We see the Alps for Real

Following our night in Zurich, before setting off to Belgium, we drove south another 54km to visit Lake Lucerne and the city of Luzerne. This gorgeous lakeside town sits at the foot of the Swiss Alps. We found it in our guide book and could not resist visiting the area before continuing our journey. According to the city’s website, Luzerne has many beautiful sights, but our attention was focused almost solely on the Alpine peaks rising behind the city out of the clouds. As the sun beat out the morning fog and mist, more and more snow capped mountains appeared on the skyline. It was mesmerizing.

Panorama of Lake Lucerne in Luzerne, Switzerland

Lake Lucerne, Luzerne Switzerland

Swiss Alps in Luzerne, Switzerland

Kapellbrucke in Luzerne, Switzerland

A fascinating site we were able to appreciate was the Chapel Bridge or Kapellbrucke. This covered, wooden bridge spans the river running through town, and was erected to protect the city from aquatic invasions from the lake. The bridge is the oldest surviving truss bridge in world, and survive it has. In 1993, a devastating fire almost destroyed the entire bridge. The bridge has since been restored and is a fun way to meander across the river. Also destroyed during the 1993 fire were paintings from the 1600s depicting the history of the city and her patron saints.

Painting in Rafters of Kapellbrucke

These paintings were on triangular shaped pieces of wood in the rafters of the bridge. Some paintings were restored but others have been replaced with photographic replicas. Still others were left missing, to serve as a remembrance of the fire. 

Zurich

Due to our love of sleeping in on Saturdays, we arrived in Zurich after dark, even later than imagined due also in part to traffic and rainy weather. Common features around Switzerland are tunnels. I think these are used to free up congestion above ground and make the cities more visually appealing. We reached our hotel around dinner time, and set out into the city to find a place to eat. It was very cold, rainy, and windy and we were having terrible luck finding a place to eat. The bars only served bar food, and many places had already closed for the evening.

Kirche St. Peter

Among the sites we took in before retreating to the sanctuary of our hotel were the Grossmunster and Kirche St. Peter churches. St. Peter church dates from the 1200s and has 2 owners; the parish of St. Peter and the city of Zurich. The city owners the church tower, and historically used it to watch for fires. The tower also boasts the largest church clock face in Europe, with a diameter of 8.7 meters. The clock is a testament to Swiss watch making, and has been telling time since 1366. All other clocks in Zurich conform to the time on this clock.

Grossmunster has twin towers that preside over the river below. The church is dedicated to the two patron saints of Zurich, Felix and Regula, whose saint day is September 11; an interesting coincidence I think. The siblings were part of a Roman legion that converted to Christianity, even though doing so condemned them to death. Felix and Regula fled to Zurich trying to escape their persecutors. They were caught and beheaded. They then stood up, picked up their heads, and walked 40 paces before laying down in death. Grossmunster has relics of these saints, and is on the banks of the river over the saints’ graves. 

Grossmunster

While we were able to see the beautiful architecture of Zurich at night, we were not able to locate a place to get dinner; Prada, Hermes, and watch dealers do not serve food. We finally retreated to the hotel to dry off, warm up, and get some dinner in their restaurant.

Christmas Decorations in Zurich

We originally avoided the place because of its prices, but quickly realized they were average. This brings me to the main take away here; Switzerland is expensive! Our dinner was near 100 Swiss Francs, which converts to over 100 US dollars. Luckily, the hotel, parking, internet, and breakfast were free, so it balanced out. If traveling in Switzerland, I recommend staying only a couple days and searching for a hotel that has lots of comps like parking and internet, otherwise the price of your vacation will skyrocket very quickly. 

Confoederatio Helvetica

CH is Switzerland’s country abbreviation because of its full Latin name, Confoederatio Helvetica, which means the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss are famous for many things, further adding to their diversity. Switzerland has 4 national languages: French, Italian, German, and Romansh. Sadly, we know none of these languages, so the increased number of communication options did not help. However, as with many places in Europe, nearly everyone we encountered spoke English.

The Swiss people are staunchly neutral and have not been involved in an international war since 1815. Somehow, they even managed to avoid invasion during both world wars. In adherence to this neutral policy, Switzerland is not actually part of the European Union. It does participate in many of the economic measures adapted by the EU and allows for fluid border crossings, but the country maintains its independence, and its own currency: The Swiss Franc.

To enter Switzerland by car, as we did, you need a special sticker, called a vignette. As handy as our GPS is, it is not stellar at telling us where one country ends and another begins. The international borders are very faintly drawn and not labeled, so they appear as roads. As such, we were taken by surprise when a Zoll (customs) booth appeared seemingly out of nowhere. We did not have the sticker, and had to stop so a customs officer could examine the vehicle. The customs agent seemed especially puzzled by the box of Cheerios in the back until I explained that we bought it on an army base. Shortly after, he realized Joe worked with the military, and stopped searching the car. This may have been because he was finished, or because he felt that he did not need to continue. Stopping actually worked out in our favor, as we were able to buy the sticker and change our Euros into Swiss Francs. Unfortunately, they did not have any stamps so they could not stamp our passports, though I like to think they would have if the stampers were there.