Panoramic Europe Tour - Day 2

The next day we make our way through the deciduous black forests of Germany to the home of the famous ‘Cuckoo Clock’. The factory itself has been shaped as a huge Cuckoo clock. As we reached there at 11 o clock, a huge wooden cuckoo bird came out of a window and made the cuckoo sound, followed by statues of couples dancing which came outside rotating and dancing.

Inside the factory, the entire procedure of making the clock, its history and the variety of clocks were demonstrated to us. The whole description would take up an entire post, so I stop it right here. We leave the factory at 12 sharp, to see the big cuckoo bird and dancing statuettes again. That was the end of our stint with Germany. Even though we can’t really say we saw Germany.

After lunch, we cross the border into Switzerland to see the Rhine falls, Europe’s largest waterfalls. Passing through deciduous forests and the German-Swiss border, we make our way to the gushing falls. The water was just divine. Its bluish green colour was very tempting. The colour resembled the colour of a glass slab seen from the side. As we wait for out boat which would take us closer the falls, ducks and swans approach us. The swan gets up and does a little act and takes away a lot of applause and attention.

We then get onto a boat which would take us closer to the falls. Passing through the beautiful river we’re now just a few metres away from the falls. As we approach the falls, a zephyr of droplets blows across us. As the heat was rising, the aerosol spray came as such a relief! It was a wild experience as the boat was getting rocky.

Later on we get to move around the falls and see it from the top. The falls were just stunning with lots of greenery around. In the area, they had also instilled a manually operated turbine. The turbine was inside a cylindrical glass container with water and attached to it was a handle which we could rotate. As we rotate the handle, we would create a whirlpool. This was to manually demonstrate how hydropower works.

Our next destination is Luzern or Lucerne as it is called in French or English. The city which is split by River Reuss is a good blend of tradition and modernity. A witness to the turning pages of history, Luzerne ranks high among the topmost tourist destinations in Europe. After a stroll through the city roads and besides River Reuss, we later on go to the Lion Monument.

The lion monument is a carving of a wounded lion. It was built to commemorate the hundreds of Swiss guards who were massacred in 1972 during the French revolution. It’s believed that the artist who carved it was not paid well on time, so he carved the outer frame in the shape of a pig. Even though you might miss the pig while watching it face to face, it’s hard to miss it on a photograph.

That evening, we head to Engelberg. We would stay at a hotel facing Mt.Titlis, one of the most popular mountains in Switzerland. As we moved towards Engelberg, the view was just spectacular with mountains and rivers flowing on either side. At a far distance, a snow capped mountain was visible. That was Mount Titlis. We passed through various picturesque landscapes as we started to ascend uphill towards Engelberg.

Unwinding roads, mountains and small waterfalls everywhere were making for a beautiful spectacle. The picturesque sceneries were only picturesque until half way. After that it was time to keep cameras away and experience the beauty. The air was so clean that anyone from an Indian metropolitan city could get an asthma attack. We finally reach our hotel at Engelberg from where we could see Mt. Titlis and cable cars leading to it.

That night at Engelberg with a balcony facing Mount Titlis was a movie trailor for the whole night. We would be watching the real movie the next morning