Tuesday March 17 the Olson’s visited Lucerne (or Luzern). Like a lot of cities in Switzerland, there are different ways to spell it depending on the language. The French and English way is Lucerne, while the German way (the language of the city) is Luzern.
Our morning was slow and lazy for everyone except Melissa. She had to go to a morning meeting, but took the day off after 11 AM. I think everyone was appreciative for the excuse to take it easy after a long day of skiing the previous day.
We met Melissa at the Lausanne train station and boarded for the over two hour ride to Lucerne. Two hours on a train might seem like a long time, but in Switzerland the train ride is half the fun in going somewhere. All along the view out the window was rolling hills, farm fields, medieval cities, with the Alps always off in the distance.
Our plan when we arrived in Lucerne was just to walk around, see the sights, and absorb the ambiance. To Americans the city is more stereotypical Swiss; it has mountain views, a lake, a river, old medieval buildings, and German speakers. In fact, it was in the three other cantons bordering the lake (Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden) that the Swiss confederation began in 1291, which Lucerne joined later in 1332.
The most famous sight in Lucerne is the Lion Monument. It’s a massive sculpture of a dying lion carved into a cliff face. It is meant to symbolize the massacre of a Swiss regiment defending the King of France during the French Revolution.
After seeing the lion, we walked along the old city walls and up a hill to get a nice view of the city, lake, and mountains. We spent the rest of our time, until dinner, walking along the lake and river. An interesting surprise for me was the the art displayed in the covered bridges over the river. According to Wikipedia they are “medieval-style 17th Century plague paintings by Kaspar Meglinger titled Dance of Death.” They show people and skeletons working together to do everyday activities.
For dinner Melissa found a traditional looking Swiss restaurant where we had a traditional Swiss dinner of fondue and rösti. The Olson’s then boarded the train back to Renens for the last night of sleep in Switzerland.
