Swiss are but a little bit French and a little bit German. The two collide, corride and compromise in just the right amounts, in a background so beautiful, in a way so effortless whilst adding a generous touch of themselves in a measure so delightful. So lucid is their being in the city called Lucerne.
With a Grand Central railway station, Lucerne is just about easily accessible from every part of Switzerland. On a two hour train ride from Engelberg we reached Lucerne in the late afternoon after a sumptuous lunch. Trains are efficient, on-time and rarely filled to the brim. The under-population in Switzerland is probably a boon, and travellers do get super-lucky in the bargain. But if you do want a relatively populous city that is warm and sunny, then I’d put my bets on Lucerne. Lucerne in July is hot!!! The idea is a bummer. The word hot I agree, seems ironical for Switzerland but thats how it was, sweltering heat that only the lake could satiate! Yes the lake, the crystal blue pretty lake that is host to numerous swans and cruisers! With jetties and waterfeatures the lake fits perfectly into the picture. Its the centre of Lucerne and quite remarkably so, with the City Museum of Contamporary Art on one Bank and the Old City on the other. A meagre bus-ride from the Train station to the Old Town blew 4 Euros off us, thats a lot considering it was just metaphorically one bridge away!
Of all the bridges in Lucerne, or Europe for that matter, the Kapell Bridge in Lucerne is mystifying and spectacular in all its wooden splendour. On a lake where the pride of swans glide at ease, one cant help but yearn to stand and watch, or rather stand and stare. The wooden Kappell bridge is a slice of the Swiss history. Dotting its sides are beautiful perennials that light up the bridge and call out pleasantries so very naturally. Its a sight, with some more time sitting on the bridge and watching the lake and the city is a very good idea. Once across one reaches the shopping centre of the city and the yachts that are marked for the evening cruise where you can enjoy and be filled in with the history of Lucerne and the architecture that surrounds.
Lucerne is one of the cities in Switzerland that holds the old and the new in a delectable quantity. The very Swiss architecture in the past was marked by opulant facades and deep interiors, the new architecture is marked by glass facades that allow in the much needed warm sunlight and steel structures that are less opulant but very much smart. Take for instance the Modern art Museum that I spoke earlier of, its so new-age Swiss. The precision, the crispness and the warmth. Who said glass is cold? It never is and never was me thinks.
The picture of the Lion city of Lucerne has a crystalline quality. The city gets its name from the lion figure sculpted on a rock. Legend has it that the artist was never paid in full for his work. Thereby prompting him to further the rock-art to be enclosed in a pig cut-out! So what we see today is a dying Lion, as brave as can be in the shape that resembles a pig! So much for a scorned artist! The city though kept its name from the brave Lion and calls itself Lucerne.
There are plenty of watch shops, by now Tissot has a Mac Donald’s feel to it in Switzerland, its always there right around the corner! Cycles seem to be a popular mode of transport and walking an even better option! In the warm summer the temperatures are hardly cool, but the sky is blue, the lake is blue and Lucerne is simply a hue!
Tons of memories and lots of inspiration are what you are sure to get from the Schweiss.
Get Natural they say. And they so make you want to be.
Its a beautiful world out there.
All the way!
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