Journey to Switzerland Day 12

The Lion Monument


Kapellbrücke Bridge

Day 12 : August 10th

Since today was our last day in Switzerland, we decided to do something spectacular. To get a full day of Swiss culture, we jumped on the train at seven o'clock in the morning and headed to a city south of Zurich called Lucerne. Lucerne is a charming, touristy city that is split down the middle by Reuss Lake. Frescoed buildings, churches, chapels, and bridges are what Lucerne is known for. We arrived around 40 minutes later and rented bikes for the day at the train station for $26.40 per person. We then gathered all of our items and made our way into the heart of the city.

The first place we visited was the Lion Monument. This depressing statue of a dying lion was created out of sandstone to honor the 700 Swiss mercenaries killed in 1792 in Paris. The loyal troops tried to defend the royal family of Louis XVI when revolutionaries attacked the Tuileries castle during the French Revolution. In Latin the phrase, "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss" is inscribed above the lion. After this, we rode our bikes through the Old Town. This dainty part of the city is filled with clusters of medieval houses and cobbled roads. The atmosphere of the bustling marketplace still thrives today. Vendors selling vegetables, flowers, and fish, is a regular occurrence here. Next, we pedaled our way to the famous Kapellbrücke Bridge. Apparently, this "must see" is a medieval covered bridge that runs across the Reuss River. The Kapellbrücke was built in 1333, and it was previously used as a lighthouse, or lecerna in French. The word, lecerna, is said to be the origin of the city's name.

By around six o'clock this evening, we were famished. We found a restaurant called Fritschi. The building, covered in beautiful frescoes, was hard to miss. The main item of the menu was Rösti, or potatoes. Everything was Rösti, which is potatoes that have been boiled, grated, and fried, and was delicious! A traditional meal was called spiegelei, which were potatoes with an egg on top. Katie Stanton loved it, but Katie Burnet almost barfed for the second time on this trip.

After our hunger was satisfied, we took a night walk along the waterfront of Reuss Lake. As we reviewed all of the experiences we had on this trip, we admired the lovely moonlit scenery. Finally, around nine at night we decided, in spite of our instinct to "accidentally" miss the train, that it was time to head back to the house. This trip to Lucerne was a fantastic end to our trip in Switzerland.