Enchantment of Eastern Europe

A cruise on the Eastern Danube

Friday June 7, Luzern

Finally catching up on the last few entries!

Luzern; Situated on the edge of a lake, with a striking alpine panorama as a backdrop, Luzern was a regular stop on the “Grand Tour” route of Europe during the Romantic era, and the ambiance from this age still lingers in some of its classic sights. Its cobbled centre has winding lanes, medieval fountains, bright facades, and of course its famous wooden bridges.

We walked to the railway station to meet our guide for Get Your Guide. It was billed as a private tour, but it was private with about nine other people. That’s okay, Olivio (o-Lee-vio) did a good job.

Our first stop was with a view of the covered wooden footbridge known as Chapel Bridge, which runs across the River Reuss. Olivio told us the bridge was originally built as a defence for the city in 1367. It used to span a longer distance, but sadly, a section was replaced with hotels in the recent past.

It is known for the 17th- century triangular paintings, which depict religious propaganda apparently. The bridge was devastated by a fire in 1993, but promptly rebuilt as it was recognized as a big tourist attraction. Many of the paintings were lost in the fire, but the few that remain are original.

The mural on Hotel des Alpes depicts Switzerland’s freedom from Hapsburg rule and also the unification of the cantons, which resulted in the modern day country of Switzerland.

Olivio told us about Bruder Fritschi and his role in the opening of Carnival celebrations in Luzern. He is depicted on the side of this water fountain and the mural on the building

Next up was the Jesuit church, built around 1670.

Olivio was going to take us inside, but there was a rehearsal for some kind of ceremony, so we didn’t get a chance to see the relic of the saint.

The building with the red shutters was owned by the Medici family. They used it as a warehouse for goods they were moving throughout the country.

We enjoyed hearing about the various murals on the buildings.

Olivio took us down a little lane where you could see the original city construction.

We paused to appreciate this clock tower in the Corn Market square. In fact, I appreciated hearing the bells chime every quarter hour from this tower!

Church of St Leodegar rests on foundations that were laid around the year 735. It is oldest parish in the city of Lucerne.

Our final stop on our walking tour was Lion of Luzern, a memorial carved in 1820–21. The monument commemorates the Swiss Guards who lost their lives in 1792 during the French Revolution. The top inscription translates to “To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss”.

Mark Twain praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as “the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.”

We stopped at a souvenir store and finally found some cuckoo clocks. They were incredibly detailed and way too expensive to consider buying!

We had lunch on the rooftop terrace of the Manora cafeteria, which provided a lovely view over the city. We could see the original city walls, and it would have been great to walk them, but instead, we walked back to our apartment for a bit of a rest.

I had booked a boat ride on Lake Lucern, so we were first in line to board the boat at 4pm. There was an audio guide that provided information and some lovely music as we sipped our wine and enjoyed the sights.