We left Hopfgarten, but had one more stop to make in Austria, and that was to the Swarovski Crystal Museum. After some shopping, we made our way to Liechtenstein where we stopped for lunch. Soon after, we crossed the border and were in Switzerland. We arrived in Lucerne in the afternoon and made a quick photo stop at the Lion of Lucerne. A quick drive on the coach, and we were off to our hotel for the next two nights. But this was no ordinary hotel. Ours was located at the top of Mt Pilatus, altitude: 7000ft. Groups of 4 made the first half of the trip in small gondolas before we all had to change for the final trip to the top in a bigger car.

At the top, we were treated to a fantastic view, and Nate and I had a view just as good out the window of our room. Time to go exploring. A few of us went for a walk to one of the lookouts. We made it to the top after stopping a few times just to get our breath back, and stopped for a group photo with the massive mountains behind us. More exploring on the other side of the mountain before dinner, and then a movie was put on for us. Later we were treated to a fantastic display of lightning out our window before the inevitable sleep.

The next day, we made our way back down to Lucerne via the cable cars. A visit to a shop selling two things that Switzerland is famous for, watches and pocket knives. I bought myself a small knife, and I was off to buy what I had been saving for... a Tag Heuer watch. I took Jen along with me as I would need a second opinon. We arrived at the store, and went shopping. The second watch that we saw took my eye, and that was all I needed to see. I bought the watch, and it stayed on my wrist until I got back to Australia. After leaving the store we found a great souvenir shop, and went inside and bought a few little presents for people back home.

Lunch was a traditional Swiss meal and show which included horn blowing and yodelling. After lunch, Jen and I continued our walkabout tour of Lucerne, which included the Chapel Bridge. We made our way back to the meeting point as we were taking a ferry around to the bottom station for the cog-wheel railway that runs up to the top of Pilatus. The views from the ferry were breathtaking, as were the views out the window of the train during the trip to the top. Another quick nap was needed, as we had a party that night at the hotel. The next morning, we caught the train back down the mountain, and drove back to Germany to our next stop... St Goar.