Living It Up In Lucerne - Switzerland

Our week in Switzerland marches on!

We were staying in Lucerne, or Luzern in German. Lucerne is in the German-speaking section of Switzerland but I feel much more comfortable typing it with a C. It just looks weird with a Z. Sorry German spelling.

So we were in Lucerne. Here is where we stayed.

This is our beautiful Swiss chalet complete with hardwood floors and a sunporch right outside of downtown Lucerne. Yes, it was as expensive as it sounds.

Lucerne is located in the middle of Switzerland right on the banks of Lake Lucerne and the Reuss River.

Our little (expensive) Swiss chalet was near the water and we had to walk around the lake to reach downtown Lucerne. It was raining that day, but nothing, not even rain would keep us from exploring Lucerne.

The city of Lucerne straddles the Reuss River, and because of this fact there are many bridges that connect the two sides of the city.

Let me introduce you to the most famous of Lucerne's bridges. This is Chapel Bridge, built in 1333. Much of it had to be replaced when sections of it burned in 1993 because of a discarded cigarette. Tsk tsk, you naughty smokers!

Beautiful riverfront Lucerne. Even though it was raining and cool, I was so impressed by this quaint little city nestled between mountain peaks on the banks of a sparkling blue lake. But. Let me tell you what I was not impressed with. The cost of stuff! Because it was cool, the kids asked for hot chocolate from Starbucks. We ventured into the Starbucks and I proceeded to drop over to fifty American dollars (after conversion from the Swiss Franc) on four hot chocolates and a latte. Yep. Each one was over eight Swiss Francs. At this time the exchange rate between the dollar and Swiss Franc was pretty close so it's not like I didn't know what I was spending. Sorry kids, no lunch for you. Hot chocolate is going to have to cut it.

As the rain persisted, we walked around sipping our liquid gold, I mean hot chocolate and lattes. Even in the rain, Lucerne is very walkable city. All the sites are easy to reach on foot.

The sun was coming out so we decided to revisit the Chapel Bridge.

The way the sun hit the moss covered roof was just right. It lit up and glowed. It almost made up for the fifty dollar hot chocolate. Almost...

Did I mention that the German name for Lake Lucerne is der Vierwaldstättersee? That means "Four-Forrested-Cantons-Lake." (Switzerland doesn't have states. It has cantons.) Isn't Lake Lucerne just a little bit easier? I think so. I wonder how you say "Dear Asian tourists, please don't try to pick up a swan."