First a brief rant. Woke this morning to the sound of pouring rain. Yuk! Looked out to see - nothing. Cloud surrounded my eyrie and I couldn't see anything. Anyway, a good breakfast and no hangover from the drinking session last night was a fine start. Given the weather and visibility I thought I might catch a train to Lucerne and have a quiet day, find a laundry, check the bike, and miss out of forty or so miles with a short range view of wet trees. To the station via the town centre!
I went via the Altdorf centre because my unexpected cable car ride last night had prevented an evening explore. Altdorf is a pretty town where William Tell, his son, and an apple had an incident. (according to legend). Here are some pictures including Betty with Bill.
So, it turns out that today is a religious holiday in Switzerland (the Assumption of Mary- on a Saturday - and what did she assume?) so everything is closed, including the rail ticket office. After all, who would want to travel to/from the mountains on a holiday or Saturday? The Swiss rail website (on my iPhone) said that bikes were generally allowed on trains but the information sign by the ticket office didn't inspire confidence. A bike in a red circle with a red stripe across it. Tickets for both bike and I could be bought from a machine but were not cheap. No telephone number for the rail company was obvious on their site but I was invited to submit an enquiry by email. I could just see me buying tickets and trying to debate the logic of selling me tickets for a journey I couldn't take to a German-only speaking train guard - assuming I found the correct platform. Rant over. I abandoned the idea and set off. Rain had relented but a stiff and adverse wind has blow up. Resigned myself for an uninteresting day pedaling against the wind.
Serendipity. Not an everyday word and one perfect for a bonkers bank holiday in Switzerland. It means "the occurrence of events by chance in a beneficial way". 2 or 3 km later I saw a port on a beautiful lake."Nice picture opportunity" I think and take a detour. Knock me over with a feather but there is a ticket office of some kind (not open of course) next to a dock with a sign for Lucerne. Outside some brochures. While decoding the English version of the timetable a man in a uniform turned up and said there was a boat to Lucerne at 11;00, that took both Englishmen and bicycles, and was cheaper than the train - but the ticket office was closed. Glum face 😞. Then the part-time comedian/full-time official said that it would open at 10:40 - which it did with commendable Swiss accuracy. Bought a celebratory Mars bar while waiting😀. A three hour boat ride on a gorgeous lake (Lake Lucerne or the Vierwaldstättersee "Four Forested Cantons Lake" , visiting pretty village ports. Locals were already drinking when I boarded (should that have been the "Consumption" of Mary?) so thought "when in Rome...." Had an excellent glass of wine (or two) while writing this and watching windsurfers scream across the lake in the strong wind. Water incredibly green. Bliss! Cloud rather sadly descended to the Lake and the rain returned, but still.
The journey progressed with intermittent rain, low cloud, occasional reasonable visibility. Took shots of very architecturally Germanic (or Austruan) looking, pretty, villages and towns and struck up a conversation with two charming women, Melanie and Nicole, who were pilgrims on one of the many tributaries that feed the river that is the Camino de Santiago (or, I think, Jakobsweg for these ladies). Shared some pictures of my Caminos. Some pictures of the trip below, more will appear on the album shortly.
Eventually arrived in Lucerne in a downpour and decided to go to McDonalds to make use of their Wi-Fi to plan the next step. Bloody hell, more than £10 for a Big Mac meal! Investigation of accommodation options indicated that this was no error and that Lucerne is a very expensive spot. Decided to change plans and that I had seen enough of rainy Lucerne. Internet investigation of the options on the road to Sursee didn't look too promising but I'd work something out and reduce the distance towards Basle. He is one of the two pictures I took of Lucerne (indicating the speed of my exit!)
As is geographically mandatory there was a climb away from the lake. Once surmounted the road was gently rolling through very British looking countryside.
Made good progress except I failed to stream BBC 5Live for the footy so sang along so a playlist of favourite ballads to very startled but appreciative cows. They particularly liked my version of "unchained melody" where I wasn't even making the low notes. Arrived in Sursee to find that there was a festival, and International Ice Hockey game (against a Czech team), and a live national broadcast of the entire proceedings by Swiss TV! No room at the inn and, thanks Mary, everything closed. Stopped to take a picture of the festive town centre which I considered my next move.
While I was contemplating the very appealing bus shelter I had seen some short time earlier a gentleman stopped by me on his bike. He was Kurt, spoke English, had taken 14 months to cycle to Singapore, and offered his help. We failed to find accommodation in the lovely town but he guided me to a campsite where he negotiated my occupancy of a palatial veranda/shed for ten Swiss franks. Luxury! The Good Samaritan Kurt below
He has a web site of his journey to Singapore - take a look - http://www.kuna-tour.ch
Settled in, had a great shower, large meal cooked in my Al fresco kitchen and sat down for the blog. Have excellent internet and if the battery lasts I will listen to the England-France rugby (streaming already tested) on the BBC. A good end to a good day. Basle, and probably France, tomorrow. Here is my home for tonight - before and after making my bed!
No comments:
Post a Comment