Panoramic Europe Tour - Day 3

We get up in the morning again watching last night’s trailor. Soon we were heading towards Mt. Titlis. After breakfast, we head to the cablecars at Engelberg. The cable cars which take upto 6 people goes uphill from Engelberg towards Trubsee. From inside, other cable cars look like pearls on a necklace. As you pass over the hills, we suddenly hear a symphony of bells. The bells sound more like triangles. We look down to discover they’re cows with huge and different bells.

The cable car stops at Trubsee, from where we change to a bigger cable car which would accommodate more people. This would take us to Gletscherstation Stand. (I just had to refer to the picture of the stand to get the name right). As we move higher, the view just keeps getting better and better. We can see a frozen lake from the cable car. After we reach the Stand, it’s now time for a third cable car, the world’s first rotating cable car. With a good capacity, the cable car had a rotating floor. So the handle attached to the window, which we were holding, had to change after every few minutes. The cable car gave us a good 360 degree view

We finally reach Mt. Titlis. From the final stop, we still had to climb 2 stories and Voila! Snow!!! Seeing snow after around 15 years was too much of euphoria to control. I just ran onto the snow, fluttering my arms like a small kid. I slipped and fell a couple of times but then I got up again and started running all over the place.

We spent a lot of time playing in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other, sliding downhill, and making snowmen. Well, actually destroying others’ snowmen. The place had an igloo, a skiing track (only for professionals), a special cable car to bring the skiers and a breathtaking view. Snow all around and greenery if you look a bit lower. I was surprised I would get to see snow at this time of the year even though Switzerland was really warm. Even Mt. Titlis just seemed to be cool because of the altitude and the earlier lying snow.

I just couldn’t get enough of the snow and Mount Titlis. I was reminded of a magazine on Mt. Titlis I saw the previous night at the hotel. It read “Mt. Titlis – It’s heaven” It indeed was. Coming down the cable car was great as we got to experience the beautiful Alps, frozen lakes and the musical cow bells once again. This time however at a distance, we could see many colourful parachutes hanging in the air. Engelberg is an important destination for paragliding as well.

Later on we have lunch and head to Interlaken. Interlaken is situated between two lakes, namely Brienz and Thun, hence the name which means between two lakes. As we enter the city, we get to see more paragliding. Interlaken is a prime destination for adventure sports. The city is a prime destination for shopping for those with extra surplus disposable dumpable income. Since I don’t fall into that category, I just saw the river Aare which passes through it and left the place

Next was Geneva. As we headed Geneva from Interlaken, the boards changed from Ausfahrt to Sortie (exit in German and French). Geneva would be our first place in the French part of Switzerland. Geneva is a worldwide centre for diplomacy. With the headquarters for the United Nations, many of its branches and the Red Cross, Geneva makes for a perfect global city.

From the United Nations headquarters, across the street is a monumental sculpture, the broken chair. The giant chair with a broken leg symbolises opposition to landmines and bombs. After clicking pictures of the Broken Chair, United Nations Headquarters and many more other headquarters like WMO, UNHCR etc, we head to the water jet.

The jet d’eau located on lake Geneva or Lake Leman is a hydraulic pump which has been fitted on the lake to create a fountain as a tourist attraction. The pump which throws water to a height of upto 140 m is so powerful that at any point of time, there’ll be 500 litres of water in the air. Near the Jet d’eau, my parents bump into an old friend after a couple of years. I’m sure the backdrop of Geneva would’ve made it more special for them. A few snaps later, we head to retire at the hotel