04-06-2023 Disembarkation in Basel and Traveling to Lucerne

We were accompanied by the gorgeous full moon throughout our last night on Gersemi.  When we woke at dawn, where we were docked in Basel, Switzerland, the full moon was low in the sky over the port.

As usual on any ship, river, or ocean, our bags were placed outside the stateroom door the previous evening and we had only our small carry-ons and my walker to deal with.  We went down to the dining room for our last breakfast before the early disembarkation and reminisced a bit about our trip.

If we hadn't booked the Lucerne extension, this would have been the end of our trip. Both of us were very glad we still had three days of travel ahead of us.  I was especially excited about seeing Switzerland, with it being a country on my bucket list to visit.

Nancy accompanied us on our bus to Lucerne, turning over the commentary to the local tour guide from Switzerland

I was amazed at the infrastructure of the highways leading out of the city of Basel, with pavement smooth as butter and highly visible signage. The first thrilling moment came as we rounded a curve and the highway widened to open up to a view of the Swiss Alps in the distance.

The countryside was gorgeous, with grassy fields and rolling hills covered with hardwood trees just beginning to bud.  Everything seemed so incredibly fresh and clean.  As an afterthought, this was what impressed me the most about Switzerland.  

The country is spotless, and homes are neat with beautiful, orderly yards and landscapes.  City streets are devoid of garbage and we didn't see homeless people anywhere in Lucerne while we were there.  As the guide said to us when explaining the many rules and regulations that keep Switzerland so clean and orderly, "We have many rules and we love our rules because it makes our country run well."  It was dramatically different from our American way of considering the rights of the individual more than the overall good of the community as a whole.  We all laughed when she explained about the rules regarding the day you put out your garbage and the big fines if you do it incorrectly.  I don't think that one would ever make it in the US.

Our excitement grew as we approached the city streets of Lucerne.  Then as we neared our hotel and got our first glimpse of the skyline of Lucerne along the beautiful Ruess River we were even more enthralled.  It certainly helped that the weather was nearly perfect, with brilliant blue skies and pleasant temperatures.

Our hotel rooms wouldn't be ready until mid-afternoon, but no matter, we had a two-hour walking tour to keep us entertained for part of that time, and free time in the city until 3PM.  We were led to the hotel where we dropped off our luggage for the day, and then joined the walking tour.

Our hotel was the lovely Continental Park, just a couple of blocks from the river and directly across the street from the train station where there was a plethora of shops and restaurants for whatever we might need for our stay. 

We met in the lobby to begin our tour of the city, and once again I was extremely happy to have the little red walker to help with the two-hour tour.  Throughout the tour, whenever there were stairs to negotiate, my daughter was able to help me get the walker up the stairs, and sometimes a gentleman on the tour would step in and help as well.  Everyone was so very kind.

Here you can see the Water Tower just beyond the wooden Chapel Bridge.  The Water Tower is the monumental landmark of Lucerne and is at least one hundred years older than the wooden bridge.  The Water Tower was already standing when the Chapel Bridge was constructed in the middle of the 14th century.  It was built soon after 1262 under the rule of Bertold von Steinbrunn, the abbot of the Alsatian monastery of Murbach and lord of Lucern.  He wanted to demonstrate his power over his subjects by building the large, unusually shaped massive structure directly in the middle of the Ruess. This is only an educated guess since there are no documented sources about the building of the Water Tower.

We walked along the river, marveling at its incredible clarity, and ogled the beautiful buildings.  Before crossing the river on the Chapel Bridge, we entered the Jesuit church, built in the 17th century with its two onion-domed towers added in 1893.

The Jesuit church with its two domes viewed from the smaller of the two remaining wooden bridges crossing the Ruess, the Spreuer Bridge.  Built in the 13th century, destroyed by a flood in 1566, and then rebuilt, it contains triangular paintings on the interior of the roof of the bridge called "Danse Macbrae"  The Dance of Death.

The interior of the Jesuit church was a complete shock to see after all the dark woods, heavy stone pillars, and dim lighting of the cathedrals that we have visited so far on this trip. 

 

I have never seen such brilliant pastel colors trimmed in white and gold, inside any church before this one.  It was a theme that would be repeated again in Switzerland. The Baroque exterior gives no hint of the Rococo style of the interior. With all the brightness of the church interior, there seemed to be no need for the brilliant color of stained glass windows and we saw none.

After we left the church we walked across the Spreuer Bridge to the other side of the river.  This world-famous timbered bridge, and the longer Chapel Bridge, are the most photographed sites in Lucerne for good reason. The bridges, two surviving of the original three, served in their early days as a means of crossing the river on foot.  They also served as part of the town's fortifications.  Later in the morning we also walked across the Chapel Bridge.

