A SERENDIPITOUS AFTERNOON.
How I ended up at the transportation museum, for free!
Yesterday morning, I woke up with a sore throat. I knew that this coming weekend was the monthly Pikmin Community Days. I had skipped out on the last two Community Days, either having prior engagements or falling ill.
So, I did my best to rest up in hopes that I'd be able to participate on Saturday, my preferred walking day. Sure enough, a day's worth of sleeping, drinking Erkältungstee, and taking immune boosters paid off. This morning, I woke up no longer feeling like I was about to come down with something.
The forecast today was not ideal. While it was warmer than last week (at 5°C), it was supposed to snow all day. Luckily, it wasn't heavy snowfall, more like, wet flurries. I felt confident that my umbrella would be enough.
We took the bus to Sip's newest location in Lucerne. It was walkable, but I'm not walking 1.7km on an empty stomach! This location prioritizes brunch food, while the one in old town focuses more on drinks and small bites.
I ordered a truffle mushroom rösti and Americano. It was delicious but very heavy, so a digestion walk was definitely needed!
After brunch, we thought about walking around Rotsee to get my 10k steps in. However, upon stepping outside, the wind grew stronger, blowing the flurries into my face. I put away my umbrella because it wasn't doing much. Rotsee isn't in the direction of our home, so we decided to walk the usual route whenever I partake in Community Day: Down the lakeside promenade. It's familiar, and it was at least closer to home.
Weather conditions unideal.
Daniel was already bemoaning the cold and the fact that I kept stopping to log birds or check Pikmin Bloom. We usually walk around 6,500 steps before returning back, because then it would be around 10,000 steps by the time we reached the apartment.
Eventually it stopped snowing, and I began to pause more often to point gleefully at the various ducks in the lake, or practice my crow caws.* We even spotted a large grey heron!
*One of my goals in life is to befriend a crow.
Terrible zoom, but this was the best I could do!
As we neared 6,000 steps, a couple stopped us. The man walked up and gestured at a ticket in his hand. "Would you want to visit the Transport Museum?" he asked.
"Uhhh..." I replied.
"We already paid for it," he explained.
"But what about you?" asked Daniel.
"Oh, we already went. We have two tickets. Here," he handed them to us, and began explaining what the museum was about. Clearly, we looked like tourists.
"Won't they check ID?" I asked.
"No, you can just go in and out as many times as you want. You just need to scan the QR code."
My eyes widened. "Okay! Thank you!"
I don't even remember saying goodbye to them because I immediately whipped around and began marching towards the museum. I've been to the Swiss Museum of Transport four times already, but I still haven't seen the entire thing. It's one of those places that has so much stuff, it's best to just take your time.
Planes, trains, and automobiles
The last time we went, we visited the Car section and the Plane section. We always visit the Plane section, because there's a flight simulator that's quite realistic (you can actually turn 360°), as well as other interactive exhibits.
So this time I led us to the Train section, because Daniel had never been. They updated the exhibit with trains I don't remember seeing, like this Chocolate tram.
They don't make 'em like they used to!
Daniel immediately went to play the first game he saw.
I think he was "operating" a forklift.
Daniel insisted on checking out the Car section again, in case they changed things. And they did! There were new car models and other vehicles on display. However, there was a long line to try out the F1 driving simulation, and now they have staff at every simulator. The last time we went, nobody was monitoring any of the "rides." So we skipped those.
These look like miniatures but they're real cars!
We were growing tired, but decided to check out the Plane section for old time's sake. There were new installations, and this time, the Space wing was open! So we had to check it out, because Daniel didn't get to see it last time.
The "giant cube" is called the Space Transformer.
The only interactive element was this giant cube that's supposed to simulate how astronauts orientate themselves in space. I went on this 7 years ago, and they let us walk around while the cube was spinning (slowly). But this time, we had to stand with our backs against the walls. Basically, the cube would spin, and you'd end up flat on the "ground." I remember slipping and sliding around last time, but I guess they also updated their safety protocols.
We ran downstairs in search of the flight simulator. Alas, it was gone! But the giant slide from the second floor to the first floor was still there, so I slid down for old time's sake. And let me tell ya, I must be getting older, because it was faster than I remembered, and I even got nervous as I was sliding down!
We stopped by the cafe at the front of the museum for cinnamon bun lattes. Then, it was the long walk home. I opened my app and to my surprise, we had already clocked over 10,000 steps from running around the museum!
By the time we got home, I was at 16k. We had stopped by the markets at the station, and now my feet felt like lead.
But what a wonderful afternoon!
I thought it was just going to be a dreary walk, but it turned into a fun-filled excursion.
I also logged a new bird in my app! A short-toed treecreeper.
As a homebody who probably leaves the apartment every 2-3 days, this was a reminder that sometimes, good things happen when you go outside.