Lucerne

The weather was cloudy and raining when we woke up and we had trouble deciding whether we could get away with hiking up in Mount Rigi or if we should flag that and head into town/see the transport museum. After a lot of indecision a fresh batch of popcorn to snack on was thrown on the stove and we decided to go to Rigi. The cable car from Weggi that our host had suggested was closed for maintenance according to the map but there were other ways up. We dressed into our hiking shoes and merinos and drove the 30 minutes to the town of Weggis. Sure enough the cable car was clearly not moving and we headed in the direction of the train spotting a information center on the way. The girl at the desk didn’t really advise to go up there for a stroll unless we were dressed in very warm clothes and had proper shoes since it was -3 degrees and covered with snow. Infact it was raining down where we were now so it was likely to be snowing up there too. There was a walk around the cute village we were in called Vitznau but she couldn’t recommend anything else by the lake. The cost was what was making it harder for us to decide since it would cost us 72 CHF ($104 NZD) for an all day pass, 62.50 CHF ($90.70 NZD) for a hiking pass where we would take some cable cars / trains and walk other parts and 53 CHF ($77 NZD) for a pass that only got us halfway up to Rigi Kaltbad. Lew had parked up and we sat in the car deciding what to do but neither of us could really make a decision. Lew was keen to just go and see what it was like but I wanted to walk along the waterfront instead and avoid getting very cold since we wouldn't even be able to see the view from the top of the mountain anyway. I think if it wasn’t going to cost as much as it was we would have just gone up. Feeling like we had wasted half the day we drove back to the house feeling a little defeated. I guess we will just have to come back in the summer when we can make the most of the pass. Despite being a bit of a waste of a day what we were driving through was stunning and looked very much like NZ in terms of it's greenery and rural feel everywhere we went. The houses though couldn’t be further away from what we have at home and have a very distinctive style.

Once Home we changed into clothes that were more appropriate for walking around town and heated up the pasta I had made the day before. At 1.30pm we left again and drove into Lucerne to a parking lot at the end of the street called Werkhofstrasse where our host had said is the cheapest you could get in town - 1 CHF/ hour ($1.50 NZD/hr), outdoors and uncovered. We both didn’t realise until we got there that it was a parking meter that of course only took coins and we only had euros on us and not any Swiss Francs. We did manage to find a park and Lew left me in the car whilst he went to find an ATM. The ATM only spat out a 100 CHF ($145 NZD) note so on the way back Lew found a shop that broke it down into coins for him. Once he returned to me with the parking ticket we both had a little laugh at how we didn’t think you could have got your money changed at a shop in Italy, they just wouldn’t want to help you at all. With two hours in the meter we walked the 10 minutes into town in a chilly 7 degrees celsius and raining ever so slightly. We walked through their industrial area and Lew was incredibly amazed at how clean it was and the fact that there was a concrete factory pretty much right in the center of town - not something you would ever see back home. I had done some quick Google searching as to what to do in Lucerne and one of the things that came up was the Kapellbrücke Bridge (Chapel bridge) the towns landmark and we were heading in the direction of it anyway. It is the oldest wooden bridge in Switzerland that spans the Reuss River and was thought to be built in 1333 AD. One of the most interesting things about it are the triangular paintings on the ceiling that depict events from the history and legends of Lucerne. They were completed in 1611 AD by a local Catholic painter called Hans Heinrich Wägmann. Unfortunately in 1933 a fire broke out that was likely due to a cigarette and 2/3 of the wooden chapel bridge was destroyed as well as 85 of the 110 pictures being destroyed. We were able to walk across the bridge but at the time we were more absorbed by the view across the river as opposed to the ceiling so I don't remember taking much notice of the paintings. Wandering around towns is something we have got good at over the last few months and that was exactly what we did now. We admired the Swiss army knives from the place they first came from - Victorinox and also saw one of the older buildings remaining in the city built in 1530 that used to be a pharmacy with the words "No medicine can cure love" on the outside of it. As we continued down the streets we came across a shop that was selling big slabs of Swiss chocolate and my mouth started watering for something I couldn't even eat! Lew said he wouldn't say no if I brought him some so we continued into the shop called Läderach Chocolatier Suisse and decided on a hazelnut slab which ended up costing 8.90 CHF ($12.90 NZD) for 130g of chocolate! We had noticed also that we had found the Chinese tourists again and there was a large bunch of them in the shop, I laughed when I saw one of the shop attendants looking disgusted as one of the tourists coughed all over the chocolate completely oblivious to those around her and not bothering to cover her mouth. Reminds me so much of work and how many times I reckon I got sick because of certain people coughing on me as though I have an immune force field around me!

One of my favourite things along the way that we found was a bread shop selling giant pretzels and yummy bread from a place called Macchi Bakery! We had to get a loaf for dinner and a pretzel since Lew had already got his chocolate as his treat - I could buy about 8 pretzels for the cost of his treat though! By this stage we had looked at a few streets but realised we most likely wouldn't be able to afford anything here anyway so didn't window shop too hard. Our parking meter was running out so we made our way back through town. On the way home we needed to get three more sausages since when we were back in Ortisei the butcher had strangely only given us 2 when I clearly held up 5 fingers. I routed us to this "organic" butcher since it was the only one that came up with an English name when I Googled "butchery" and we drove 12 minutes to where it was. The guy didn't speak much English but I managed to get three large sausages but was alarmed when I went to swipe my card and they cost a total of 15 CHF ($21.70 NZD) for THREE sausages! Man are we staying vegetarian from now on whilst we are in this country. Lew shared a similar horrified look when I got back into the car and I told him what they cost and damn they better be good for basically $7 NZD each. It was a long 40 minute drive home through the stand still traffic reminding us of being back in Auckland. We both mucked around doing our own thing on the internet for the rest of the night and had sausages, beans, carrots and salad for dinner. They were bloody good sausages by the way!

Tomorrow we make our way down to Frutigen which is near Bern, Interlaken and Grindwald and where we shall be spending the next three nights. I don't think the weather is supposed to be much better and I think we know we certainly aren't going to be doing any hikes into the mountain whilst we are in Switzerland. A place to add back onto the list of places to come during the summer. Goodnight everyone!