The amazing rail trip truly did not fulfill all the wish list which included paragliding. So after our tour ended we said goodbye to Zurich and once more boarded a train for Luzern. I really love that beautiful city! I found a hotel in the 'old town' where we stayed on the 4th floor. It was good to be back since our rail trip only allowed us a few hours to explore.
I reserved 3 spots for our paragliding adventure for Friday morning. The weather was PERFECT!. We met our driver at a hotel and were shuttled 30 minutes up the mountains. Then we took a funicular the rest of the way to the launch point.
We each had our own pilot who sat behind us. My pilot explained to me that I could not sit until we were in the air and that we had to RUN until then. I agreed but wondered if I could run. I sort of wanted to see the others take off first so I would know what to do. But I think Tony worried I would back out so as soon as we were strapped in he began to run and I was doing fine with the running until my foot slipped on the grass which propelled me into the seat. Fortunately one of the other pilots noticed and grabbed on and ran with us. And then we were airborne!!! Wow!!!!!! it was so beautiful and so peaceful! I only wish it had been longer than the 15 or so minutes we were in the air. I will totally do it again if I have the chance.
The pictures speak for themselves. Lake Lucerne and the surrounding mountains are SO beautiful!
This was our "before" shot. We actually did it and I am so proud of us all!
Later we enjoyed wandering around Lucerne. The architecture is amazing! the weather perfect for a good wander. I would love to spend a week there just to explore.
There was some sort of "football" [soccer] event going on which showed up on the street light ;) and there were lots of activities and lots of tourists.
One of the highlights was our Night Watchman tour. Rolf, our tour guide, showed up dressed in a blue and white costume. Blue and white are the colors of Luzern. He was amazing; my only regret is that I did not film/tape his presentation. He showed us period weapons, projected images on the side of a building all the while giving a riveting history lesson. And of course he took us on a tour around the old town and explained many of the buildings. That hour and a half flew by! We all loved it! Having a private tour has its advantages.
This was beautifully done, well worth the walk to get there.
Beautiful Luzern!!!! I hope to go there again some day.
And then we learned that our flight home had been cancelled. There were a few moments of stress [panic] as we realized we had to find a place to stay one more night and our hotel was booked. Fortunately we found a place 5 minutes away that even let us check in early so we did not have to haul our luggage around or take it to a locker at the train station.
So, with another day we saw more of Luzern, including a museum..
Inside a funky elevator at our final hotel.
Sunday we took the train to the airport and began the LENGTHY process of going through security and other check points. We were originally booked with Delta but as our flight was cancelled [due to mechanical difficulties] we were rebooked on Swiss Air. That would have been fine if we could have kept our comfort plus status but that was not a possibility with such a completely full flight. My seat was some distance from my grandchildren and I felt bad that they flew home in the VERY BACK row of the plane - pretty tough for someone over 6 feet!!! Delta did reimburse our unexpected expenses and added a bit for our inconvenience which was awesome - but still.
We made it safely home to Salt Lake City - filled with great memories, grateful for our time together and our amazing experiences.
So Grandma trip #6 is now history. Grandma trip #7 will be next June to Italy but before that another Viking sister trip in November to Istanbul and Egypt.
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