We awoke (after a few presses of the snooze button) at around 7:20am and got ready for a second day in Lucerne. We headed downstairs around 8:45am and enjoyed the Radisson Blu’s buffet. It was actually quite good, having a lot of choices — meats and cheeses, bacon, eggs (fried & scrambled), hash browns (if a little tater tot for my taste), croissants, breads, and even some Indian food. I focused mainly on the croissants with strawberry jam while Michelle had bacon and scrambled eggs. Genetta appeared shortly thereafter and had some bacon and fried eggs and some yogurt. Michelle went back up to the room as she wasn’t feeling great while I sat with Genetta and we had tea.
At 10am Genetta and I went down to the lobby for the guided tour. Unfortunately, Michelle wasn’t up to it. Stepping out of the hotel we were surprised by how nice the day was — nearly perfect blue skies with just a few clouds here and there. We walked along the lake, the blue sky reflected beautifully. Jack pointed at the row of large buildings across the lake — hotels built during the Victorian tourism boom. We once again passed the train station with its former entrance (now free standing arch) and walked onto Kapellbruke. Jack explained that the bridge had almost 80% burned in August 1993, likely the result of a late-night toss of a cigarette into a wooden boat moored to one of the bridge’s pilings below. Mooring boats is no longer permitted. It re-opened in 1994. Sadly only 30 of the original 150 or so paintings from the 1600s survived. Some of the burnt timbers were left in situ.
Rather than cross the bridge we stayed on the south side of the river. Jack pointed out the Rathaus Brauerei, a building that was built from 1602 and 1606 and served as town hall and held the corn market. Still visible were the arches that in the past let boats go under the building and unload goods. With the river banks filled in and paved to allow for foot traffic they form a pleasant arcade. Jack pointed down river at the an ornate white building perched high on the hillside. This was the Hotel Chateau Gutsch. After Queen Victoria visited Lucerne while in mourning over Albert (and carried up Mt. Pilatus on a litter) she wrote letters about how much she enjoyed the visit. This kicked off a tourism boom marked by building lots of hotels, including this one.
We then walked to the Jesuit Church (Jesuitenkirche Luzern). The Jesuits were invited by Lucerne residents to stave off the advance of Protestantism from the north in the mid-1500s. The church itself was consecrated in 1677. Lucerne is pretty much the furthest north in Switzerland that Catholicism still has a foothold. In front above the doors was a statue of Francis Xavier converting Indians. The only problem was they sculpted Native Americans rather than Indians, as Xavier had traveled to India. We went inside the church and, while not as ornate as most Catholic churches we had seen, was adorned with bright paintings and golden chandeliers in the Baroque style.
Our next stop was a building with flags of all of the parts of Lucerne’s canton flying above it. Jack pointed out that one of the benefits of living in Switzerland was the flag — it’s a big plus (rimshot). The building was built by a returned mercenary. Switzerland has a long history of providing mercenary forces for various countries in Europe, including the Swiss Guard which to this day guards the Vatican. This mercenary, flush with cash, commissioned an architect to build this massive stone building in the 1600s. Eventually running short on funds he accused the architect of a crime and, on his way to his death he cursed the mercenary, saying he wouldn’t live to see the building finished. He didn’t, allegedly dying in the following year.
Jack also stood by a public fountain and said that it was one of many fountains throughout Lucerne. Once vital for sanitary reasons the fountains are still treasured by the residents. There had been talk of getting rid of them to save some amount of euros but the residents voted for a tax for their upkeep. He explained that the Swiss vote on everything and tend to be fairly rigid and private. He said one of the worst things you could do would be firing up a leaf blower too early and disturbing your neighbors. 100% agree on that! Also, he noted that many restaurants have hides and furs for use by people eating outside during the winter. The residents had voted down allowing space heaters and such as they didn’t want people lingering too long outside during the winter eating, drinking, and carrying-on.
