We left Bregenz at 10am and, after a stop in Zurich to change trains, we arrived in Luzern about 1pm. There had been a major train derailment a few days ago so the last part of our trip was by bus.
After dropping our luggage at our hotel we took off on our tour of Luzern!!! David's my 'tour guide on steroids' and, in the next four hours, we managed to check out a lot of 'things to see' in Luzern. Luzern is a gorgeous place. We started off by crossing the wooden Chapel Bridge (so called because of its proximity to St Peter's chapel) that was built in 1365. The bridge originally served as part of Luzern's defence. The octagonal Water Tower attached to the bridge, 34 metres in height, was built in 1300 and is said to be the most photographed landmark in Switzerland. We checked out the streets of the Old Town where we tried to find Moran's store to eat at the top floor restaurant for lunch - no luck then. (We later found it and took pics from the rooftop) There's a needle dam across the river, installed in 1859/60, and it still regulates the level of water in Lake Lucerne by the insertion or removal of the wooden needles.
Further up the river is the Spreuer Bridge, built in 1408, is similar in construction to the Chapel Bridge. There are 67 paintings depicting a Dance Macabre that were added to the bridge between 1626 and 1635. Lots of skeletons featured in these paintings. (There were similar paintings on the Chapel Bridge.) We trekked up to see the 'The Dying Lion of Lucerne' which is one of the world's most famous monuments. It's carved out of rock and commemorates the heroism, in 1792, of Swiss soldiers who died defending the Tuileries Palace in Paris during the French Revolution.
We walked most of the way along the Musegg Wall, with its nine towers, that forms part of Lucerne historic fortifications. The clock on the Zyt Tower dates from 1535 and, recognising that it's the town's oldest clock, gets to chime one minute before all the other clocks in town.
Our last stop was Hof Church (Hofkirkche), a twin spires building overlooking the main town bridge - yes, another bloody church and quite spectacular.
We wandered along the river towards the Seebrucke Bridge that would take us back to our hotel. The mix of tourists was diverse and it seemed surprisingly busy for this time of the year we thought. It turned 5pm when we were on the bridge and every bell in town started to peel (and I reckon there'd be a dozen of them!!) and the sound was glorious. It went on for ages.
When we went back to our hotel we were surprised with a room upgrade, our first ever, so we're in a lovely suite on the fifth floor of the hotel. We're over the road from the station which will be brilliant for catching our train in the morning. (Having said that, were actually catching a bus to take us out to meet the train beyond where the derailment is,)