With a heavy heart (and a grateful nose) I bid the livestock next door goodbye and left the provincial Saint Niklaus for a more urban climate in Lucerne. Whereas my previous stops were vacation destinations, this city truly felt like a lived-in place with businesses catering to tourists as well as locals. My timing couldn’t have been better though as I stumbled upon a tradition unique to central Switzerland alone: Fasnacht.
During the weekend and week before Carnivale, this region of Switzerland has a “practice run” of sorts which includes live music, parades, costumes, folk dancing, throwing oranges at passersby, and burning effigies (okay one of those is false). A solid third of the populace participated with outfits ranging from historical (a la the Swiss Guard) to legendary (at least six Elvis impersonators were there). The Rathaus (ironically German for “town hall”) Brewery was the perfect spot to take it all in along with delicious pretzels, beer, sausage and alcoholic tea.
Aside from the festivities, Lucerne’s most well-known attraction is found in the heart of the city. The Löwendenkmal, or Lion Monument, is dedicated to the Swiss soldiers who perished during an insurrection attempt on the French Monarchy in 1792, as it was custom for an honorary Swiss Guard to be present in their company. The historical caretaker family of this display, the Altishofens, would later include a glacier garden, a hall of mirrors, a watchtower, an alpine home, and an open geological time capsule called the Felsenwelt in its vicinity. The latter of these was by far the most expansive with motion-activated displays of geological history of the area and a ‘cosmophone’ which translates voices into radio waves to be heard in the future (you best believe I Rickrolled some future generations).
The final stop made in the city proper today was its wooden covered bridge Kapellbrücke going from Saint Peter’s Chapel to a Starbucks across a channel of the lake. Panels underneath each gable depicted paintings by local artists or groups (I couldn’t tell) as well as a souvenir shop/distillery in the direct center.
I’m debating two different courses of action tomorrow, and it may be a game time decision in where I end up going out from Lucerne. You’ll just have to tune back in tomorrow to find out; same bat time, same bat channel.
Ice's Travels 