also were in the process of establishing a new vineyard.
While the signs were not hard to follow, it was reassuring to now and then see the lake getting closer.
They only had a German language menu, but the waitress read it to me. Once she got to beef tartar, I stopped her and enjoyed the fifth tartar since this trip began. This tartar was one of the best.
The cafe was just across the courtyard from the Church of St. Leodegar we visited yesterday.
It is 3:30 am Thursday morning. I just got a text from Maria. After a 90 minute delay in Dulles, she has finally arrived in IAH. Long day! I am so grateful for Maria coming on the trip with me. She is a fun traveling companion and I miss her company already. Our next journey together will be to Romania in September.
