NOTE TO THE FOLLOWERS:
Sometimes writing this blog - at the end of a busy day, tired - it's not as fun as it seems. The biggest challenge comes when I encounter technical difficulties.
After trying unsucessfully to publish this entry three times and losing all the content, I just gave up at the time. And time passed by.
EIGHT MONTHS LATER I decided to finally publish about the last day of our France/Switzerland trip. I apologize for taking so long... but here it is: the closing day.
We left Interlaken right after breakfast and got on a train heading to Lucern.
The landscape was absolutely beautiful, which made the trip even more pleasant.
I looked at those houses and villages and wondered what life would be like around here. We didn't see too many people walking around, outside the houses. It's a big mystery: how is the place so organized and clean if we don't really see people working outdoors. I am sure it's a lot of hard work to maintain this pristine look. Perhaps they use magic.
We arrived in Lucern early enough to enjoy the town getting busy on this Saturday morning. Ten out of ten people we talked to about Switzerland, before our trip, suggested we visited Lucern. Here we are - with a bunch of other tourists, of course.
SOURCE WIKIPEDIA:
Lucerne is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. With a population of about 81,057 people (as of 2013), Lucerne is the most populous town in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of economics, transportation, culture, and media of this region. The city's urban area consists of 17 municipalities and towns located in three different cantons with an overall population of about 250,000 people (as of 2007).
Owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne and its outflow, the river Reuss, within sight of the mounts Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne has long been a destination for tourists. One of the city's famous landmarks is the Chapel Bridge, a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century.
The official language of Lucerne is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the AlemannicSwiss German dialect.
We started our exploration at the Inseli Park, very close to the Train Station. From there we had a partial view of the city and the lake in one side and the sculptures and ducks arounds us. Apparently this place is famous for having live music and street artist performances on the weekends.
I love our rare family photos.
Lucern Station.
As we walked towards the centre, the streets started to get busier.
The main attraction is the Chapel Bridge.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
The Kapellbrücke (literally, Chapel Bridge) is a covered wooden footbridge spanning the River Reuss diagonally in the city of Lucerne in central Switzerland. Named after the nearby St. Peter's Chapel,[1] the bridge is unique in containing a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century, although many of them were destroyed along with a larger part of the centuries-old bridge in a 1993 fire. Subsequently restored, the Kapellbrücke is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, as well as the world's oldest surviving truss bridge. It serves as the city's symbol and as one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions.
What a fun and unique place.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Part of the bridge complex is the octagonal 34.5 m (113 ft) tall (from ground) Wasserturm, which translates to "water tower," in the sense of 'tower standing in the water.' The tower pre-dated the bridge by about 30 years. Over the centuries, the tower has been used as a prison, torture chamber, and later a municipal archive as well as a local treasury. Today, the tower is closed to the public, although it houses a local artillery association and a tourist gift shop.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
The bridge itself was originally built c.1365 as part of Lucerne's fortifications. It linked the old town on the right bank of the Reuss to the new town on the left bank, securing the town from attack from the south (i.e. from the lake). The bridge was initially over 270 metres (890 ft) long, although numerous shortenings over the years and river bank replenishments mean the bridge now totals only 204.7 metres (672 ft) long. It is the oldest surviving truss bridge in the world, consisting of strutted and triangulated trusses of moderate span, supported on piled trestles; as such, it is probably an evolution of the strutted bridge.
By mid-day the restaurants along the canals were getting busier and finding a free table at a not so expensive place can be a bit challenging.
I absolutely love these murals on the walls of the Old Town.
They are designs of scenes telling a story.
This is the house where the German writer Goethe stayed during his visit to Lucern.
Probably the last beer of our vacation.
Photo by Julia.
These are the 14th century city walls.
We didn't explore this part of the city, but the site AFAR (https://www.afar.com/places/lucerne-city-walls-lucerne) suggests a walk through Musegg Wall and it's nine towers.
Walk Lucerne's Historic City Walls
Lucerne's well-preserved Medieval city walls date from the 13th century. The historic fortifications are accessible to the public and provide a broad view of Lake Lucerne, the old town, and the Swiss Alps in the distance.
There are nine towers, three of which are open to the public - Schirmer, Zyt and Männli. Take the stairs up one of the open towers to access the short walkway on top of the walls.
And be sure to look at the inner workings of the city's oldest clock, built in 1535 by Hans Luter in the Zyt tower.
The town was vibrant due to a dance festival. As we moved around from corner to corner, perfomances were popping up everywhere. Kids, young people, adults and seniors dancing many different styles, contributing to our entertainment.
After a wonderful time in Lucern, we headed got back onto another train and headed to Zurich, Switzerland's biggest city. I would've loved to spend more time there as well, but unfortunately our trip was coming to an end as we caught a flight back to Canada from there the next day.
Bye bye Switzerland.
Travelling in France, visiting our friends in Lyon was awesome, fun and just felt good.
Going to Switzerland felt like something new and prestigious. Although it's an extremely expensive place, it offers a unique experience, full of astonishing mountain views, extremely well educated and polite people, and incredible examples of an almost perfect society. Everything works in such a syncosy that I am not sure how I could fit in this standard of living. Nonetheless, it was a learning experience for our family.
To this day, 8 months later, the kids still talk about "the cleanest place they ever visited."
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