We arrived in Lucerne, Switzerland .
We landed in Zurich Sunday morning at about 7:30 am Local time. All went very well. We even landed a little early but I gotta say staying up for 30 hours or more can be a killer.
We had a very full day to look around Lucerne on our own. We made it to Mass at the Jesuit church by 10:00 am (all in German). We also spent some time on Chapel Bridge, took a boat cruise around Lake Lucerne before having dinner near our hotel. We saw the tower constructed in the river which was used as a prison and a place of torture.
On Monday we took a guided walking tour of the city which included many of the things we saw on Sunday. We added a trip to the Hoff Church (St. Leodager) and the Lion Memorial. The lion memorial is carved into a nearby mountain and is a tribute to the 500,000 mercenaries who left to fight for other royal families. Only 40% of the mercenaries returned home. We learned that supplying mercenaries was a very lucrative business for Switzerland.
We also learned that Switzerland is the 3rd most expensive country in the world in which to live behind Singapore and Norway.
There are 120 public fountains in Lucerne and all of them supply drinkable water.
Very interesting. Looking forward to more. It’s probably been 50 years since I’ve seen Mike Winkler and he either looks the same or that’s a very good picture of him. Isn’t it weird that in 1974, you had no idea that you’d be exploring Europe with your wife, Wink and Curt and their wives? Thanks for the summary of the trip thus far and for the pictures. Watch out for deer!
ReplyDeleteWOW, you sure packed in a lot for your first day! Thanks for the update.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you using your time to full advantage.
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