Lucerne-another beautiful Swiss city!

We left Interlaken at 8:05 this morning, changing trains in Bern again, and were in Lucerne by 10am. Walking to the hotel, we passed through an open air market and saw very famous Chapel bridge/water tower. The sky was kind of gloomy, but it was a neat first look at Lucerne. We eventually checked into our hotel (our backs were aching from our overflowing packs), were upgraded to stay in the fancier sister hotel (still not as fancy as the one we stayed at in Geneva, but definite upgrade from hostel status in Interlaken!), and we were able to go straight up to our room.

We headed out for a little guided tour in Lindsey's book, but I started to feel sick ( I think I had just let myself get too hungry).... so I went back to the hotel to eat and lay down for a minute. I felt much better after eating (had a sandwich and carrot cake, yumz). I went on a little tour for myself, listed on the map the hotel gave us. I went and walked on the outside of the old city wall, with huge watch/clock towers still in tact. I think that was probably my favorite part.... no one was up there, it was all snowy because the wall shaded the area from the sun, and I could see great views of the Alps. I could also see cow tracks:)

I went through the wall gates and back into the old city, towards the Lion monument. It is a very sad lion, carved into the side of a rock. It is sad because it has a sword piercing it... and it commemorates the honorable Swiss Army members who were killed protecting the king during the French revolution... Despite the meaning, just looking at the lion made me want to cry.... guess I'm a little sensitive at the moment, but.... anyway.... I ran into Lindsey at about the same time and walked to another church together... went inside and then went our separate ways again because we were sort of on different parts of different tours.

Lucerne has a ton of little fountains with natural mountain water. It also has several neat buildings with paintings... and of course it has the 2 covered bridges. The mill bridge is under construction... so we didn't really get to see that, but we could walk through the chapel bridge, which still has some original paintings, despite a fire in 1993(?).

After walking around, seeing the 3 major churches (the Jesuit church, the Fransican church, and the Renaissance-y church), I went back to shower. Once it started to get dark, we went out to see the lights and to get dinner. I had passed this restaurant that was very decorated for Christmas earlier and we ate there.... I had pumpkin soup and a chicken salad sandwich... which was something my sensitive tummy could handle today!

After seeing lots of lights, we came back and now I'm writing to you. I'm writing fast, not because it costs money, but because the computer with a keyboard is by the smokey bar. Unfortunately, smoking isn't against the law in restaurants/bars here like it is in France... People can also smoke pot here (in Switzerland, not just Lucerne), legally.... and that's kind of a disgusting smell to pass by every once in while.

Otherwise, I've quite enjoyed Lucerne. It's still near the Alps, so it has a pretty backdrop. It also has fountains, a big lake, and neat covered bridges....what's not to like?

Although tomorrow we're headed to another neat Swiss city (Zurich), I'm getting excited to go home and to sleep in my own bed.... and because I'm very close to seeing my dad and friend Steph. I keep thinking about all the things my family does for Christmas.... decorate our house with a plastic Santa and snowman and candy canes, I make way too many cookies, we drive around looking at Christmas lights in the neighborhood, we watch A Christmas Story on repeat on Christmas Day....but... guess I shouldn't complain too much... I am in la Suisse!

Reste cool and I'll be writing from Lyon the next time I write you!
Miss you!