Day 2 : Trip to Lucerne

We headed to Lucerne (and adjacent Lake Lucerne) to escape the heat.  The heat followed us---a heatwave that was sweeping Europe.

Complete with gable paintings, the covered, medieval Chapel Bridge forms the centerpiece of Lucerne’s townscape and is considered to be one of the oldest, covered wooden bridges in Europe.

City scene along the River Reuss that feeds into Lake Lucerne with Hotel Château Gütsch on the hill in the distance. We were unable to stay at this fairytale castle hotel built in 1888, because it is closed for conversion into a luxury boutique hotel.  Had it been open., it would have been about 750 euros a night, which was way beyond Jeff's frugal standards. 

Aboard a steamer for a cruise on Lake Lucerne. Would have enjoyed some narration. Met a young woman from Hungary who spoke impeccable English. (She took the picture.) Her current boyfriend was called back to Moscow on business, leaving her alone to enjoy their vacation here.

Along the shoreline of Lake Lucerne – the redeeming factor was that our last port of call before completing the roundtrip was Kussnacht ('Night kiss'). Possible place for a return visit.

Parked next to the train station in Lucerne were 100s of bikes---a common form of transportation. Missing: Bike locks.  None of the bikes were locked--which says something about the Swiss culture.