A long weekend in Luzern

When DH asked what I wanted to do for my upcoming birthday of course I said I wanted to go to Ireland but it made more sense to visit a new place and Switzerland "in the Winter" came to mind.  It has been on our list to see for quite some time because it's an easy trip via train from home (we had a mini-overnight in Bregenze in 2011 but it wasn't really what we wanted to see of Switzerland). Kaiserslautern-Mannheim-Basel takes about 5 hours as long as trains are on time and connections are made. We left late but still managed to make all trains on Thursday evening getting us into Luzern around 8:00 pm. Our hotel was literally right next to the station which made the 5 minute walk super easy, especially since the train station has an entire underground shopping and walkway system. We checked into the Waldstätterhof Hotel and then walked around the neighborhood in search of a place to hang out for a bit. The Havana Bar was nice and cozy but oh.my.goodness was everyone right about Switzerland being expensive - a glass of Moscato for CHF 8 and that is only - 10cL! We are really spoiled with good cheap wine in Germany! We enjoyed some local beers which we compared to the American brewed Bud Light and it was actually refreshing, a nice change from our normal wheat's!

Friday morning after breakfast at the hotel we planned to spend the day an hour train ride away in the town of Engelberg. I made the mistake of NOT planning our travel very well for this trip because I'm sure we ended up spending WAY more than we needed to as we didn't purchase a Swiss Pass for transport and activities. Oops - purchased the wrong ticket to Engelberg resulted in paying the higher extra charge on the train as well as a return ticket back to Luzern - approx. CHF 70. Full price lift tickets up Titlis Mountain because we didn't have a rail pass - CHF 124. Oh well, live and learn for next time.

On the train to Engelberg

The weather was rainy and miserable so after we got into the adorable mountain ski town in the heart of Switzerland, we decided NOT to rent everything for skiing. There were great cross country trails as well as fun looking beginner slopes for us but instead we took the three cable cars up to the top of Titlis at 3.028 meters or roughly 10,000 feet. It was pretty amazing to be in the middle of the snowy Alps, in the winter. It's very picturesque and probably even more beautiful on a clear day. Because the wind was whipping at over 100km the slopes on the upper mountain were closed. Yeah for us as we got to take a solo ride in the Titlis Rotair, revolving cable car, the remaining 600 meters up. It was actually like being in a reverse snow globe since it was quite blizzard like outside the cable car!

The Titlis Rotair Cable Car

At the top we were excited to be the only ones inside the Glacier Grotto - tunnels carved through the glacier and kept at a steady 32F year round. The roof inside the tunnel could be anywhere from 10' to 65' high! Every year 100's of people put in 1000's of volunteer hours to maintain the icy paths. We thought it was really beautiful, glacial blue ice.

In the middle of a glacier!

After Dave ate a Swiss Movenpick ice cream cone at the highest bar in Europe we rode back down to the bottom where the rain continued. Another highlight in Engelberg is the cheese factory at Engelberg Monastery.

The Engelberg Monastery Cheese Factory

Dating back to the 17th century the most important source of income for the people in the Engelberg valley was cattle and cheese trade. The factory demonstrates this ancient art of cheese making and we watched the whole process while we ate lunch in the restaurant that overlooks the demo. Soft Brie is made in the factory throughout the day and of course we got to sample the finished product. We wandered around a bit in the cute cobblestone streets of Engelberg before catching the express train back into Luzern. We think it would be really spectacular to go back in the summer, or at least in warmer, non-rainy weather!

We did a little bit of sight seeing when we got back to Luzern and then had a nice dinner at the Rathaus Brauerei located right on the riverfront. Dave really enjoyed the Special Microbrew....as if he ever does not enjoy brewed libations! The town was lively and decorated brightly as everyone was preparing for Carnival. It was interesting to see all of the different costumes and decorations in the shops, restaurants and even the people. The night before we walked by a bar that had half of an "old car" inside so we found that again and had a few fun hours of overpriced beers and being in the minority age group.


Dave under the paintings in the Chapel Bridge

The Reuss Riverfront and Rathaus Brauerei

Friday Pictures

Saturday morning it was time to take trusty Rick out of the suitcase for Luzern's city walk. With umbrellas in hand, we started right by the hotel at the Bahnhofplatz and walked along the Reuss River taking in the different views of the bridge that Luzern is known for, The Kapellbrücke, or Chapel Bridge.

