Day 3, Thursday, September 13, 2018

Itinerary: Lucerne

Time awake: Very early (c. 5:00 AM) after a restless night of sleep (twin beds didn’t help)

Odometer (in kilometers/miles) at start: 9825

Weather: Nice most of the day, light rain in evening, hard rain late at night

Steps: 28233

Asleep: Pretty early (time not recorded)

Map Link(s):

Video Links(s): Reuss River

The twin beds separated during the night, so by morning we were making use of just one of them. And morning came very early indeed. I estimate I awoke about 5 AM or earlier, and despite having had only a couple of hours of sleep the night before and just a few this night, I couldn’t get back to sleep. So I gave up the idea of more sleep and took a shower. Sharon soon did the same, and then we went down to the dining room for an early breakfast.

What a magnificent breakfast it was. We would learn to get used to these sumptuous feasts, but this being our first, we were wowed by all the meats, cheeses, spreads, cereals, rolls, breads, juices, and so on laid out for us. We feasted well. Very well, indeed. And the lattes and cappuccinos were delightful too. I had a couple of those, as would become my habit.

After breakfast we headed out to explore Lucerne by foot once more. It couldn’t have been more than a couple minutes after 8:30 AM. We walked into the heart of town without, as I recall, any definite idea of what to do or see, although we were scheduled to pick up our rental car at 1 PM. We soon found ourselves in a quaint shopping area, where few if any of the stores had opened yet. We passed by a shop located at Franziskanerpl. 9 with sexy and exquisite lingerie displayed in the window. Both it and the shop we passed the night before were called Dessous by Lady’s Secret, so presumably they are related. Lucerne we would learn is the de facto lingerie capital of the world, or so it seemed to us. As it was, we looked at a lot of fetching panties this morning, but in the end Sharon decided against buying any because more than anything else they were too pricey. We never saw any nearly as nice the rest of the trip, so that will be all the reporting in this log on that subject.

We continued wandering through town, in part looking for a store where one could find contact lens solution because Sharon needed it. Europe is a great place, but it turns out it’s not a great place for finding something as mundane as contact lens solution. We spent far more time looking for the stuff than we should have, eventually finding a bottle three days later in Berlin. Although we struck out in search of contact lens solution, we did stumble upon Jesuit Church, which had eluded us the day before. The problem yesterday as it turned out was that we were looking on the wrong side of the river. The problem today was that it was closed.

So we continued on our way, and while walking along the river, we discovered that there were in fact two covered bridges spanning it. We crossed the Chappel Bridge, which took to where the river runs into the Lucerner See. Sharon expressed interest in taking a cruise on the lake, so we checked the schedules and fares. It wasn’t clear what was offered for the prices listed, but the excursions looked to be rather pricey. None the less, I would have been game had Sharon urged we take a cruise. But she didn’t, so instead we walked around the area and then along the southern shoreline of the lake. It was an exceptionally scenic part of Lucerne, taking us by the Cultural Center with its ultra-modern building, the cruise boat docks, Park Ufschötti with its lovely public beach on which a few bathers and a few swans were sunning, the Sailing Club (Segelclub Tribschenhorn) with its hundreds of moored sailboats tucked amid splendor in quiet isolation, then through the woods and up a steep hill to the Richard Wagner Museum where the famed musician once lived, and finally down to the row of tall stately trees along the banks of the Lucerner See with the majestic mountains off in the distance. Amazingly there were very few people around during the entire walk, particularly from the park onward. Oftentimes we were the only ones in the picture. And what a beautiful picture it was.

The hike back to town was much quicker than the one out due to the more direct route taken and the fact that we didn’t make repeated stops to take it all in. But even so it remained a delightful walk through a surprisingly uncrowded park and along lovely tree-lined avenues. To quote travel guru Rick Steves, “Luzern offers an enticing, I-could-live-here glimpse of the appealing and uniquely Swiss urban quality of life,” and to paraphrase Agent 86 Maxwell Smart, “And loving it.”

Back in town, we stopped at the Rathaus Brauerei along the river. Sharon thought we should order something to eat since we had taken the last open table. She had a point and the menu offerings were enticing and our view splendid, but we had to pick up the car at 1 PM and explore the surrounding area if we were to stay with the plan. So a couple of local draft beers was all we had. Then we walked to the nearby Sixt Rent a Car office on Haldenstrasse 11 and picked up our rental, a 2018 Jeep Renegade with only 9825 kilometers on it. The vehicle was an upgrade from what I’d reserved, so we were happy about that, and the fellow who took care of us was pleasant and helpful.

