Luzern, Switzerland

I took a day trip with the USO to Luzern, Switzerland yesterday. I had to meet the bus at a location that is about a 45 minute drive from where I’m staying at 4am. As the alarm clock chimed at 2am yesterday morning, I began to wonder why I ever thought that signing up for this trip was a good idea. Well, now I know. As a result of my visit to Luzern, I have absolutely fallen in love with Switzerland!

The city of Luzern was founded in the 700’s, when a group of monks started a monastery there. The medieval influence is everywhere in this city’s buildings and bridges. I absolutely loved the old water tower and covered bridge, the city wall with its clock tower and the elaborately decorated Jesuit church that we visited.

The day started with a bus ride across the border to Switzerland. When we arrived in Luzern, our group was greeted by a tour guide who rode with us to Bertel Thorvaldsen’s famous carving of a dying lion. The monument was created to commemorate the loss of hundreds of Swiss soldiers who were massacred in 1792 while guarding the French Royal Family during the French Revolution. The carving was dedicated in 1821. The tour guide told us that this carving was the first time the lion was used to depict bravery and courage as a human characteristic.

We then went on a 1 hour walking tour of the city, and saw the Chapel Bridge, which was originally constructed in 1333. Much of the current bridge was reconstructed after a 1993 fire, but some of the original paintings from the 17th century remain inside. This is a beautiful, covered bridge with flowers decorating the entire length of it. The bridge originally connected the part of town on the other side of the river to the Jesuit church that sits on the lower side. The inside of this church was incredibly ornate and decorated with many windows and light colors, which was a departure from the traditional way of constructing churches in the 17th century and meant to represent the soul’s entrance to Paradise.

After the walking tour, we boarded a boat for a 1 hour ride on Lake Luzern. Even though it was an overcast (and eventually rainy) day, I was impressed by the beauty and majesty of these mountains, and enjoyed watching the many sailboats, which were taking advantage of the wind. Touring on this boat below those imposing mountains was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

We were then on our own for 4½ hours. After a nice lunch with a woman who I met on the bus, I took advantage of the remaining time to go view the towers along the old city wall. Although my thighs are sore today from climbing many steep steps, I would not skip that part of the adventure if I had it to do all over. These pictures are of part of the rampart walls that were built in 1386, and the wall is still almost entirely intact! I climbed up two of the towers, one of which contains the oldest city clock. The tour guide told us that because of it’s status, it has the privilege of chiming one minute before all of the other clocks in the city.

Another thing that I learned from the tour guide is the Switzerland contains the two cities that are ranked as having the highest standards of living in the world – Zurick and Geneva. I think I could detect this influence in Luzern. Everyone I saw there was dressed well. It didn’t matter how young or old and whether physically challenged or not, everyone was dressed fashionably and the quality of their clothing and bodily upkeep was easily observed. This high standard of living was also evident when shopping. Even though 1 Swiss Franc is currently equal to .91 US Dollars, the prices on merchandise were quite high.

If you read this far and haven’t already detected my enthusiasm for Switzerland, let me tell you: I enjoyed every minute of my day in Luzern and did not want to leave. It was worth every penny spent, every minute of sleep lost and every ounce of energy expended!