This hotel’s (very official) Jones rating went up another notch at breakfast. Cereals, juices, yoghurts, meats, cheeses, fruits, danishes, churros with chocolate dipping sauce, smoked salmon, eggs made to order……. We told the kids to eat well at their included buffet breakfast because of the cost of food here, and they did!

We then rolled ourselves out of the hotel and on a public bus to Kriens, to buy tickets for Mt Pilatus. There is a discounted price for groups of 10 or more, so Luke wouldn’t let me tap out of this excursion because he needed me included for the extra discount!

I do not have fond memories of the cable car ride when we were here 9 years ago, and it not being open until 11am today because of high winds didn’t fill me with confidence. However….the gondolas started up at 10.40am, and we were safely 2,312m higher up at Mount Pilatus soon after 11am.

The reality of the beauty of our surroundings dispelled my fears. We had a lovely time up on the mountain, watched a short film about its history, had a couple of snow fights, enjoyed a delicious hot chocolate, and then descended in the cable car and then gondolas back down.

We stopped along the way at a midpoint gondola stop where the kids had seen a playground covered in snow. They enjoyed some time there on the flying fox, swings and other equipment, before the gondola returned us safely to the street level.

We then all caught a local bus back to the Old Town for some shopping. Lunch was an apple we had picked up from the hotel foyer on our way out this morning. Everyone broke off into smaller groups to shop and head home when ready. I enjoyed an afternoon nap while Ross watched a Trump press conference on CNN (oh how the tables have turned!).

We met in the foyer to head out for dinner. We had met some Aussies from Adelaide at Dachau, who had just arrived from Lucerne so recommended a restaurant for dinner to us. They couldn’t fit us in so we’ve booked there for tomorrow night.

As Abi researched where to eat on our first day here, she had an alternative ready for us for tonight – Jeff’s Burgers. Everyone had a great meal except for Luke who ordered nachos, so he went to McDonalds with some of the kids while the rest of us walked home. Today was voted one of the best of the trip so far by most of our group.