Leaving for Milan
Had to transfer stations in Milan, had time so I walked it.
Travelling to Aurf-Goldau
Taking photos from the trains was difficult, it was overcast outside so the interior lights showed up strongly in the windows
An incomplete view of the train I was on, was at least 31 carriages long.
Arth-Goldau
Was just here for a train transfer with ~80 mins to kill. Saw there was a zoo/nature park 5 mins walk up the road and decided to visit.
Due to limited time I didn't see all of it, just did the loop around the bear wolf enclosure in the map
Grounds are quite nice, it is spread out with quite a bit of space or each enclosure.
Kindof hard to see but on top of the rocky hill are two sleeping wolves.
Bear, this is the other end of the same enclosure as the wolves.
Zoo had quite a bit of children play equipment scattered throughout.
Somewhat surprised to see a Koala :)
European Bison
and finally the train I've been waiting for.
Gotthard Panorama Express
This is a panormaic train running between Arth-Goldau and Lugano along the Gotthard route. Incidentally this trip was the first I've heard of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which was constructed recently to replace the old route. It is 57 km long, with a maximum depth of ~2.4 km. On of the guides pointed out one of the ventilation buildings as we passed, over 500m above the actual tunnel.
Anyway the issues with reflections in the glass still occur. There is a camera coach which is a regular train car with open-able windows, allowing you to take photos without this issue. Unfortunately they haven't removed the luggage racks, making it awkward to stand next to a window for someone tall.
There was a half hour stop in Flüelen since the train has a connection with a streamboat arriving from Lucerne. (I did consider starting from Lucerne instead but the transfer would of been tighter than I would of liked)
A rare case of seeing me with multiple layers. Wind coming off the lake was icy, even to the point that I was feeling it.
Trains also have the issue that a lot of interesting sights are gone quickly, if you don't already have a camera out you miss it.
Lugano
Didn't have long here. The train station is quite a ways above the lake . Have a cable car system to go down, took a video of it but forgot to take pictures. Didn't use it myself so I didn't quite make it to the lake before deciding that I should head back up to the station. I'm not the quickest with long series of stairs.
Milan
Ended up forgetting that the train to Piacenza doesn't pass through the the central station. Was a bit of a rush once I realised, only having three minutes spare once I made it across the city and onto the platform.
Train ended up being delayed by 20 minutes anyway but missing it would of been a big error - there was a transit strike starting before the next one was due.
Piacenza
Arrived back late, and the municipal busses were not running at that time of the night.
Nice night, and the part of the walk through the historic districts was nice.
Will upload Sunday's visit to Piacenza's museum Monday.