Lucerne

I think we’ve been getting a little too nonchalant about travel these days.   It’s been a long time since we’ve really had any travel drama so we have forgotten to fret about what could go wrong before we leave.   But every once in a while, the universe provides a remedial course in Travel Freak Out 101.  

We woke up on our departure day without a care in the world …until the first text came in.

• Delta Airlines: Your flight to Atlanta is delayed by 30 minutes.

This was slightly worrying because we didn’t have a long layover in Atlanta to begin with, but based on experience, we’d still be OK for our connection.  Uncharacteristically for me, I did say:  “I don’t think we should check our bags today.”   

Things continued to go haywire after we got to the airport.  Our flight was delayed again.  Then it was announced that Atlanta had a ground stop order and no planes were taking off or landing there at the moment.  Tick-tock…Tick-tock… By the time our plane finally got boarded and took off, we knew it would take a miracle to make our connection to Zurich.

When we landed in Atlanta, we were already on our phones checking for updated information while the plane was still taxiing in to the gate.  This is the first thing I saw when I turned on my phone:

• Delta Airlines: We’re so sorry. You’ve missed your flight. We are rebooking you for tomorrow.

Me:  I don’t think so Delta!  (I’d already spent the entire delay figuring out Plans B, C & D -and we were going to find some way to leave TODAY).

Even though our hearts had dropped to our stomachs when we saw the text, we agreed that we still needed to go directly to the departure gate for Zurich to be 100% sure before giving up and making other arrangements.

If anyone remembers the old OJ Simpson commercial of him running through the airport…that was us, but older and more out of shape!  Of course, to make things more exciting, we landed at Terminal A and had to get to Terminal E… basically from one end of Atlanta to the other.  We actually did it in record time in spite of the general obstacle course an airport can be; AND the plane train was absolutely stuffed like a turkey on Thanksgiving.  We barged in anyway!

As we were huffing and puffing up to the Zurich departure gate (really just me -Mike never huffs and puffs), we were shocked, amazed, and beyond relieved to see that they were just boarding Zone 1… Hooray!!!!  We’d been told that the flight to Zurich would close the doors around the time we were landing in Atlanta…and once the doors close -no one gets on.  Not even someone with enough self importance to stomp their foot and say, “Do you know who I am?”  It turns out they were delayed just long enough for our sakes by a cleaning issue.  If we had checked our luggage, our first order of business in Switzerland would have been shopping.

Our stress level dropped significantly once we got on the plane and buckled in,  Our flight was routine, thank goodness. Right after clearing immigration and customs in Zurich, we found our way to the train station at the airport to catch a train to Lucerne -our first destination on this trip.  

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At first glance, the Lucerne train station looks pretty utilitarian, but as we discovered, there is a shopping mall below street level -the stores being mostly geared to people’s traveling needs: food, drink and travel items.  There are escalators from the lower level located at the four corners of the intersection our hotel was on…so we could go to and from the station without having to cross the street at all.  It was quite convenient as there was a small grocery store down there where we picked up snacks and drinks for our room.

In front of the station, we noticed an interesting arch.  I took pictures on both sides.

This is the side that you see when standing in the station,

This is the view of the arch when facing toward the station.

In 1896, they built an impressive railway station -but it was destroyed in a fire in 1971.  This arch is all that is left of the original station.  It is called Zeitgeist (Spirit of Our Times).

I usually try to book our hotels near train stations because it just helps with the logistics of the trip.  Our hotel was across the street from the train station.  It turned out that the train station area was perfectly located for all of our activities.

The Hotel Monopol was built in 1899

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Our elevator at the hotel had a display showing drone footage of the hotel.

Our room was definitely dated and had an odd layout, but it was fine.

The next morning, we took a self-guided walking tour around the old city.  Just a few short blocks from our hotel was the first stop at one of the most famous things to see in Lucerne – Chapel Bridge.  

To Mike’s eternal aggravation, I wanted to first see it from a specific direction and that ended up with us taking the long way around for what really should have been a short walk.  I don’t think Mike believes the saying that “Not all who wander are lost.”  He’s more the – “All who wander are lost idiots…Just look at a darn map!!!-” type.   

And if anyone is a fan of the Amazing Race, you would have recognized us as being like that one team who is always frustrated with each  about which way to go -with gusto! Let’s just say one of us enjoyed the inadvertent wandering more than the other.  HAH.  We aren’t always that way, but I think we were both still a bit cranky from jet lag.

Being off track did have the benefit of bringing us to the Spreuer Bridge, the first part of which was built in the 1200’s.  I believe it was built to connect the bank of the river to mills that were (at the time) situated in the middle of the river to take advantage of the fast current. It is a pedestrian bridge now.

In the 1400’s, the bridge was extended all the way across the river.  We weren’t crossing there so it wasn’t until we’d circled around on the other side of the river that I noticed that the bridge definitely has two different styles of architecture.  

At that point, we were more or less back on track for the walking tour.  Just a short distance upriver was the Chapel Bridge, which is a very famous landmark for Lucerne.  

On the way to Chapel Bridge is a newer pedestrian bridge that is a good vantage point for Chapel Bridge photos.

Chapel Bridge.

