Blossom

The Cherry Blossom has nearly all finished now. But as a parting shot, I still have a few pictures to share.

High winds always take their toll on these lovely blossoms and on recent walks, we have found ourselves walking through what looks like confetti as the fallen petals, carpet the paths.

Hot on the heels of the Cherry blossom, comes the Cow Parsley.

Frothy white flowers which sway in the breeze fill the air with their distinctive scent.  Along the trail towards Osborne's Pond, they line the waysides.

The Hawthorn trees are in full bloom now. A quick glance at these familiar trees, might make you think they are simply another white flower. But a closer look, reveals quite a lot of colour.

Many of the flowers are flushed with pink, but many more have bright red or pink anthers.

Even when these colours are not visible, the sheer quantity of blossom on the Hawthorns, makes them well worth taking another look - and a picture or two!

Spring Colour

Yesterday, I mentioned the Hawthorn which is now in full bloom.

Among the more spectacular flowers to adorn the countryside around these parts right now, are possibly the least likely. Horse Chestnut trees have wonderfully colourful flowers, if you can get close enough to them.

This tree is to be found near the top of Shipley Hill and some of the lower branches droop low enough to allow a close look at the 'candelabras' of flower.

While on Shipley Hill, you can hardly escape the charms of the Azaleas and Rhododendrons.

All very colourful and much more to come....

Home Turf

Back to more 'domestic' matters and things have been moving on a pace while I have been preoccupied with all things Swiss.
On Shipley Hill, the Bluebells are still flowering bravely, although now sadly past their best.

Despite that, when the sun comes out, they still have the ability to make you stand and stare in wonder at their beauty.

The heady scent still fills the air on a warm day.

Close by, the cherry trees are still showing some gorgeous colour too.

This large, double flowered specimen is particularly fine, but this morning's walk revealed an awful lot of petals on the ground and not so many still attached to the tree.

The Hawthorn too is is in full bloom, adding its scent to the breeze.

No doubt there will be much more of these in the days to come.

To Finish...

We will finish with Luzern today, with a final look at a few more pictures. Our last full day in Luzern was the Sunday, which turned out to be Mothers' Day in Switzerland and it was also the day that Pat and Malcolm's family came to see us and spend the day.

To start with, we were taken on a delightful paddle steamer cruise on Lake Luzern, to the beautiful little village of Weggis which sits at the foot of Mount Rigi. It was here that we were all treated to a lovely lunch, on the lakeside terrace of the Hotel Central am See.

Once again, we were left rather green with envy at some of the water-front properties.

Some came with pillared frontages...

Some even came with their own vineyards...

Most were typically Swiss.

From our vantage point having lunch, we looked across the lake to Bürgenstock and the higher, snow-capped mountains beyond.

It was simply beautiful. What a place to sit and have lunch!

All too soon, it was time to return to Luzern and to say goodbye to the family.
The last thing we did was to take an evening stroll along the river Reuss and the old city walls as the sun went down.

The walls were built in the 14th century and the nine towers still stand overlooking the city.

From the ramparts, you get some wonderful views across to the mountains

Various gardens and terraces bring a lot of colour to the area too.

Wisteria was blooming along some of the trellises.

A beautiful end to a wonderful few days in Luzern...

Colourful

Luzern is a beautiful city. The architecture is good enough, but the parks and gardens around the area add just a bit more colour.

Lakeside walkways are lined with red flowered Horse Chestnuts.

Close by, Rhododendrons were in full flower.

There were planted beds of blue Pansies...

A couple of bronze sculptures added a certain something too.

More Rhododendrons...

And even more colour from beds of Californian Poppies.

Wild flower beds were also in bloom with various grasses, Ragged Robin and many other flowers, planted for the bees and butterflies.

Down Again!

Having spent some time on the top of Mount Pilatus, the second leg of our round trip took us back down via the world's steepest cogwheel railway. With gradients of up to 48%, it takes about 40 minutes to descend to the lakeside village of Alpnachstad, where we caught the third mode of transport, a boat back to Luzern. The shower of rain, sleet and hail which blew through while we were on the railway, was gone by the time we got on the boat, leaving some smashing views as we cruised the lake.

We passed the small village of Hergiswil, where the lake frontage was dominated by the glass blowing business Glasi Hergiswil.

Behind, the views of Pilatus were once again, quite wonderful.

Some rather nice lakeside properties also caught the eye.

But the day was dominated by our visit to the summit of Pilatus.

The mountain gets its name from a legend which says that one of the mountain's lakes, was the last resting place of none other than Pontius Pilate himself. For a long time, it was forbidden to ascend the mountain because of this. It was thought 'Cursed be anyone who disturbs the Pilatus.'

In the middle ages, it was believed that a dragon with healing powers lived in the rocky crevices on the mountain.

Whatever the truth, we were certainly not cursed on our trip.