The fascinating paintings that adorn the interior roof of the Chapel Bridge were conceived by the chronicler of the town of Lucerne, Renward Cysat, who spent years studying the history of both ancient Switzerland and formulated a concept for the pictorial decoration of the bridge.  

Work on the paintings began in 1611.  In 1726, the town had to appoint a watchman to keep an eye on the bridge and prevent youths from constantly vandalizing the pictures.  Prior to a devastating fire in 1993, 147 of the original  158 panels were still in existence.  110 of them were directly affected by the fire that destroyed the bridge, of which more than two-thirds went up in smoke or were damaged beyond repair.  

All that could be saved from that fire were the two bridgeheads and the Water Tower.  The remainder of the bridge was rebuilt in record time, allowing the opening of the new Chapel Bridge in April 1994.  Eighty-one of the original paintings remain in the Chapel Bridge at the beginning and ending areas of the bridge.

The Chapel Bridge is the main connection between New Town and Old Town Lucerne, and once we crossed the bridge, our guide led us through the historic meandering streets of Old Town.

Deb and I were so impressed with all the beautiful murals on so many of the buildings.  We walked and walked, peering down cobblestone alleyways, and into interesting storefronts.  It is hard to pay attention to the guide as they share so much detailed information about the history of some of the buildings, the dates of construction, and the government at the time that they were built.  No matter what direction we looked there was more to see in Old Town.

 

The Fritschi Fountain built in 1918 in a Renaissance Style

The Town Hall Clock Tower in Old Town

It was early afternoon when the guide released us to meander on our own, with instructions as to how to return to the hotel by 3PM when our rooms should be ready.  

Deb and I wandered some back roads and found a coffee shop where we enjoyed a coffee before continuing our explorations.

Deborah and I decided to return to a courtyard that we found especially inviting and discovered a charming restaurant with outdoor seating in the sunshine.  Our lunch was a perfect example of Swiss food, with Swiss Cordon Bleu, a specialty of Lucerne, fresh vegetables, perfect fries, and a lovely salad accompanied by an excellent local Rhine wine.  

Our waitress was delightful and we had excellent service even though the restaurant grew busier as we sat at our table.  We were lucky to get a nice outdoor table when we did.  Deb went inside to use the ladies' room and got some amazing shots of the interior of the restaurant which would be a wonderful place to dine on a rainy day.  Our luncheon was nearly perfect.

As we were eating lunch, a delightful moment reminded us of something we had learned on the bus during our morning journey to Lucerne.  In Switzerland, children begin full-day kindergarten at 5 years old.  They are accompanied by their parents for the first two weeks of school.  After that time, these young children use whatever combination of public transportation is needed to get to their classes, alone and without any parental guidance.  

We saw some of these young children walking through the square by our restaurant taking notes on the historical murals above us, without any parent or teacher anywhere in sight.  It was sobering to think of how fearful parents in the US must be when sending their children off to school.  Most parents don't allow their kids to walk any distance and the lines of cars with parents picking up their kids after school can stretch for blocks. The difference was astounding.

By the time we finished our lunch, we were ready to begin the trip back across the bridge toward New Town and our hotel.  On the way, however, we lingered at the courtyard near the bridge, enjoying the magnificent views of Mt Pilatus standing watch over the city.

We loved seeing all the fresh vegetables in the market stalls around the square.  It was asparagus season in Switzerland, with restaurants specializing in asparagus dishes.  Especially treasured in Switzerland is the white asparagus seen on the right of the photo above.  

We chose a different walking bridge to return to the other side of the river, affording us a stellar view of the Chapel Bridge and the Watch Tower.l

We were very tired by the time we reached our hotel, and once in our room opened the windows up to an enclosed courtyard.  The room was excellent, with a wonderful bed, and great plumbing.  When traveling like this, it is the small things that really matter!  

We rested for the rest of the afternoon before deciding that we could walk across the street to the train station.  We wanted to find some incidentals to purchase, and perhaps a snack for our evening supper since we had no need for a big meal after our lovely lunch.

The train depot was amazing.  It was filled with shops and markets and most of all Deb and I were amazed at the variety and quality of produce available in the small grocery store. 

The huge selection of many cheeses and fresh breads was incredible.  Cheese, interesting crackers, and macrons were perfect for our evening.

Once settled back into our room, it took a bit of time for us to figure out the colored lights that were over the bed.  Turning them on and off was interesting.  They were charming, but not necessarily something we wanted glowing in the middle of the night.  We needed to be sure to get a good night's sleep with our next day in Switzerland scheduled to begin very early in the morning and end late at night.