Lucerne, Switzerland

Arrivaderci Italia! Our train from Stresa to Lucerne took us through our first amazing views of the alps and into Switzerland. One immediate perk of heading into Switzerland meant nicer trains. The Swiss have got trains down. The always run on time and are always super clean and comfortable. We liked Switzerland already despite not knowing exactly what to expect during our next several days here.

As we arrived in Lucerne we thought about how it was interesting that in the US (I suppose it’s just because of the English, and not specifically that we’re from the US) we all call cities by their English name. However, every European we met including Diane and Monica call cities by their local names. For instance, Lucerne is Luzern, Roma is Rome, Venizia is Venice, and Wien is Vienna. But back to our story....

The minute we got into the city we realized how beautiful it was. We found our hotel - the Hotel Alpha which wasn’t too far from the city center and was quite nice. It was raining a bit the day we arrived, so we grabbed some umbrellas from the lobby and headed out to explore town.

Lucerne is right on Lake Lucern - go figure - and a river that drains out of the lake flows through the city. Over the river are some super old wooden bridges that date back to medieval times (though there were fires and restoration needed along the way) that were completely covered in flowers and just awesome for views along the river and pictures. A lot of the building were very German looking - as this part of Switzerland is very German (language and culture). We tried out a Swiss Chocolatier as well - which was a hyperglycemic experience. It was super tasty though.

Through exploring the city in the rain we eventually made our way over towards a little restaurant where we tried some Rösti - which is traditional Swiss entree that’s basically potatoes shopped up and baked with cheese, hams, sometimes eggs and other things on top. Kristen, being the potato enthusiast she is, could hardly contain her excitement after learning what Rösti is - but of course she ordered it with potatoes and “nothing else!” We also learned about Bier Panache (we tried Heineken Panache) which is basically 2 parts lager and 1 part Lemonade - which is Sprite over here. We know, we know, mixing beer is just not right - we got it already from “real” beer drinkers - but this was super good. Our over 21 friends will have to try it - or just go to Europe where anyone that is tall enough to see over the bar can order!

Anyway, Monica knew of a place right around the corner that did traditional Swiss dancing and music - so we wanted to check that out for the rest of the night. We found that the place charged like 75 Euro for dinner and the show each - so instead to opted for the 10 Euro option without dinner and found a little Thai place for a meal on our own first.

The show was awesome - we got to see traditional dancing and hear traditional music including the alp horn, yodeling, the massive cow bells, and playing other inanimate objects like the broom and the saw. Yes, not a mistype, we saw a guy play a broom and a wood saw - and it sounded really cool!

We had a lot of fun at the show but afterwards headed back to the hotel for the night with Edelweiss stuck in our heads. We still had tomorrow in front of us - and we hoped we’d get some better weather to explore Lucerne in.

When we woke we had gotten our wish of perfect weather! We decided to go back to the beautiful downtown and climb what is left of the medieval walls. When we reached the top of the tallest tower we had amazing views of the city, a castle, the lake, and the Alps way in the distance. The water is so clear and the lake looked gorgeous with the sun on it.

After our wall walk, we went to a monument that the Swiss built in memory of fallen soldiers. This monument is a lion with a spear in its side that is carved into the side of a mountain. The sculpture is so well done that when you look at it you really feel bad for the lion.

We learned about the Swiss soldiers while we were here - as we thought the Swiss were always neutral. Apparently, back after the middle ages the Swiss did have quite a military - which every citizen required to serve for at least some time. The military was ready to defend the country. But during all the fighting through the 17th, 18th, and 19th century the Swiss decided to make their military for hire. They were paid mercenaries fighting for anyone with money - while back home using this massive influx of money to build their cities and establish the world famous banking system we know today. They were pretty slick. But enough history...

Walking back past the side of the lake we decided to look into renting a paddle boat for the afternoon. When Matt walked up to the boat man he realized that we could rent a motorboat for several hours and did not need a boating license. We obviously chose the small boat that was paddle free.. We treated Phil and Scotch to a boat ride on Lake Lucerne and Scotch conquered a fear of being on boats. Matt and Kristen were the captains and we took our boat across the lake closer the mountains and past mansions. The pictures we got are amazing. Kristen allowed Matt to drive back to shore so she could ride with her feet in the crystal clear water. Matt would just like to point out the word Kristen used, “allowed.” :-) Moving on...

We should mention that in most places we’ve been on our trip thus far there have been swans. It seems to be a recurring theme.. and of course, there were many swans in this beautiful lake who swam right by us. Our boat ride was a highlight of Lucerne and we finished our great day with dinner at a restaurant right on the river.

We are sad to leave such a great city, however, tomorrow we will make our trek up the mountains and settle into a valley for several nights.

Auf Wiedersehen!