When the Anzacs landed on Gallipoli 99 years ago they had no choice but to dig into the side of an escarpment. The Suisse have chosen to live on the side of an extinct volcano crater and are doing very well at it. This country is so steep in places it reminds me of a property in the Barrington Tops where you would look up the chimney to see if the cattle were still in the top paddock.
One of the requirements about living anywhere is getting basic supplies and like the rest of the world the Suisse have used the railway. The Suisse have become very good at developing railways that will climb the face of a mountain using a rack and cog system. The result is the Rigi railway system out of Lucerne. The Suisse claim that 98% of their railways, ferrys and buses etc leave on time and the rest are never more than a minute late. They are right, I missed the first cable car by 15 seconds.
Today’s adventure was a bus ride to town, a ferry ride to Vitznau, a rack railway ride up to Rigi Kulm, enjoy bratwurst and frites, a cable car ride back to the lake and then a ferry back to Lucerne. Any photos you see of Suisse that are clear and crisp are either photo shopped or they have sat around for a month for that perfect clear day. It was hazy today but the pictures still tell the story. It has taken me 40 years to get there and it is one of the highlights of the trip.
