Day 9 - Lucerne

We are saying thank you to the rain gods today! We made it to the top of Mount Rigi today without any rain. It did start raining once we got back to Lucerne but we managed!

We started our morning off around 9am to get some breakfast and head to the pier to catch a boat. We took a 40 minute boat from Lucerne to Weggis - across the bay. Once we got to Weggis we had to walk a little to get to the gondolas/cable cars to take us up the mountain! While we were walking through the town we came across some cats!! They had collars on them and were so friendly. We stopped and petted them for a little bit and the one black cat followed us for like five minutes! He was a talker and kept chasing us up this hill we were walking up. It was so cute - it was a sign he wanted us to take him home. We made it to the gondolas and took a short 10 minute ride to another platform. Once we got there we had about an hour to walk around this little town/square and enjoy the scenery. We also got to listen to all the cows and their bells. The cows up here had huge bells on them so all you could here were the 'cow bells'. It was pretty for a little bit... but could get annoying after a while. Then we took a cog wheel train to the top of Mount Rigi! Lots of different modes of transportation today. We were watching the clouds roll in as we made our way up to the top, but it ended up being okay. Made for some awesome photos - I apologize now for posting so many...I simply could just not choose. We had an hour to walk around the top of Mount Rigi and take in the scenery before heading down the mountain in a cog wheel train the whole way. Lastly we took a train back to Lucerne. We were very worried about the rain and clouds this morning but it ended up holding off so we were very pleased!

Once in Lucerne we got some lunch and headed to the famous bridge and old town. The bridge is just beautiful and you can walk across it in all. There was a fire here in 1993 on the bridge and it took them just eight months to rebuild it. The flowers are just gorgeous. We stopped at a Starbucks - guess how much two tall black coffees cost? $9.45! Outrageous huh! Just something you have to get used to when you are in Switzerland. We then made our way to old town Lucerne, just as the rain set in. We walked around a little to see the sights and area but the rain really got to be too much. We stopped for some snacks for tonight and tomorrow morning and headed back to our hotel! We were a little disappointed we didn't get to see more of old town Lucerne but were very happy the rain held off. Its supposed to rain most of the night but clear up for tomorrow!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are hoping to head to Matterhorn! The weather is looking to be on our side so we are going for it! We have a 6am train to head out there so that means an early bed time for us!

Distance Walked: 10.42 miles

Love you all,
The Corcorans

 Famous bridge here in Lucerne. Very cloudy morning.

 On our walk up to the gondolas! How pretty is this photo :)

 Our cat friend who followed us for a long time! He was such a talker too - he talked and talked and talked. We named him Rigi!

Beautiful view - some clouds in the way right now. At the bottom of the photo are the cows we could hear.

Views from the top of Mount Rigi! LOVE this photo.

Views from the top of Mount Rigi!

 Views from the top of Mount Rigi!

Views from the top of Mount Rigi!

 Views from the top of Mount Rigi!

Views from the top of Mount Rigi!

Day 8 - Lucerne

Sunday was our rest day and travel to Lucerne day. We all slept in and didn't meet up until 11:30am - best morning ever! We all needed the sleep to get caught up and back on schedule. 

Before we started our journey to Lucerne, we decided to wander around St. Gallen. Its a German town here in Switzerland. We wandered the streets for a little bit just to get a feel for the city. We were trying to find a Cathedral but we never did find it :) We then made our way back to the train station and got on another train that took us to Lucerne - called the Voralpen Express. We finally found a good grocery store and stocked up on snacks and lunch - boarded the train and headed for Lucerne. It took us through all sorts of different cities and again had some great views. The day was very hazy which was hard to get good photos again. Today I really opted to just take in the scenery versus fight with the glare from the windows. It was a little over two hours and we were here! 

We got all settled in our rooms and headed our for some dinner. We went to another grocery store and stocked up on some dinner! We went outside to have a picnic and the rain started. We were able to get to some shelter and finish eating but that was about it. We wanted to walk around the town and go to the old town area. We opted for heading back to hotel and doing laundry! All of us needed to do it so it was a good night to get caught up on things. We will be at this hotel now for three nights so we can get settled. 

