Time to leave Salzburg. I really loved this city. I can tell you that when we planned the trip, I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. I'm so glad Mom has experience coming here and knew this would be an important part of our trip.
I love this photo. How many dozens of times were we standing on a platform, looking at our Deutsche Bahn app, trying to make sure we were exactly where we needed to be? I have to say...we did awesome! We looked up routes, planned times, and when the internet wouldn't participate, we looked for a big i and asked the tourist information people questions until we felt like we could do it.
Which is exactly how we got to Lucerne. Switzerland's internet simply did not care for my phone. It just wouldn't work outside of a wifi connection. So, we found some lockers at the station and stowed our luggage for the day. We weren't staying in Lucurne, but we did want to see some of the city, before we went on to Littau and then to Murren.
The kind girl at the information desk looked up bus schedules and maps for us and I took a picture because I really can't remember that stuff for more than a few minutes.
Soon we were armed with map of the city and walking to see the Lion of Lucerne. I really was beautiful and peaceful. Mark Twain called it "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world." I think he was right.
It was made in 1820-21 by Lucas Ahorn to honor the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. The stood and died to protect Lous XVI and his family. To this day, the Swiss Guards are know for their loyalty and still guard the Vatican in Rome.
Near the monument, there was this water bottle filling station. I love its snake head! Mom and I marveled at their willingness to just let the water flow all the time. The Swiss seem to have plenty of water to spare.
We walked around the city and noticed their older buildings bear these beautiful frescoes in between the windows and along the border of the roofs.
We wanted to walk both of the old bridges in Lucerne. First we saw the Spreuer Bridge first. It was finished in 1408, destroyed by a flood and rebuilt again in 1566. So it's really not that old. Only 451 years. Makes me feel like we are babies!
I love those massive curved beams:
The interior:
An incredible view of Lucerne from the bridge:
As you walk along the bridge, there are triangular paintings up in the pediment. Each one is different. The ones on the Spreuer Bridge form a Danse Macabre, depicting scenes from the plague...skeletons and corpses. Many were commissioned individually by wealthy citizens and have pastoral scenes and a coat of arms representing the donor. There were 67 paintings originally and 45 have survived. We could see that several have been restored and are bright and colorful.
We walked over to the longer bridge, The Kappellbrucke. It was built in 1333 and unfortunately a large portion burned down in 1993. It has since been restored, but so many of it's paintings were lost in the fire.
We were thinking we might find a place to buy a music box, like my mom had with her mother when she was studying abroad, but we soon realized that Lucerne is very expensive. So we wandered about a little more, looking at the birds in the dock. We spied this funny little car, parked with the bicycles.
Then we hopped on our little train and rode out to Littau to find the B&B Haus un Loche. It was only as we stepped onto the platform that I realized that I didn't really know how to get there from the station! For some strange reason, I felt like it was really close and so we walked up and around the corner and there it was! I recognized it from so many photos I'd seen.
We looked around and couldn't really see where the entrance was. We left our luggage near the street and climbed the garden steps around to the back. We could see a few people talking in a little gazebo about 10 yards away, further into the garden, but we had no idea who they were! Maybe they were the neighbors?
We went into the sliding back doors and suddenly a lively man with white hair came in from behind us. It was Raymond Norjean. He and his wife were the reason we were staying here. I head read hundreds of rave reviews about them and what truly lovely people they are. (I also read that they serve a fantastic breakfast.)
Within a few minutes we knew exactly what all those people were talking about. Raymond was talkative and always joking and laughing. You had to pay attention to keep up with him! He showed us our room and demonstrate the wonders of the touch lamp (that reminded me of Dad) and how to work the fan.
This is an old Swiss farmhouse. The ceilings were very low and you stepped down into it. It kind of reminded me of sleeping in a little cubby! But it was so charming and they were so kind and accommodating. Raymond dashed off to get us a little more chocolate to snack on.
I loved our door handles!
Soon, Jennifer pulled Raymond away and we were left to rest for a bit. The chocolate was gone in flash and we decided to go find some real food. We walked back down to the train station and then across to the other side. There were some very expensive sit down places and they didn't seem like a good idea. Then we found a little run down spot where they sell greek food. Kebaps to the rescue!
And they were really good! We sat outside and munched them down along with a couple Orange Fantas (the European version is lighter and yummier.)
Back to the B&B for the night....we quickly took a peek at their fun garden. The gazebo was theirs. Their backyard was going straight up the hill and they had planted or landscaped every single inch of it.
Look at these great tomatoes!
And this pumpkin trellis that makes the best of their hilly spot.
I love this place! It makes me happy knowing that such a fun couple live hear and spread their love of life to the travelers that come through.
In the morning we will get up early, eat that famous breakfast and head out to Murren!
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