The nice man on reception moved the loud Russian people next door to a different room so we slept much better last night! We didn't ask him to or anything, he was just really nice! He also gave us free Internet for the inconvenience - woo!
We got up at 5.30am today and caught a 7.10 train to Arth-Goldau, Switzerland. It was such a beautiful train ride. 2 hours in it was snowing and we saw gorgeous little towns covered in snow and surrounded by mountains. When we stopped at Arth-Goldau I was able to ask in German which platform we had to go to (think my accent needs work though, the lady knew I was Aussie right away haha!!) and we waited for our train. It was cold but I love it! The air is much fresher here, not as many people smoke and the mountain air is great!
We arrived in Lucerne and our hotel is right across the street from the station. It's really good, one of the best we have stayed in. Super clean and very fancy!! Our room was ready so we checked in and then headed out!
First we went to the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) which is a beautiful wooden bridge that's very famous here. It used to have paintings on its roof depicting important historical events of the town but a fire in 1993 destroyed them unfortunately. Still a lovely bridge though.
Next we walked through the old town which is has little narrow cobbled streets and cute shops. Everything is sooooo expensive here though! I buy a magnet in each city and so far they've been about $2.50 in each place. One here was $7 - yikes! But I expected it I guess. We're doing a walking tour through here Wednesday so more info then!
We headed up to the Museggmauer - the old city walls with 9 towers. In summer you can climb up them but not in winter, never mind! We instead walked around the back which was very snowy and slushy. I grabbed a fence to steady ,yield and it was electric, lucky I had my gloves on so it didn't shock me too much! Silly me!!!
We headed back down the hill and had a yummy cake in Löweplatz (Lion Square) with apricots on it. Then we went to the Bourbaki Panorama. In 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian war, the French knew they were fighting a losing battle so retreated into Switzerland where Germany couldn't touch them. 87000 soldiers stayed here for 6 weeks and many died of starvation, because of the cold or of smallpox. A man called Edouard Castres painted this 1100m squared panoramic painting depicting the French arriving in Switzerland. There was so much detail, we looked at it for ages! Some parts even had 3D bits coming out of the wall. Hard to explain but for instance there was a track in the painting and it continued out of the wall in front of us.
When we came out of here the sun was shining beautifully and we went for an incredible walk along lake Lucerne. Again, the photos do not look like winter at all! It was stunning. Everyone was out walking or sitting down reading in the sunshine. The scenery looked like a painting, truly amazing!
We had a quick look at the Hofkirche, then went to tourist info and got our Swiss rail passes validated ready for Thursday.
Next we went to Bucherer, the famous watch maker. Ever since I was about 8 or 10 and my nan and pa told me about the watches here I have always wanted one. So I founded a really nice B Swiss brand one for 190 Francs (pretty much the same in Aussie) and bought it. Can't wait to wear it at home! Mine was cheap, I saw one for 137,000 francs!
We had dinner and had a special for 35 francs each (yes, that is considered a "cheap" dinner here!) which included a veal sausage and potato hash brown and cheese fondue to share. So yum!!!!
Loving Switzerland so far. It's very clean, punctual and beautiful!
Love to all,
Claire
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxox
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