A City Of Towers & Bridges. Review on Lucerne

Lucerne is the capital city of the Canton of Lucern and has a population of about 350,600 people.

What We Saw

At the end of the quay is the Convention and Culture Center that has a Transportation Museum, a Planetarium , (the only one in the country) and an IMAX Theater. .

The Lion Monument guards the city. It is carved into a sandstone mountain above the city. It was built to honor Switzerland's soldiers who died during the French Revolution. The statue is huge and below it are steps where water drops down into a pool. It was built into the side of a mountain and the edelweiss were in bloom that we just sat down on the grass and looked at the entire area.

We didn't have to take a tour of Old Town, it was all around us. On Lowenplaza we saw the largest painting in Europe. The painting shows the French leaving Switzerland after the Franco-Pusan War. It reminded me of some of the painting I saw at the Prado in Madrid.

Both of the bridges are made of wood that has been weathered that I wondered how we could still see the paintings on them. On the Chapel Bridge we saw the heroic events of the town and on the Mill Bridge the paintings were of the Dance Of Death. On the wall of Musegg there still are towers and old ramparts standing and that is where the Town Hall is. We went inside to see their display of suits of armor.

We took a tour to see the Glacier Gardens. It was built it a h@le in the glacier. It was interesting to walk through the museum and see artifacts from Lucerne. Our next stop was at the Gruyere to see how the cheese was made. We bought some to take back to the hotel. At Montreux we drove past a Castle and then we stopped at Chateau de Chillon that once was a prison. On out return to Lucerne we drove over the hills and mountains, and I watched all of the wild flower that were blooming.

I adored Picasso's Museum. I love his paintings and I bought a few prints to take home to our children. When I was at University I took an art class. We were told to go home and draw a table with a bowl of fruit on it, and bring the sketch back the next day. When I brought mine back the Professor said, ''You are seeing through Picasso's eyes, which would be good if you knew how to draw properly first!'' I never went back to that class.

Cathedral of Notre Dame is done in gothic style and is very beautiful with the high ceilings and the stained glass. There were some bones of a Saint on display. I wonder why European Catholic's like to show old bones? In Canada and the USA they don't.

We took a half day cruise on the lake and it was so relaxing.

Shopping

Kapellgasse is the best place to shop. The streets are made of cobble stone so wear low heeled shoes. There are a few streets that branch off from the square. You'll see houses between shops.

Across the bridge there are a few designer shops. I found a Chanel's watch that has a band that looks like the ones on a Chanel handbag, (it cost $50.00 USD). We were here on a Saturday so we were able to see the craft market. We bought some fruit to take back to the hotel. I love to eat bananas in the morning and an apple before I go to bed.

I though the best shops were the Schmid-Linder to buy decorated beer steins and a Swiss Army Knife for my son, (I had to hide it in the middle of a rolled up sock, because of the airline reservations.

I bought my daughter each a table cloth that was embroidered with wild flowers at the Neff Shop.

We went to the Tuesday flee market and I bought a cow bell and some Emmental cheese, sausage and crusty bread so we could have a picnic lunch by the river.

The only problem in this city is that there are so many coo coo clocks my head was ringing.

The Best Place To Eat and Have Fun

Confiseur Bachmann's makes an apricot danish than melts in your mouth.

The Bistro KKL at the Culture and Convention Center dishes up midday soups, quiche, and sandwiches on a lakeside terrace.

A subterranean called the Bam Bou restaurant was where we found California style cooking. The crusted tuna served with garlic mashed potatoes was delicious.

At Galliker my husband had roast beef with a pile of rosti potatoes. I had a cheese fondu. We shared a fresh fruit and pound cake chocolate fondu for desert.

The Wilden Mann Burgerstube is in an old Swiss House. It has a painted ceiling on the wood and a slew of antique every where we looked. My husband ordered the puff pastry meat and vegetable. I had the wiener schnitzel with french fries that were coated. The owner is the chef and he cooks everything on a table side stove.

The Thai Garden, serves Asian food. It's nice to get away from a dinner with no spaetzle.

You'll meet a lot of local people at the Neustadt (New Town) on the south bank of the Reuss.

At the Penthouse Bar, you can drink on their rooftop overlooking Lucerne glowing as the sunsets.

If you would like to know more about Lucerne the link is:

https://lucerneguide.ch/Seite_3_Lucern.html#SGROBJ7D0A413E16262081

Lucerne is a charming city and I would love to go back one day.

Thanks for reading my review.