SAUNTERING IN SWITZERLAND

Located almost in the heart of Switzerland, Lucerne is an ideal base to explore some of the Swiss landmarks, notably Mount Titlis and Mount Pilatus.

- Ranvir Nayar

By the third day, I had begun to look forward to it. In this seemingly timeless corner of the world, where silence was not just the rule, but ruled all day and all night, these occasional sounds had begun to feel welcome interruptions, if only because they also served as my perfect timekeepers.

The first sound came every morning and precisely at 06:59. Though, instinctively, I looked at my mobile for the time, but I need not ever have bothered. After all, I was in the place that prides itself as being the timekeeper to the world. And sure enough, even the public transport, like a ferry, respected that term, arriving every morning precisely at 06:59 at Weggis, a tiny town on the northern coast of Lake Lucerne or Luzern, as it is called in German, which was our home for a good 10 days recently.

As we were travelling to Switzerland in its peak travel season, late May-early June and most of our work was in Luzern city itself, I had initially been looking for a hotel in the main city. But as Dame Fortune would have it, all the hotels were either packed to the brim or priced way beyond our budget, which was anything but miserly. Hence, when I booked a hotel in Weggis, about 30 minutes' drive from Luzern, I was not sure about how my group may react, since I was dragging them away from city centre.

But my fears were dispelled the moment we set foot in our hotel or might I say the moment we entered Weggis as everyone, including your correspondent, had the jaw-drop reaction to the immense beauty that the magical town exuded. Sitting just by the lake, offering perhaps the best views of the Swiss Alps, with many of the most famous peaks covered deep in snow, and a sense of unhindered serenity, Weggis had floored us even before we reached our abode, the Graziella.