The Water Tower and Chapel Bridge

It's bridge was part of the city's defense system in the 1400's and built at an angle to connect the medieval fortifications. The stone Water Tower was built around 1300. In the 17th century the bridge was decorated with paintings depicting the development of Luzern but in 1993 a boat caught fire under the bridge and quickly demolished it. After it was rebuilt, colorful paintings were put up lining the roof but its probably not the same as the 300 year old paintings that were mostly ruined in the fire. There are a few bridges that cross the river but none as interesting as the Spreuerbrücke, or Mill Bridge that is an original wooden bridge which was also part of the city fortification. There were at one time 10 mills that churned wheat or grains here. The "Spreu" in the name of the bridge means "chaff" (the sheath that surrounds the grain) which was separated from the wheat at the mill.

The Reuss River Weir System and the Mill Bridge

We walked into the old town, which usually tends to be our favorite area of any European city, and that held true for Luzern as well. Quaint streets, lively squares/platz with colorful building façades that tell a story or make note of famous visitors. Our favorite was the Sterenplatz with the restaurant Fritschi where we had dinner that evening. Descriptions in the pictures!

Restaurant Fritschi

We were cold, it was still rainy but we had to walk up to the Löwendenkmal, a famous Lion Monument that represents the Swiss mercenaries who were killed or executed defending the French King in the French Revolution.

Löwendenkmal

He was a big sad lion, and I was a big freezing cold baby. It was time for a coffee/tea break at the Bourbaki Panorama - a 360-degree painting (33' tall wraparound canvas with a circumference of 360') that tells the story of the culminating battle of the Franco-Prussian War. For 3 days in February of 1871, the 87,000-man French Army, led by the panoramas namesake General Bourbaki, trudged through the snow across the Swiss border. Once in Switzerland they gave up their weapons and surrendered to the Swiss, who, so the story goes, nursed them back to health before sending them home. The story was playing in German when we first arrived and I actually understood some of it but shortly after it played in English and it was cool to follow around the painting feeling as if we were in a 19th century cinema.

Inside the Bourbaki Panorama Exhibit

We walked up the hill in the city along the old medieval wall that is lined with 9 towers.

Medieval wall and Towers

Later in the afternoon, the day seemed to be clearing up a bit and it wasn't so cold so we decided to take a Cruise on the Vierwaldstättersee. The cruise we chose was called the Tortenschiff - or Cake Cruise so we thought it would be a nice afternoon treat to enjoy the view with a piece of cake. Nope, no cake, just beautiful scenery, warmth, and drinks that we had to pay for! The cruise was the same concept as the KD Cruise-line in Germany where one is able to get on and off at different stops along the way. It was nice and peaceful and allowed for some good photo opportunities even if we didn't get cake!

Back on relatively dry land we had an early dinner at the 400 year old Restaurant Fritschi where we finally had some fondue and was it ever good! The Swiss sure do cheese well! We walked around the old town a little more and ran into a marching band playing in one of the squares, then another band at the riverfront playing for the Fasnachtmarkt.  The Pre-Carnival festival to the Lozärner Fasnacht was happening and the locals were living it up! We thought we'd join in by drinking the traditional drink -Hextea or something - but I couldn't even get it down. It was like hot whiskey or schnapps and so hard to stomach!   We enjoyed the people and the bands and then moved inside to Mr. Pickwick's English Pub for more of our kind of traditional drink and some Manchester soccer.  It was a fun day for not really having a plan! 



Marching band with their creepy masks coming over the Rathaus Bridge



Many of the building in Luzern were painted beautifully

This band was playing some American faves

Excellent Carnival costume!

Saturday Pictures

We had a nice time in Luzern and we both agree that it would have been great if the weather had coopreated a bit more.  Switzerland would be beautiful to see again in the summer time, and if time permits perhaps we'll be able to check into that.  We saw new sights, sampled new eats and drinks and enjoyed another new part of Europe.  It seems that we're getting quite good at that.


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Location:Luzern, Switzerland