Water, water everywhere . . . seemed to be the theme today in Luzern (Lucerne). Water falling from the sky, water in the river rushing by, and fountains pointing to the sky, burbling--water! Unintentionally poetic, but true. And then there was Lake Luzern.

Today was gray and rainy, a good day for train hopping and gift shopping. Geez, what's with the rhyming today?! C'est la vie. We boarded a train in Altstetten to Zürich Bahnhof, where we hopped the next train to Luzern.

As we left Luzern's Bahnhof, we passed under a beautiful arching entrance-to-the-city of sorts. I learned it is the only thing that remains of the original Bahnhof, which burned in 1971. A flag-bedecked bridge offers a walk across the river into the city. Or, as we chose, a quick walk along the River Ruess will lead to the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge). It's the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe. Hung the entire length of each side with pots of mood-altering cheerful red flowers, it's a good place to walk when it's raining. It leads across to Old Town, and was built in the 14th century. (Though a portion burned in the 90's and was restored.) What's with Luzern and fire?

We wandered into Old Town, quaint as "old towns" are, once again traversing cobblestone streets between looming ancient buildings. This section of Luzern is a heady collection of old European architecture and artistic expression. It was a joy to discover colorful and intricate murals stretching high and wide along the walls around nearly every corner.

I was glad when the rain let up enough we could flip back the hoods on our rain gear and dine alfresco for lunch, still bundled into our jackets. Annelies ordered Aelpler Magrone once again. She declared that this time it was closer to the perfect alpine macaroni; sauce with a golden glow, small potatoes mixed with the smaller macaroni, the whole thing looking toasty, and very thin bits of grilled onion piled on top. Applesauce on the side again. "Closer to perfect" doesn't make it right. (Sigh) I guess we'll just have to keep testing until we find the perfect recipe. What a lovely chore.

Swiss trains are wonderful to ride. Especially seated in the upper deck, as we were, making for a truly panoramic view. The trains are comfortable; and comforting for a foreign passenger, as the polite recorded voice informed us at which next village or city the train would be stopping--in two languages--then wished us good travel. We had that today; in spite of the rain.