I took the wheel to start, navigated through the many narrow twists and turns in the Sixt parking garage, and headed east along the lake via Route 2. The plan was to find a nice place to have lunch and then head to the top of one of the famed peaks in the area. We found a beautiful place along the lake for lunch in the lovely little town of Weggis called the SeeHotel Gotthard. The view could not have been better, and our French fries and draft beers were pretty darn good too, but alas the bratwurst we shared was only so-so. Perhaps we were overdoing it on the sausages.

Our bellies now filled, we were now ready for adventure. Finding it, however, proved to be elusive, and once found it wasn’t exactly what we had in mind. Perhaps the fault lies in poor planning. For whatever reason, I had done less research on Lucerne and the surrounding area than our other intended destinations. But so far so good. The next stop on the itinerary was a nearby resort called Rigi Kaltbad atop Mount Rigi. I’m taking it on good faith that it was nearby because we never got there. I hadn’t adequately researched beforehand how to do so. Per Wikipedia, “Rigi Kaltbad is located on the flanks of the Rigi and is connected to Vitznau by the Rigi Railways. It is also connected to Weggis by a cable car.” We followed the GPS to Vitznau, but once there lost directions to the place and didn’t see any sign of the railway. So we drove back to Weggis since we’d seen a road sign there to Rigi Kaltbad, pointing in the opposite direction the GPS had taken us. Back in Weggis, we found the sign and followed it up a mountain road. The road ran up and up and around and around becoming narrower and narrower, with nary any posting of where it led, so we had no clue if we were headed to Rigi Kaltbad or off the edge of a cliff. And lord knows what we were to do if a car or truck came from the opposite direction on this one-lane road, and a narrow one at that. The views as we climbed higher and higher above the lake and town below were stunning, and I wish if I could have enjoyed them. But I was focused on driving. In the end the road became more and more hopeless, so we bailed and headed back down the mountain, adding another crazy, tortuous drive to our repository amassed over the years. (Note: In writing this log, I poured over Google Maps looking for our path, but couldn’t pinpoint it. I wish I had stopped to take a few photos.)

On the way up and down the mountain we could see the cable car wires a little to the west. That tended to buttress our confidence that we were on the right path. Once back at the bottom of the mountain we searched for the cable car station. And there it was near the bottom. Somehow we’d driven right past it on our way up. We parked and checked out the schedule and rates. In the end we decided not to take the cable car ride. I’m sure it would have offered amazing views, but it was costly and our time was running short due to having driven all over looking for what all the time was under our noses. Luckily, we didn’t get stuck in the parking lot. Since we were there less than 30 minutes, there was no charge, but had there been, it would have been hard to pay since the meter didn’t accept credit cards and we had no Swiss cash.

The drive back to Lucerne was uneventful, other than for the fact that my hip was hurting. That was a concern because we had a lot of driving ahead of us, and I wanted to be able to do my share pain free. Fortunately, my hip was not a problem in the days to come. Back in our B&B, we lucked out finding a single parking spot on the tiny road beside it. Parking was a challenge, but once done, I felt I’d accomplished something.

We hung out in our room for a short while, wondering if it was going to rain. When we headed at for dinner after night fall, there was a slight sprinkling but nothing to disturb our plans. We considered stopping at a couple of nearby restaurants we passed, but decided to head to the heart of town for dinner. Since we were in Switzerland, fondue was on our minds. And that’s what we had at the Zunfthausrestaurant Pfistern. At the waiter’s suggestion, we split a fondue, and also ordered a couple half liters of beer. Although the fondue lacked refinement, the scene from our table was gorgeous what with the soft night lights aglow, people milling about, and the enchanting river just a few steps away. Afterward, we stopped at the nearby Hotel Pickwick & Pub for a couple more drafts. As the name would imply, the place is meant to resemble a British pub, and although it falls short due to it being a chain with six locations, we very much enjoyed imbibing there. Then we walked back to the B&B under a misty rain.

Our little tour of Lucerne was all but over. What a beautiful place and what a wonderful time we had. But regrettably, as can be attested by this site, there were so many fantastic places, particularly in the surrounding area, that we never got to visit. Next time.