Lucerne, Switzerland

Viking offers pre-cruise packages and we opted to spend two days in Lucerne, Switzerland, before our Rhine River Cruise. (If you missed Part 1 about the Viking Idi, our longboat for the Rhine River Cruise click here. )

 Lucerne is a city in central Switzerland, in the German speaking part of the country with beautifully preserved medieval architecture and sits amid a mountainous panorama right on Lake Lucern.

The baroque style Jesuit Church along the river Reuss in Lucern's old town was built in the mid 17th century but the onion topped towers were not completed until 1893. It's striking architecture dominates the south bank of the river.

The famous Kapellbrucke or Chapel Bridge was built in 1333 and links the old town (Altstadt) to the Reuss River's south bank. It crosses the river at an oblique angle from the south to the north bank. The Tower and bridge are among the most highly photographed scenes in Switzerland.

Majestic swans swam along and underneath the bridge.

You can see in this close up the gorgeous hanging flower baskets that bedeck the bridge. Beautiful paintings can be viewed inside the beam structure supporting the roof. This bridge is considered to be one of the oldest covered wooden bridges in Europe.

The Swiss have a long tradition of serving as mercenaries, especially in the armies of the King of France, from the later Middle Ages into the Age of the European Enlightenment. The tradition continues today with the Swiss guards in the Vatican. The Dying Lion was carved out of sandstone in 1820 to commemorate the massacre of Swiss mercenaries defending the Tuileries palace during the French Revolution.

On the second day in Lucerne our optional tour of Lake Lucern was called Pearls of Switzerland. We cruised the lake on this passenger boat to our destination at the base of Mt. Pilatus.

The scenic lake cruise was beautiful.

 At Alpnachstad, the world's steepest cogwheel train ascends to the top of Mt. Pilatus.

 Mt. Pilatus has an elevation of 7000 feet.  

Hotel and restaurant at the top where we ate lunch.

After a hike the clouds rolled in and we couldn't see the mountain.

After a delicious lunch and hike, we rode two sets of gondolas all the way down another side of the mountain.

This was our delightful and excellent guide, Christina. Next at the base of the mountain we rode a van to the Einsiedeln Abbey, an alpine farm and to a cheese factory.

Our next stop was Einsiedeln Abbey, a Benedictine Monastery famous for the Black Madonna. They did not allow pictures inside.    

The Lady Fountain is in the middle of the square.

I was thrilled to see the little girls in native costumes drinking from the fountain.  It has fourteen taps and I observed people drinking from all fourteen around the fountain. Google says the fourteen taps equate to the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The tradition is to drink from each tap.

After the Abbey we visited an alpine dairy farm and meet real swiss cows. Next we toured an actual cheese factory where we made our own cheese that we actually brought home with us. I will spare you pictures of us there, suited up in hair nets, shoe covers and lab coats. After the cheese making the factory had prepared a fondue dinner for us. It was a long but interesting and scenic day. The next day we were coached to Basel, Switzerland, to begin our cruise on the Rhine. I hope you will stay turned for posts on the rest of the cruise. Living Thankfully, 

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