Luzern the city, not the butter

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We left the mountains today and good timing. It was cloudy and wet. We reached Lucerne via Murren-Lauterbrunnen-Interlaken Ost and finally Luzern. The train trip took about 2 hours. We arrived at the Luzern Bahnhof and called Art Deco Hotel Montana to pick us up. The lady at the TI station said have a good stay. Enjoy, your hotel is nice. Something to look forward to. The Porter picked us up and took us up the hill to the Art Deco. It's very nice and very boutiquey. We checked into our rooms and the views are amazing. We have a balcony outside of our room and we get a very nice view of Lake Luzern. We also have our very own funicular to bring us to the bottom of the hill and into town. Very cool... Saves us from having to climb the hill every night.

We walked along the lake, started off at the Hofkirche. The Hofkirche was founded by the Benedictine Monastery in the 8th century and is the most important Renaissance church building in Switzerland. After the Hofkirche, we made our way to the Kapellbrucke (Chapel Bridge).

The fourteenth-century covered Kapellbrücke, the oldest road bridge in Europe. The bridge caught fire in 1993 and in one of the most dramatic spectacles in the city’s recent history, the flames rapidly spread to engulf the whole structure. By dawn, virtually the entire bridge had been destroyed, with only the bridgeheads on both banks surviving. The authorities rapidly set about reconstruction, and an identical replacement was completed nine months later. The Kapellbrucke was very nice but very crowded. There were tons of Asians and tons of mosquitos.

Lastly we made it to Jesuitenkirche. Lured to Lucerne by the wealthy, Ludwig Pfyffer von Altishofen and the Jesuits brought the Counter Reformation to Lucerne in the 17th century. The elaborate Jesuitenkirche, dedicated to Francis Xavier, was constructed in 1666. Architects from Italy and Austria built what many believe to be the most beautiful Baroque church in Switzerland. We lucked out and happened to be in the church at the same time that the music school was rehearsing. They sounded angelic.


We walked toward the old part of town but didn't quite make it to the walled city. It started to get darker and we were doing some window shopping, so time was running out. I did however, manage to buy my Swiss watch and Susan got her purse at navyboot. Afterward we had dinner at Mr. Pickwick's Pub. Had fish and chips and a guinness. Yummy.

Then back to hotel we went and the night was called.

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Photos

A Canon at the Hofkirche
Old houses all around the church still serve as the homes for canons of the parish.

Graves of the Hofkirche
The Hofkirche is set amidst a lovely Italianate cloister, lined with the graves of Luzerner patrician families (who continue to be buried here to this day.

Doors of the Hofkirche
The main doors are carved with the two patron saints of Luzern: on the left is St Leger, a French bishop who was blinded with a drill (which he is holding), and on the right is St Maurice, the martyred Roman soldier-saint.