2011 - Switzerland, Austria - Day 13 - Lucerne, Switzerland

We had a nice relaxing morning today. We didn’t have anywhere to be until 10:50. We did go down to breakfast at 8:30. Amber and I used the internet to email our families. At 10:15, we left our hotel and walked to the lake to board our boat for our lake cruise. As we were waiting for our boat, some friendly and hungry swans walked up to us, looking for food. I had a granola bar in my bag, and mom a roll, so I shared with them. They were not timid at all, I was though! People were petting them, and there heads were only a foot away from mine when they wanted more food. I was a little intimidated by them, because the swans I’ve encountered in the past have been pretty mean. But these ones were different. They weren’t aggressive at all. We boarded our boat for our lake cruise at 10:50. We were on the top deck, and it was a nice, beautiful trip on the lake to the base of Mt. Rigi. It took about an hour. A little red train picked us up at the base of the mountain and took us all the way up to the summit. It was neat ride, with cattle all around and bells hanging on their necks, and farm houses and amazing views of the lake and mountainside. We had an hour at the summit, to eat and explore. We sat on a bench by the hill overlooking the mountain and valleys around us, with the beautiful wildflowers all around, and ate our lunch. The mountains are full of the sound of cattle bells. It was very peaceful and magical. After while, Amber and I wanted to walk around on some of the trails, so we found a place for mom to sit and we walked on the trails for about 20 minutes. The little red train then took us partway down the mountain, until we got to the cable car station. From there we boarded the cable cars and went down the other side of the mountain. At the bottom we boarded our bus and drove back to the hotel. We had about 4 hours until dinner. Mom stayed in the hotel and read and Amber and I went to explore more of the city on foot. We found the second covered pedestrian bridge (Chapel bridge was the main one), with paintings of death all over the top. It was very interesting. Then we walked down river until we came to the first wall tower. Lucerne was founded in 1100. Around 1500, the wall and towers surrounding the city were built. We climbed through 2 of the towers and got some amazing pictures of the city, and walked from one end of the wall on the top, to the other end. By the time we got to the end of the city wall it had started raining. Amber wanted to hide out in one of the towers till it passes. It didn’t’ look like it was going to pass any time soon. There was even lightning and thunder. So we braved it out in the rain. Neither of us brought umbrellas, because it had been such a beautiful day. Even while we were on top of the tower, the skies were clear and we got great pictures. It was a wet, yet fun walk back to the hotel. We had 1.5 hour till dinner, and we were wet and cold, so we took hot showers and changed our clothes for the restaurant. Our bus drove us back to the city for dinner. We had a nice salad bar and the main course was veal in mushroom sauce with rice, peas and carrots. The sauce and everything was delicious. The veal was a bit odd, so I only ate half of that. Dessert was yummy ice cream. I was so full, but it was so good, I couldn’t waste any. After dinner we went back to the hotel. It was 9:00 and we had an early morning trip to the airport in Zurich the next day so we went right to bed. I have loved this trip and time spent with my sister and mother. The cities were quaint and beautiful, our tour guide, Susie and our bus driver, Julian, were wonderful. Our companions were enjoyable. It has truly been a marvelous blessing.