After leaving Salamanca we headed to Madrid to spend the evening there before heading to Lucerne. We had an early morning the next day…5 a.m. to catch a 7:15 flight to Milan. Once we made it to Milan we caught a train to Lucerne. We had an interesting experience with the train situation, we had to switch trains twice…luckily we had met a man from Netherlands who helped us out; otherwise we never would have known what to do. It was a long day of travel; we ended up literally spending all day on the trains (until about 5 pm). The scenery was absolutely beautiful, the most crystal clear water I have ever seen, mountains, and the most beautiful greenery. We finally made it to Lucerne and checked into our hotel.
After we re-grouped we walked around the city for a little bit and then ended up stopping for dinner at a cute little restaurant by their famous wooden bridge. Lucerne is absolutely beautiful. It is situated on a lake with mountains surrounding the little city. The water is the cleanest water I have ever seen and has the most beautiful color. This city literally looks like it was taken out of a storybook. I cannot express in words the beauty and charm of Lucerne.
The next day was Switzerland's independence day! It was fun to get a taste of their culture and see how they celebrate their independence. (They have fireworks, but not as cool as ours!) In the morning we did a guided walk of the city and were greeted with free sweet bread to celebrate the July 4th of Switzerland. Our tour guide was wonderful and extremely kind. We learned about all of the main monuments in the city, including the different plazas, the wooden bridge, the train station, post office, and various churches. In Lucerne they have fountains all over the city with drinking water. They pride themselves on having the purest and coldest water "in the world". I can't tell the difference between many waters, but it was nice to be able to safely refill our water bottles all over the city, and it was always cold and crisp! In the afternoon we took a boat tour of the lake. It was only an hour but it was nice to be able to get a different view of the city and see different areas close by. There were tons of sailboats with beautiful sails and tons of people enjoying the nice weather.
After the boat tour we walked to a very famous monument in Lucerne, the Lion. It is a sculpture carved into a rock to pay tribute to the many men who had died fighting to protect their country. The lion sculpture depicts a lion that is dying, giving off a very sad and melancholic vibe. After visiting the lion we went to a hotel that has a rooftop terrace for drinks. We had drinks and appetizers with the most phenomenal view of Lucerne. I still cannot get over how beautiful Lucerne is with the lake, mountains, flowers, and charming city… I have never seen anything like it before.
We went back to the hotel to regroup and pack up before dinner. Then we went to a nice place along the lake for dinner and headed home to get a good night sleep before another long day of travel.
Tourist Dave...ready for anything!
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