Lucerne – Day Two

We found a really great map in the hotel lobby and again, like Zurich it had a trail marked out for seeing all the main sights in Lucerne. We headed into town to get some lunch first. We have been spending way too much money here in Switzerland because everything is double the price it should be, so we went to the supermarket to make ourselves a cheap lunch. We got a couple rolls and croissants, ham and a mixed salad. $15 for lunch, not too bad. We ate lunch by the water and looked out to the alps while the swans swam at our feet waiting for crumbs. It is really beautiful here!

We started the tour and of course ‘Erin the tour guide’ came out because I was so great with being a guide in Zurich haha, and it’s a lot of fun! We started at the water tower and bridge which is stunning by day and night, flowers of every colour decorate the outside. It is the most photographed thing in Lucerne and I can see why! Then we walked along the water and up around the tower wall that surrounds Lucerne, ‘Musegg Wall’ What a trek! Its up many many steps! I am so surprised that even with all the walking we have been doing on this trip and we still couldn’t cope with that hill. We had to stop halfway so we didn’t die! haha!

We found an entry to go up to the top of one of the towers, we thought this was a good idea until we were 4 levels up and there was no sign of reaching the top. The towers were built in 1535 and I wouldn’t be surprised if the stairs were original because I didn’t think we would make it to the top without falling through a few floors! Rhys wasn’t helping my phobia by jumping and stepping on the steps like he were an elephant! When we made it to the top I was really glad we went because the view was spectacular!! You could see along Lake Lucerne and up to the alps! Amazing! We stayed up there for a while just in awe of the sight and then we made the very scary trip down the tower, which was harder than the way up! Very narrow, almost wobbley, worn wooden steps, a group of people behind us keeping us moving down too quickly! My legs were shaking! When I got to the bottom my legs were hurting in muscles I didn’t even know existed!! I could barely walk! We managed to make it down the hill to the main part of town and we got a couple slushies and sat on the steps to rest up for the next half of the walking tour.

The next part takes us along to the Lion Monument. When I walked into the beautiful gardens and saw the Lion sculpted out of a rock wall I was blown away. The monument was made in memory of the deaths of swiss mercenaries at the Tuileries. It was very moving! I felt a deep sadness when I looked at the monument. So we stayed there for a while and just took it all in.

Across the road there was a 3D panorama look at the alps for 6 francs … what a waste of money! haha it looked like it was made in the 60s and never repainted, but it was a bit of a laugh. We walked down again to the center of town and went into a couple of the most popular chocolate shops in Lucerne. We bought more … of course! This stuff is too good and anyone who knows me, is aware that I am more a savoury girl than anything else but this chocolate is out of this world!!

We were going to head to Stadkeller for dinner, they hold a folklore show with yodelling, alphornblowing, folk music and flagthrowing but when we went to book they were fully booked for the next few days, which sucked because it would have been great to get into the spirit of the place and experience it. Oh well, backup plan??

Fondue!! oh dear… The idea of fondou seems great, but the taste! … not so good haha! The restaurant smelt so bad I don’t want to describe it and ruin your day. We ordered one serving and I am so glad that is all we got because there was just too much!! We got potatoes, two loafs of bread, salad and a giant pot of melted cheese haha. We spent more time photographing it than eating it because to be honest, I was scared of the stuff! Luckily we didn’t eat enough to be sick. It wasn’t the restaurants fault, I am sure their fondue is as good as any other but I just couldn’t handle it haha!

Afterwards we walked around the town till dark and crossed the bridge and took a few more pics. That is where the walking tour ended, we thought we would head back for an early night, we ended up watching more junk on my laptop and not sleeping early at all! haha then we slept in again the next day! We are terrible! Tomorrow there is a cheese fest in town… oh man … haha I may not live through this! If there is no blog after this … it’s because the cheese killed me

E