Did you notice the new spelling? I am getting so European, it's frightening! We disembarked from the boat at 9 a.m. this morning and boarded our bus for about a 90 minute ride to Luzern. Behind us, the bus towed a little baggage trailer, which transported all our suitcases and any carry-on luggage we didn't need to have with us.

As we traveled through Switzerland, the new guide who joined us (John Mallidies) narrated about the country and its culture. The Romans called the Swiss people, Helvetia, so the proper name of the country is something like Confederation Helveti, or the Confederation of Swiss Cantons. Each is independent and has a voice in national policies, etc. which may take a long time of compromise, but for the Swiss, it seems to work. CHF is used to represent Swiss francs as different from French francs. It is also the ch in Paula's email!

We drove through beautiful scenery of gently rolling high hills with green fields and tiny towns nestling in the mountainsides. We zipped through mountains, tunnel after tunnel. He told us the longest tunnel is about 14 kilometers (or 8 miles!) in the southern Alps. I always thought the Swiss were ringed by the Alps. Well, I learned the Jung Mountains are a natural border to the north, the Alps to the south, with two lakes on the west & east. I was disappointed to find out Luzern is not in the Alps range, but oh, what a view when we arrived.

Luzern sits around a gorgeous lake that pours into a river at a narrow dam, called the Needle. As a backdrop, Mount Pilatus rises above the city. Some think it was called Pilatus because of Pontius Pilate, who was buried in the Tiber River when he died, but the river didn't want him and sent his body up. They say he was carried to this mountain and flung over a cliff. But our guide set us straight: Pilatus in Latin means cap, and the mountain always is wearing a cap of clouds. Not today - brightly lit with sunshine, the mountain with snow on its peak loomed over the city. (photo)

We went on a little walking tour of the city, after we arrived and freshened ourselves in the Dammen and Herren rooms. Our guide from the Rhapsody, Ria, had to return to the boat. Steven called while we were still riding the bus to inform her that someone in our group had left a carry-on behind. All I could think was it my backpack which I had left with my suitcase at the cabin door - Did it get loaded on the bus? I was sure it was my bag that made her make the trip back to boat and then return via train this afternoon - a four hour journey. Oh, please, not mine!

We walked down the river, past the Needle, crossed the old wooden bridge with its 36 or more paintings and poems on every beam. They all deal with death but in a humanistic way. One poem he translated for us is "All living things that fly or leap/Or crawl or swim, or run or creep/Fear Death, yet they can find no spot/In all the world where Death is not." Some gruesome paintings, but I wished I could translate all the poems.

We were now in the town center, walking through colorful buildings with hand painted scenes, into plazt (plaza) like the Kornplatz (the plaza where grain was sold) or Weinmarkt (wine market), along the shoreline where the Wilhelm Tell dinner boat was moored (yes, the one and the same William Tell). We ended our walk at the Gletscher-garten Lowen-platz (hyphens are mine) or the Monument Garden Lion Plaza. A huge stone cliff rose up from a pool and craved into the face of the rock was a lion. It looked sleeping until you noticed a spear shaft sticking from its flank. It had fallen in battle and as it lay dying, it covered with its paw and head a shield with the Fleur de Lis, the French symbol of nobility. The story is the Swiss Guards were hired to protect the Tuilerres palace of Marie Antoinette and King Louis during the French Revolution. Not knowing the king & queen had already fled the palace, the Swiss refused to surrender, although some say the Guards actually did know that, but because they had promised to protect the castle, they still refused to surrender. All 600 men when killed. Above the dying lion are the words: Helvetiorm Fidei ac Virtuti, The Faithful and Virtuous Swiss.

It was All Saint's Day, Nov 1st, so many shops were closed, but we stopped for lunch with fellow travelers at restaurant Caravelle, where D&I shared wiener schnitzel and frites and still wasser. Then walked back across the river to the hotel to check in - and my backpack was there! No, it wasn't me! Happy, happy, this time I am NOT the one causing trouble!

Napped after all our walking, and had a lite bite in the restaurant here in the hotel. D&I shared a small pizza, thin, thin crust with tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. Buffalo mozarella comes from the buffalo's milk, but not American buffalo. Darrel says they are impossible to milk. European buffalo have been tamed over time, and produce a mozarella cheese we can't get in the US. And yes, delicious, especially with Feldschlosschen, a light local Swiss beer. Met one lady in our group at dinner who had been to the Bay View Inn in Michigan and another who winter on Anna Maria Island! It is a small world after all.