Our day started with a 2 hour walk through the old part of Lucerne. We passed a number of watch shops – watches in the windows generally priced upwards of 1000 SF. The Asians apparently go there first and buy lots of watches. The first stop was a covered bridge. Flowers adorn the outside while original paintings dated from the 1400s.

At one point in time the bridge burned and while some of the paintings were saved the burned paintings were left there to remember the fire.

From the bridge, which spans the Reuss river we had good views of both sides.

On the other side of the river we found a model of the city

Next we visited a Baroque church. The Jesuits had established schools and churches in the area and built this church in

The inside was decorated in the baroque style but instead of marble they used a faux marble and plaster.

This is the patron saint of eyes and eyesight

We next visited one of the government buildings.

As we walked we passed many fountains. The water running in the fountains comes from Lake Lucerne and is drinkable. You see people drinking right from the fountain or filling their water bottles.

Others fill their water guns at the fountain and when instructed by parents to not shoot the tourists they find other targets

Our walk through the old part of the city passed buildings with decorated facades.

We also visited some of the squares with lots of outdoor cafes.

Also a wedding at city hall – the wedding party in medieval dress

The river is controlled for water conservation. This year the water is high so the gates are open. The last 2 years they had droughts in summer. This winter there was a lot of snow which has led to flooding and high lakes & rivers throughout Europe. Because of all the snow some of the high passes are still not open and the cows have not yet been taken up to the mountain pastures -usually the passes are open and the cows in the pastures by early June.

Another covered bridge

A castle, now a hotel overlooking the city

William Tell depicted in one of the buildings

The afternoon was spent on the mountain overlooking Lucerne – Pilatus. We traveled up the mountain, first on a cable car to a mid station. Here we saw some zip liners

Next we took a cable car to the top

To get down we rode the cog railway down. The steepest cog railway in the world with an average slope of 48%. It was built in the late 1800s. We saw hikers along the way, a 5 hour hike uphill!

The cog mechanism

For some reason there are dragons used as the logo – an ancient myth.

We ended our trip with a ferry ride on the lake back to Lucerne.

The lake is home to many swans, it does not freeze in winter and has a number of small villages lining the shore.

Our hotel is across from the theatre, home to many concerts. The musicians often stay at the hotel. Each room is dedicated to a musician. We were in the Willie DeVille room. He was s blues singer best known for “Hey Joe” ( never heard of him or the song)

Tomorrow Interlaken, Bern, Basel and board the ship.