Short walk on Mount Zug, from the Verena Chapel to Oberwil

 (This post published on December 12, 2023)

Wednesday January 31, 2018 -- Our joint day off, usually reserved for a hike away from home, but the weather wasn't good enough to make it worth a trip somewhere, so we just did a short, 6-km hike on our own mountain, Mount Zug, where we have already walked often. But this stretch we did, starting at the Verena Chapel and walking down to the psychiatric clinic in Oberwil was one we hadn't done yet.

This January, there wasn't much snow in the lower elevations, so we were actually able to do some "dry land" hiking.

From the closest bus stop at the top of the residential area, we first hike up through the St.Verena farm, headed for the chapel. 

Verena Chapel on the hillside above the city of Zug, this building is under monument protection. 

This Baroque construction is from 1705, although there was another church and hermitage here as early as 1660.

A last look at the chapel as we head south on our walk down to lake level in Oberwil. 

We started on our walk to Oberwil at 2:40 p.m. It's not even an hour to walk down to the train station there. We walked a bit further though. 

A short 6-km afternoon walk to get some fresh air and exercise on our own mountain, on the east side of Lake Zug. 

A look down at the north end of Lake Zug and the city of Zug

Passing some farm buildings along the way

Down below is the psychiatric clinic in Oberwil, and in the background you can see Mount Pilatus, which is Luzern's mountain. 

This is an unusual sight, something we don't often see on our walks. 

A very mild winter so far, means the flowers pop early. 

Private Tour of the St. Andreas Castle Grounds

 (This post was published on December 8, 2023)

Sunday April 3, 2016 -- Urs' cousin has worked for the past 20 years or so as personal assistant to the owners of a small castle in the town of Cham on Lake Zug (just one town over from my home) and she gave us a private tour of the grounds (720,000 sq ft) including the boathouse, whose tower has been redone into a mini apartment. The castle grounds are opened to the public twice per year, but a private tour was definitely better! Too bad the sky was overcast and the wind was cold. 

In medieval times the promontory where the castle is located was one of four ports on Lake Zug. The chapel on the grounds has apparently been used since the 9th century. In the 14th century the castle was fortified, and has changed hands numerous times since then. It is currently privately owned by the Page family, descendants of the founder of the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company (whose merger with Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé in 1905 formed the Nestle Company.)

Entrance to the St. Andreas castle grounds in Cham

Heading down the castle road toward the castle. 

On the left, previous grounds buildings are now converted to rented apartments

The castle has its own chapel, in use since approx. the 9th Century

Interior of the castle chapel, in use since the 9th Century

We started out by taking a walk around the castle grounds

We started out by taking a walk around the castle grounds

A look back at the castle as we head down toward the lake

A highlight at this time of year were all of these Chequered Lilies, also known as Chess Flowers! I had never seen these before.

Heading to the boathouse on the lake. Marlies had invited us for an Apero, so we were going to have something to eat at the boathouse. 

The castle grounds have their own little bay. 

On the far side of the little bay is the old boathouse with a tower, which has been converted into an apartment!

The tower has been converted to an apartment, but there is a narrow stairwell which can be accessed through this very narrow door and a narrow winding stone staircase, which we got to go up on!

This shows how very narrow this stairwell was! What fun!

This is the chapel from the back, and below it is the private family crypt.

Castle gardens... probably roses. Too early in the season for any flowers here. 

What the castle grounds look like on Google Satellite Maps!

The following two photos are what the castle looks like from the lakeside when passing with the ship on Lake Zug:

When you take a boat ride on Lake Zug, you pass by the castle, and this is how it looks from the lake. 

When you take a boat ride on Lake Zug, you pass by the castle, and this is how it looks from the lake. 

And the following three photos were taken by Urs on a separate visit in September of 2023 when he met with his cousin there:

St.Andreas Castle, September 7, 2023

St.Andreas Castle grounds, September 7, 2023

St.Andreas Castle boathouse, September 7, 2023

Easy walk around Old Town Zug on this Beautiful April Morning

(This post pubished on March 29, 2024)

Friday April 11, 2014  -- A beautiful day to do a bit of a walk around our old town of Zug, which is really a very nice old town!

(Note: Later in the day we took a trip to Einsiedeln and did a 5-km walk around the old Baroque Monastery grounds before joining Urs' train restoration group for their Annual General Meeting. Apparently I am also a member of the restoration club).

I started at the popular "Guggi" look-out point above the old town of Zug. 

The view over the roofs of the old town is to Mount Pilatus near Luzern. The tower on the left is the prominent Zug landmark called "Zytturm" (Clock Tower). 

The original town walls had several corner towers which are all still standing. 

A zoomed-in view of the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau trio of the Bernese Alps. On clear days with the Föhn effect, the mountains look very close. 

One of the old defence towers on the city wall. 

I enjoy peeking into the courtyards

According to a sign on the other side of this house, the building dates from 1491 and is called te "Meierei"

History of the 1491-built house called the Meierei. This building used to serve as the flour warehouse. It was renovated in 1975. 

This is our city's castle!

One of several of the original towers along the city walls (on the south side)

I then walked over to St.Michael's church, a more "modern" church with its large park-like cemetery.

Even though the oldest part of St.Michael's church dates from 1390, the church was completely rebuilt in the neo-gothic style in 1902

Walking through St.Michael's cemetery

Walking through St.Michael's cemetery

Looking down at the funeral chapel

From higher up in the cemetery you can see the steeple of St.Michael's church, and Lake Zug. 

Flowering Magnolias

The cherry trees are blossoming! In the background is Mount Pilatus, which is Luzern's local mountain. 

As an aside, this is what the Einsiedeln Abbey looks like from our short walking later in the afternoon before joining the Annual General Meeting.