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December 23rd 2004

Published: December 23rd 2004

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Vanessa and Tyler

Chapel Bridge and Water Tower

We took a trip up to Lucerne, Switzerland from the 17th to the 23rd of December. We figured it would be nice to be in a winter wonderland. We had a great time, saw a lot of beautiful things, and froze our butts off.
Lucerne is a really neat little tourist town set by a lake in an absolutely breathtaking environment. Parts of the town date back to the 14th century, and have an absolutely medieval feel to them.
Our first couple of days in Lucerne were spent looking around the town and enjoying the local sites. It was cold and rainy, so whenever the weather would clear up, we would head out to check something new out. We saw the Lion Monument which was very pretty (even if it could use a cleaning). Then we headed over to the local church and admired the medieval looking towers. The Chapel Bridge and Water tower (two of Lucerne’s most well known monuments) were very quaint, and the town was a very nice place to relax. There was also a pretty cool dam that controlled the water level of the river that was topped of by the Mill Bridge. One day,

Tyler by the Lion Monument

This monument is sculpted into a rock face. It is actually in town. There was a lot of bird poop.

when we were feeling particularly adventurous, we ventured up to the city wall to take a look around. That was quite a walk. Lucerne is a rather hilly little town, and in order to walk along the outer wall, you must make quite a treck up a pretty steep hill. It seems our five flights of stairs had not properly prepared us.
Lucerne was very nice, and very relaxing, but due to the weather, we also spent a lot of time in the hotel. This actually was a well needed break. I did not bring any school work with me, so Tyler and I played cards, watched TV, and relaxed.
On the third day of our stay, the rain turned into snow, and we got to discover the city all over again. Lucerne is absolutely gorgeous covered in snow. Because it was so cold, the rain pretty much stopped, and it snowed mostly at night, so we got to go out a little more.
The fourth day of our stay, we took the train to a neighboring village and went up to the top of Mount Titlis. This is the highest mountain in central Switzerland, and of course we went

Medieval Style Church

I really like the way the two towers look on this church.

up to the ski post right on the very top. I don’t know how people ski that mountain. On the way up in the lifts, I was just amazed at the sheer drops off the sides of the ski courses. I think you would have to be nuts to take off on some of those slopes. Maybe it is different with skis than with snowboards, but I don’t trust myself that much to maintain control. It was very cold at the summit, but the view was amazing, and we got some great pictures.
Our last night in Lucerne, Tyler and I went on a boat ride around the lake. We ordered a yummy bottle of Beaujolais and enjoyed the ride. The lake was doted with little towns, all of which had all their Christmas lights up. It was a nice end to our trip.
We had a good time, relaxed a lot, and blew a bunch of money. We went shopping in all the little shops, ate a few really good meals (mostly we were ok as long as we went with non local food- it was too-German for our tastes. In fact our favorite meals were at an Italian