Kate and Toby

Closely following Junko are two of my oldest friends. Miss Katherine Hoggett and Mr Paul Michael Hanwell, hailing from sunny North London. We rarely get to see one another or for very long or so it seems now that we are living in seperate cities, so their visit offers us some time to catch up. We take in a few Swiss army knife shops comparing tools, so to speak, touring the cheap independent choclate shops and all the other tourist necessities. Its nice to play host to them for once, it always seems that they are putting me up. Its so great to see some familiar faces.
Our first trip out is to Pilatus, as Kate is a little funny with heights (and secretly I don't fancy the big cable car in clear visibility either) we catch a train to Alpnachstad, which is the home of the Pilatus funicular (steepest in Europe (the world?)) Its jolly red paint work belies the life threatening angles that we are about to climb. The journey up is about 40 minutes of solid climbing, no flats just 45 degree angles all the way. We are taken through forrests, past rocky outcrops, sheer drops, musical alpine cows and finally to summit. The temperature is very different from the heat bellow, jumpers and coats are taken out.
Its around lunch time and the top is beseiged with tourists and unexpectedly a congregation enjoying a mountain top sunday mass, you couldn't get much closer to god.
The visibility is patchy, you can glimpse Luzern beneath between breaks in the clouds, the land gradually merges hazily with the horizon, everything seems to have a blue-green filter. It is Toby and my Privellage as pioneers and adventurers to climb the last part of the mountain to the very top, it offers unobstructed 360 degree views, I think I was first to the top though.
Later we head to the lake and rent a pedalow and paddle 10 minutes out into the lake. As the host it is apparently my duty to act as an example to others in all areas, and now it is my duty to test the water for swimming, if its ok then they 'might' come in too. In no time at all we are splashing about, toby blind without glasses and floating in two rings. Infact its so nice that we don't realise the water has pulled us back to the pedalow quay and almost under the main bridge which leads to a a rapid. Its like a predictable cartoon. Hiromi is unable to peddle us out of danger and I have to steer us away from almost certain doom (yeah, I'm a hero), as we leave the bridge a Police boat comes toward us on a lazy rescue mission but are too late. As we swim around we notice another group float under the bridge and are rescued by a little speed boat.
On our last day we induct Kate and Toby into the Gutsch ritual fire. We head out under a patchy sky and get a fire blazing immediately, Kate is apparently quite the woodsman (woman?). The four of us sit arond preparing food and chatting. Toby is testing out his new Swiss army knife, its not big, but it looks like Death. Within the first five minutes I cut myself, Toby will go on to cut himself four times, inadvertant blood brothers. Later the skies open and noah and the ark rain pelts us. We sit under umbrellas around our little inferno simultaneously getting wet and being dried from the fire.
Their trip seems to be over before its even really started and before we know it we are back at the train station waving good bye.
Until next time.