Lovely Lucerne

After a lot of walking in Barcelona, my parents and I flew back to Geneva to do a load of laundry, re-pack, and meet Travers at the train station to head to beautiful Lucerne!  I had been here only once before, when I was in college, studying abroad in Italy. I stayed one night and loved it there. So when my parents said they would be willing to go, I was really excited to see what I could remember from my visit years ago.

Mt. Pilatus

Well, turns out I don't have that great of a memory because I couldn't tell you where I stayed or what I did last time I was in Lucerne, but I was right about it being beautiful. It is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in Europe. And even with some overcast weather, we could tell that it was a very beautiful place.  We got in late Friday night and found a place right on the water for dinner.  After travelling all day, we were pretty tired, so we went to bed early to get an early start the next morning. And this is what we woke up to. A view of Mount Pilatus rising above Lucerne and the lake.

Mom and Travers at Chapel Bridge

We started out by walking around town that morning, walking through the farmer's market that lined the lakeside. Then crossing the famous Chapel Bridge and Water Tower. We strolled past lots of stores and restaurants, crossing more bridges and watching all the ducks and swans floating in the lake.  Then we walked through Old Town, headed back to the hotel area to re-group and catch a bus so we could go up to the top of Mt. Pilatus.

Mom and Me with Chapel Bridge

A duck diving for breakfast

Dad and Mom on Gondola
withLucerne behind them

We hopped on the #1 bus and went to the base of Mt. Pilatus, Kriens, so we could take a mini gondola up the mountain to Frakmuntegg. It was a 30 min ride, and we flew over lots of beautiful trees and mountainside.  At Frakmuntegg, we got out of the small gondola, and got on a larger gondola which took us up to the top of Mt. Pilatus. It was an amazing trip up. The gondola just kept climbing and climbing up to 2,132 meters. I'm not afraid of heights, but it was definitely high up there and made me a bit nervous being suspended by cables in this huge heavy gondola. But we made it, and it was worth it as you could practically see the entire lake below, along with the pockets of towns below. You can see at these pics below the difference in height from the start to the end of this ride. Amazing!

At beginning of Pilatus Gondola Ride

Towards end of Pilatus Gondola Ride

It was pretty cold up there, but we braved it for a bit, walked around the viewing areas, then had lunch at one of the cafes there.  While Mom and Dad stayed warm, Travers and I headed back outside, and climbed up some more to the top of this viewing area. You could see panoramic views from up there. My pictures don't do it justice, but here is one of me and Travers at the top taking a self-portrait.  And then here is one of the Gondola that we took up.

me and T at the top!

Gondola!

We headed back down the mountain after that, and grabbed some drinks at Mr. Pickwick's. Then went back to our hotel, got ready for dinner, then headed back out to a delicious dinner.  M&D were tired, so we let them go back to the hotel, while Travers and I headed to the casino. We didn't gamble, but just wanted to check it out as we had heard it was one of the places to see in Lucerne.  We were surprised by all the teenagers in line outside for the club that was downstairs. So we headed upstairs for a drink, took in the scene of even more teenagers, debated going to the club, decided we were too old, then headed back to the hotel.


The next day, we checked out of our hotel, and walked to one of the most famous sites in Lucerne, the Dying Lion.  It is a stone sculpture, carved into the side of a mountain, of a dying lion. It commemorates the Swiss Guards that were massacred during the French Revolution.  It is the saddest lion I have ever seen.   Mark Twain apparently said it was the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.

Lion's Sad Face

Dying Lion

We continued our walk around the original wall of the city. It was cool to see how the city defended itself. Unfortunately, we were just a few weeks too early to be able to climb up one of the towers, but it was still really neat to see the wall.  We also got to see some of my favorite cows. Something about them being short and fat and furry is just so fun to me!

Exterior Wall of Lucerne

Cows!!

We headed back to collect our bags, grabbed some lunch, then headed back to the train station.  The weather was turning on us so we were glad to be on a nice warm train.  Travers and I headed back to Geneva, while my parents were off to Interlaken for a few days, then to Zermatt, and would return to Geneva later in the week.  We will be going back to Lucerne when the weather is warmer and the sun is out, cause it is definitely one of the best places we've been in Switzerland so far.

Love the bright orange beak!

Mom and Dad on a bridge in Lucerne!