In looking at the weather, there is some rain tomorrow again, which is not good for traveling :( We want to go up to a mountain and possibly to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. We will have to see if weather cooperates or not. Tuesday looks like the best day and we hope to get to Matterhorn that day!

Hope you all had a great weekend! Hope the weather is still nice back home! Miss you all!

Distance Walked: 7.25 miles

Love, 

The Corcorans

View from our hotel this morning in St. Gallen

St. Gallen

 St. Gallen

 St. Gallen

 Here was the route we took. We stared in St. Gallen on the left hand side and made our way to Lucerne on the right hand side.

View from the train this afternoon.

Lucerne. Not the best photo but it was raining so I had to be fast. Will get better ones I promise :)

Day 7 - St. Gallen

I apologize for the late blog post! Saturday night we were just too tired and I needed my sleep :)

Saturday morning we left our hotel in Milan and we traveled to St. Gallen, Switzerland. And we didn't just take any old train to get to St. Gallen we took the Bernina Express! It was basically a scenic trip through Italy and Switzerland and made for some amazing views all from our seats! This was Erv and Eileen's favorite day so far on the trip! Best quote of the trip by Erv: "This is better than Disney Land"! Made our hearts melt :)

We had a few connections in the morning to get to the start of the scenic trip. Luckily everything worked out and we made it in time. We started with a three hour bus ride throughout the northern part of Italy - absolutely beautiful. We can't believe how these huge buses get through these tiny streets - but they did! I think all of us dozed a little bit on this bus ride as well! Next we settled in on the scenic train which took us through the Eastern side of Switzerland. They had panoramic like windows so you could see tons. The train wasn't super crowded or anything so it was just perfect. The only bad thing about having a bright, sunny, beautiful day, and glass windows.... yup glare! Not all of our photos turned out the way we wanted but still got some amazing shots. It also forced us to just sit back and relax and take in the breathtaking scenery!

After the scenic train we had another train to St. Gallen, Switzerland. It's a little town in north-eastern Switzerland. Then we made it to our hotel around 9:00pm and absolutely crashed! We had many early mornings leading up to this and it was a long day in trains as well.

Distance Traveled: 2.39 miles (I know how pathetic)

Love,
The Corcorans

How beautiful is that?

 A view through the windows.

We went through 55 tunnels and over 129 bridges.

 The water is really that color - its stunning.

 Notice the snow on the top of that mountain.

Love how the top of the mountain is still in the sun!

Oh... this was our $8.40 little snack on the train! Switzerland is known to be expensive and it sure is!

Day 6 - Cinque Terre

We spent the day in Cinque Terre! As Kevin pointed out, we saw the sunrise on the train in and saw the sunset on the train home :)

From Milan it was about a 3.5 hour train ride in. Cinque Terre is five little towns set up along the coast of Italy. All of them look similar but have their own style once you get there. We started at the furthest town and worked our way back south. Each town is about a 5 minute train ride between the next. It was a crowded and busy day. We got a taste of what Italy and Italians are like!

We enjoyed all the towns. Here is the order of the towns: Riomaggiore - Manarola - Corniglia - Vernazza - Monterosso. There is one famous/popular view from each city so we had to walk around the little towns to find that... which was fun. We found a place to eat lunch in the third city. It was warm when the sun was out so we were searching for shade a lot today. Got some good use out of our sun screen. Some of the towns had elevators or buses to could take to the top of the hills to get photos then walk down. ..which we did and it also saved time. We packed in a lot today going to all five towns. We had to time the trains between each city just right thanks to our kevin!

Well are you all ready for the story of the day?!?! We luckily are in no need of an embassy tonight! Well one of the things Italy can be known for is pick pocketers. We didn't have to worry about this really in london and didn't think much of it today. The first train we were on this morning was packed and we all held onto our belongings well. The very last train we were on between the 4th and 5th town well it happened to Erv. We were getting on the train and it wasn't super crowded by any means. Eileen and I got on and then Erv and Kevin did. This lady got on between us and had this huge bag. She was pushing Erv and standing up next to him. Her bag was like in front of him. He knew something wasn't right. We all kind of saw that it was odd and she wasn't moving. It all happened so fast and it took a second to click what was going on. Erv finally reached down to make sure his billfold was still there and it wasn't!  He was wearing cargo shorts and his billfold was in a pocket on the side. He says- my billfold is gone!!! Kevin and I got closer because we all now realized what was happening. Erv was so calm and started looking around the lady and in her hands for it. We all knew she had it. She then threw it on the ground and walked off the train! Erv was so aware and we are proud he said something and got it back. Nothing was lost or taken. We think she had to be watching us because we were on the platform for 20 mins before the train. We were all hot and tired and sitting on ground resting. She knew right where his wallet was. So we learned a valuable lesson today... Erv now has his wallet around his neck and feels much better knowing it's there all the time.