We walked over the river on a small pedestrian bridge, taking the time to admire a small dam / lock on the river. The water was stopped by a series of over a hundred wooden “paddles” and opening them required people to get in a rowboat and lift them up one-by-one. Passing the window of a mouth-watering bakery we came upon a courtyard with a very spindly tree — a linden tree. According to legend, one can not tell a lie while standing under a linden tree. A linden had grown on the spot for years as it was right next to medieval Lucerne’s courthouse, now the ornately decorated Hotel des Balances (Hotel of Scales). Walking past the old wine market and to the old corn market we came upon a charming nativity scene in front of the impressive clock tower of the old town hall.
A bit farther down we came upon a small white chapel, Peterskapell, the chapel at the end of the bridge for which Kapellbruke was named. Those coming into the city via the bridge would have to pass through and acknowledge the church. Also in the plaza in front of the church was an ornate fountain with a soldier atop it — another mercenary. Unlike the one earlier this one was beloved as he came back to Lucerne and spent his money on the people by throwing elaborate celebrations and handing out oranges. To this day the celebration is held during Fasnacht, basically German Carnival / Mardi Gras. Tens of thousands pack the small square, a far cry from the near emptiness of a very beautiful, but cold, Thursday in December.
At this point Jack left us to our own devices. It was about noon and Genetta and I knew we should probably go back to the hotel but we were this close to the shopping district we wanted to check out. So we did. We passed a store called Bucherer with a giant Christmas tree above the entrance and neat wind-up Nutcracker soldiers in the window and Chocolatier Bachmann which had a really neat chocolate fountain / wall inside. After that we visited Laderach where we tasted some tasty dark chocolate almond bark (and bought some). We also visited another chocolate store and I bought a Swiss milk jug with chocolate truffles inside and we found a nice magnet and some postcards. We headed back through town and got a gingerbread latte for Genetta at a cafe that I was clearly too old to be seen in and then went across Spreuerbrucke with its danse macabre paintings as Genetta hadn’t seen them yet. Heading back toward the hotel on the south side of the river we crossed Kapellbrucke back to the north bank then came back south on the auto bridge as it offered some amazing views of the mountains beyond the lake.
Now 1:45pm (oops), we arrive back at the hotel and pick up Michelle and head for lunch. We had a mind to get some fondue so headed to the Restaurant Fritschi. While the hotel had amazing paintings of the beloved mercenary something seemed a bit off once we entered. Thus we decided to head to Zunfthausrestaurant Pfistern, which was also elaborately decorated. It being past 2pm the restaurant was mainly empty. We enjoyed a cheese fondue with potatoes and bread and still water. At first it tasted a little funky (no weak sauce cheese like we have in the US) but I quickly grew to love it. Fully stuffed we walked out to the late afternoon light.
As we walked toward Lucerne’s main Christmas Market (surrounding the Franciscan church) I tried to give approximately the tour Genetta and I took in the morning for Michelle to catch her up, hitting many of the same places. We arrived at the Christmas Market on the south bank (Genetta and I had passed it earlier) near the Jesuit church about 4pm. It was opening day and not too crowded yet as it wasn’t night. We enjoyed shopping the small wooden house-like stalls and admired the large horizontal wreath with four large candles near the fountain. Michelle and Genetta bought some souvenirs and we enjoyed some mulled wine in souvenir Lucerne mugs.
Resting on a bench we listened to a person play the accordion before heading back along the river to the hotel. As it was nearly dark all of the Christmas decorations were lit up and it was quite beautiful.
We arrived at the hotel around 5pm and rested for a few before heading to Osteria across the street for dinner around 6pm. They were packed, however, so we went to the Luce bar in the Radisson to have some tea. While there we talked to some people from South Carolina as well as a lady who had gone up to the Hotel Chateau Gutsch for lunch. It sounded like the view was amazing and lunch was very tasty.
At 8pm we tried our luck with Osteria again. While still packed we were seated and enjoyed an excellent dinner of bruschetta as well as pancetta and mushroom pizza. Genetta had some hot chocolate while Michelle and I had still water. Around 9:15pm we headed back across the street to our hotel to relax and work on the blog, with sleep following shortly thereafter.
