European Travel Journal, Day Thirteen

While traveling through Germany and Switzerland in the summer of 2026, I kept a journal of sketches, writing, and photography which I present to you here. I've left the writing mostly as it was: quick notes dashed off here and there as time allowed, so you can feel as if you're on the trip, too. I hope you'll enjoy spending time with my friends and me on this European adventure.Browse the whole series here. Labor Day surprise: Read anything on my website this month for as little as $2.50 In this chapter… Anita takes us on a cruise across beautiful Lake Luzern and on a cog train ride up Mount Rigi; we eat 'Swiss macaroni and cheese' at the summit; I have three unusual customer service encounters in one day—and nearly get arrested once! The evening ends with coffee in the back garden. Read to the end for a special video tour of Lake Luzern and Mount Rigi. I woke up, did my New York Times puzzles (Wordle, Strands), and journaled about yesterday. Took a quick shower, ran a brush through my hair. No time to waste; today Benji and I would be going to the lake at Luzern and the Alps with Anita! Downstairs, Anita was all dressed up and ready to go. She said she has not done this particular day trip since she was a child. Benji was looking a bit tired yet from our recent, back-to-back trips to Tramelan in the Jura Mountains and Freiburg in Germany; I felt it, too, and yet this adventure was something we'd all been looking forward to for weeks. No turning back! We took the bus and tram to Basel, and from there a double-decker train to Luzern, grabbing snacks from Migros and Brezel King on the way. Once in Luzern we had coffees on the pier, and soon the old-fashioned paddle steamer was arriving, and we were boarding. Anita sat in the shade apart from me and Benji, while he led me to the most photographically strategic position on the open deck, right near the edge. Here we could see down into the crystal clear, blue-green glacial water of Lake Luzern, calledVierwaldstätterseein German—Lake of the Four Forest Cantons. From where we sat we also had a broad view of Mount Pilatus and its foothills. The atmosphere became noticeably cooler and very fresh as the steamship paddled away from shore and into the center of the lake. As we made our way further out, I photographed Mount Pilatus on our starboard side. On the port side behind us Benji spotted a castle or very fancy house of some sort (maybe Meggenhorn Castle) and turned to get a few pictures of that. I also enjoyed looking down and watching the aqua-tinted water churning beneath the paddlewheel. After an hour we began to approach the pier at Vitznau. The paddlewheel made a great, roaring sound in the water as it thrust in reverse, and the captain expertly piloted the vessel toward its berth. We found Anita further down the deck and queued up in the deckhouse, where we could see the wheels and powerful crankshaft up close through protected openings in the walls and floor, goingChug! Chug! Chug! Our cruise had ended, but the crossing ofVierwaldstätterseewas just the first part of Anita's plan; next we boarded the cog railway and began inching our way up the steep track toRigi Kulm, the highest peak on Rigi Mountain. There was a group of two dozen chatty nuns with us who appeared to be from South Asia. All of us were enjoying the fresh, cold air blowing through the open windows and taking plenty of photos on the way up, running back and forth from one side of the train to the other as new vistas appeared. It was funny traveling at such an angle; the world outside, including the pine trees, utility poles, and houses, looked crooked! Bit by bit our little cogwheel train climbed its way upwards, at last coming to a rest at the summit station six thousand feet above sea level. As soon as we stepped out, Anita was off, disappearing into the flock of nuns as they ascended the footpath to the observation area. Benji and I took longer, shooting more photos along the way; there were so many Alpine peaks in every direction! From the top of Rigi we could look down into the valleys and see entire, postage-stamp-sized villages; minuscule vehicles driving to and fro on ribbonlike highways; tiny, clustered, specks against the rolling green fields which were actually herds of cows. Sometimes the clear sound of cowbells was carried all the way up the mountainside to our ears! In the air below us, far above the valley, a raptor hovered like magic.