{"id":3812,"date":"2012-08-14T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-14T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1_1344902400"},"modified":"2018-08-12T03:38:30","modified_gmt":"2018-08-12T03:38:30","slug":"looking-around-luzern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cncadventures.com\/?p=3812","title":{"rendered":"Looking Around Luzern"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luzern, Switzerland <\/strong>Tuesday, August 14, 2012<\/strong> <\/p>\n

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Brother Klaus Only Swiss Saint<\/p><\/div>\n

Another day in Lucerne. We have a croissant for breakfast that we picked up in the grocery store next to the hotel. A short walk to town for a self guided walk that started with the Jesuit Church. It was built from 1666-1677 because the Pope wanted to establish a strong presence in central Switzerland during the tense times with Protestant Reformation. There is a statue here of the only Swiss saint, Brother Klaus, a hermit monk that lived in the nearby mountains during the 15th century. The statue wears Klaus’ original robe and his walking stick is encased at his feet.<\/p>\n

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Swiss Wooden Dam<\/p><\/div>\n

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From here, we walk along the river to a wooden dam system put in place in the mid 19th century. They still use this today to control the flow of water downstream, by removing or adding planks to the dam. We cross the mill bridge, which is the other wooden bridge from olden days. There are paintings in the eves from the 17th century depicting life and events of the time. Each painting has a skeleton as a reminder that nobody, from any walk of life can escape death.
\nWe ate a fairly cheap lunch of 2 cheeseburgers and a bag of fries for 9SF from, I hate to say it, McDonalds. To soften that choice, we ate them on a bench on the shore of Lake Luzern.<\/p>\n

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Picasso<\/p><\/div>\n

After lunch, we visit the Rosengart Museum which has an extensive Picasso collection. These were our first ever look at his art. We are not sure what we think of it. Abstract and much more modern with a unique point of view on the human form than what we have been seeing. I think we still prefer the old masters we have seen which tell a story or have historical significance. They do have a photographic collection which they rotate of Picassos more personal side taken by an American photographer called David Douglas Duncan. These were pretty interesting showing his lifestyle both at work and at play. He seemed to enjoy life.<\/p>\n

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Lake Lucerne<\/p><\/div>\n

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From the museum, we walked down to the dock, looked at the schedules and picked a 2 and a half hour round trip boat ride on Lake Luzern. Part of the Swiss transportation system, boats are included in our Swiss pass. It was very relaxing ride with the mountains jutting up from the lake. A little hazy for the view but pretty nonetheless. We turned around at the stop for Mt. Pilates which has a popular cog railway up to the top. Getting off the boat, we go to the grocery store and get a couple of sandwiches, pasta salad, and some cheese for a picnic lunch on the lakeshore without the McDonald feel. Interesting people watching and then we return to our room. We are able to reach our son in Colorado on Skype, so it was nice to see his smiling face, even if we woke him up at 1030.
\nCNC
\n“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware” – Martin Buber<\/strong><\/p>\n

Expenses
\n1.60SF- 2 Croissants
\n8.90SF- 2 McDees cheeseburgers and a fry
\n15SF- sandwich dinner with the trimmings
\n10SF- 2 ice cream cones
\n92.40SF- Hotel
\nOSF- Skype with our son<\/p>\n

Miles Walked – 5 Miles<\/p>\n\n\t\t