Below is a building along the river walk.

The water tower in the river was built between 1290-1300.  Later, around 1330, the bridge was built – integrating the water tower as part of it’s structure.  Originally it was nearly 900 feet across, but over time with changing riverbanks and development, it is now about 672 feet across.

Sadly, in 1993, the bridge caught fire and only the water tower and the two bridgeheads on either end could be saved.  They rebuilt it in eight months, reopening it in 1994.  

In the 1600’s it was proposed that the rafters in the bridge be decorated with art.  Originally there were 158 triangular pieces decorating the bridge.  At the time of the fire, there were 147 of them still on the bridge.  The fire took 111 of those.  The firefighters recovered some of the damaged pictures -but only 30 of those could be restored.  About 17 of the originals were recreated.  As of now, there are 62 paintings currently hanging on the bridge.  As we walked across, most of them were quite faded and hard to see.  It took me a bit of time to find one that I could photograph. 

After crossing the bridge, our route took us along the shore of Lake Lucern for a short distance.

Our next stop along the tour was a lovely cathedral called St. Leodegar. 

It was built on a hill, so we had to climb up some stairs.  This building was at the side of the church near the top.

This church was founded as a monastery around the year 735.  The monastery had some changing fortunes over ensuing years, but by 1455, the monastery had become a church.  I believe the existing church was built between 1633-1639.

The front vestibule/entrance was very decorative.

Inside it was a very pretty church overall.

As we walked back down the stairs, we noticed this establishment.  I tend to collect pictures of place names that don’t translate to English well…

As our walk continued, we passed by this impressive building entrance.

After a bit more walking, we suddenly found ourselves stepping off of the busy street scene into a tranquil, tree shrouded park where we found the Lion Monument.  

The lion is 20 feet tall and 33 feet long.

This stone monument was created in honor of 1,000 Swiss Guards who died in the Storming of the Tuileries (French Revolution, Paris, 1792) while protecting the life of King Louis XVI.  It was dedicated in 1821.  Mark Train is quoted as saying:  “The Lion of Lucerne is the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world”.   

Coincidentally, the walking tour continued through a very active shopping area before having us climb up some steps to see what’s left of the city walls, which are nearly 900 years old now.  

There was a nice view of Mt. Pilatus in the distance when we got up to the base of the wall.

The first tower we came to was open for visitors to climb up for a walk along the top of the wall.  There was a small entry where the steps started.  This guy was standing guard.

The climb was really more like climbing steep ladders than climbing steps!

I’m really surprised that there wasn’t a critical care center conveniently located nearby!  It is kind of funny because the day we arrived, Mike had commented that he’d seen a lot of people walking around with canes, casts and arm slings… maybe we discovered the source?

Mike climbed up as far as the top of the wall with me, but declined to go higher.  I was curious about what was at the top of the tower, and was hoping for a view, so I went all the way up.  This picture was the last part of it.  

After all that climbing, it only led to a platform/floor with a couple of filmy windows to look out through.

It was a hazy day over the lake and mountains.

It is possible to walk to the next couple of towers along the top of the wall.

Mike didn’t realize that I was planning for us to walk along the top of the wall, so he went back to ground level while I was getting my workout on the ladder-stairs higher up .  When I came back down to the top of the wall, I stepped out to look for him -he took this picture of me:

I didn’t want to make him climb up there again, so we decided to try to follow a walkway at the base of the wall to see how far we could go that way, hoping to get to the last tower and pick up the walking tour again.  The answer…not far at all….  

Higher up on the hillside beyond the wall was this interesting building.  

It is the Hotel Chateau Gutch.  The first part, a tower at the far end of the wall, was built in 1590.  In 1859, a private citizen bought the property and started an inn.  In 1884 they built a funicular train to give guests and visitors an easier way up.  After a fire in the late 1800s, the hotel was rebuilt as it appears today in 1901.

It wasn’t far at all before we were forced to go back to street level.  We were able to see this tower from the road below, but eventually the road, dead ends and private property made us decide to call it a day and head back to our hotel.

We took some pictures along the way.

Considering our hotel’s location, it seemed like there should have been more restaurants around us -but there wasn’t much to choose from.  We checked out a couple of nearby places, and didn’t like the options -so we decided to fall back on the “grocery store dinner” option.  There was a mini-grocery store below the train station, so we went over there and got some pre-made sandwiches and chips.  Fine by us. 

After we ate, we decided to go to a small bar located out front in the corner of the hotel building, (but not owned by the hotel), for a drink.  It is a long narrow space with large windows facing the train station with big windows that open up the inside area to the outside.  We sat inside looking out toward these tables.

Looking at the sky, as we took the very short walk from the hotel entrance to the bar, we could tell some rain might be coming and were happy to sit inside and wait it out if it did come.  It came!  The storm hit with a crash of thunder, a burst of wind and rain flying sideways. 

The poor staff had to run out into it to catch things flying off the tables.  They were soaked just as quickly as if they’d jumped into a swimming pool.  They started handing things in through the windows to anyone who’d help -including me.  After they’d taken care of that, Mike reached up and closed the window.

And that was our excitement for the day!

Categories: Part 1: Lucerne, Switzerland 2026