We did not let that stupid lady ruin our day. We had a nice ride home on the train where seats are assigned.

Tomorrow we start our journey to Switzerland :) Erv and Eileen are ready for a break from all these people!!! They have been such troopers through all of this trip so far!

Hope all is well back home. Have a great weekend everyone!  We miss each and every one of you!

Distance Walked: 10 miles

Love,
C-Squared

 Riomaggiore

 Riomaggiore

 Riomaggiore

 You have to pay for toilets in most of Europe. So this one cost one Euro (a little more than  $1). Usually if you pay to go into somewhere, like a museum, they are free. But this was just in the town and to use it you have to pay.

 Riomaggiore

Riomaggiore 

Manarola

 Manarola: Love <3

 Corniglia

 Vernazza : look at all the people!

 Vernazza

 Monterosso

Monterosso

Day 5 - Milan

We made it safe and sound to Milan, Italy! Took an early flight out of London and finally made it to our hotel around 12:30pm. I think all of us were ready to move on from London and the people. London is one of my favorite cities but I will say it is much more exciting the first time you go to a city. Don't get me wrong, I loved it this time, but its just not as exciting and new as your first time here!

Once we got to Milan, we took the Metro (subway) to our hotel and got all checked in. Took a little nap and refreshed ourselves. Outside our hotel is a covered shopping area (see photos below) and a huge square with a gorgeous Cathedral! We walked around the square for a while looking at all the shops and people. It was sunny and hot today - upper 80's. We found some lunch - pizza - and then made our way across the square to the Cathedral. We had to wait in line to get tickets and such and before you knew it we were on our way up. You can take an elevator to the top of the Cathedral and walk around the top of it - very cool! There are little tunnels you go through and you basically get great views of the square and the city. After that we headed downstairs and went into the actual Cathedral. Huge - just absolutely huge Cathedral. Beautiful on the inside as well. We were pretty hot so we headed back to our hotel (like a 5 minute walk) to rest up and cool down before heading out to see the Last Supper Painting.

Our tickets for the Last Supper Painting were are 8:15pm. We took the Metro a few stops and walked for maybe 5 minutes and we were at the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Leonardo da Vinci painted it right on the wall - I did not know that. It was huge and super cool. It has been restored a few times to touch up the paint because the technique he used with teh dry paint doesn't last long. We could not take any photos in there but I searched on line and found a few to give you an idea of what it looks like - posted below. You have to go through some rooms before you get in to regulate the humidity. You can only stay in for 15 minutes at a time. We had an audio guide to listen to as well but it was cool to just sit there in awe of this amazing famous painting! We all loved it :)

Had some dinner and back to the hotel for the night. Tomorrow (Friday) we head to Cinque Terra, Italy!! We have a 3.5 hour train ride both ways so that means an early morning again!

Love you all!
The Corcoran Clan

The shopping area around our hotel. Beautiful!

 Cathedral in the square.

 The square.

 Erv and Eileen outside the Cathedral.

 Erv and Eileen on the roof of the Cathedral.

 View of the square from the top.

They had statues of men along the perimeter of the Cathedral. They were all facing outwards and we noticed the lightening rods attached to each of them :)

Amber and Kevin on top of Cathedral.

 View from the top.

 Cool pic of the Cathedral decor - if I must say so myself.

Another view from the top - towards the city.

 Inside the Cathedral.

 Erv and Eileen inside the Cathedral. (I feel redundant naming all these photos but I feel they all must have a caption for some reason - lol)

 The Church where the Last Supper is.

 Waiting for our time slot to see the painting.

Cathedral at night!

This is a grainy photo but it is what it looks like. Its a huge room and the whole wall is the painting.