We got up while it was still dark and headed to Interlaken West station to catch the 6:52 train to Lucern. We took the IR Golden Pass Panoramic train this time and was treated to nice scenic views of typical Switzerland mountain/valley country.
While the sun started to climb over the horizon, the train chugged it's way down the track giving those passenger who didn't opt to get in some extra shut eye some spectacular views.
The early morning fog could be seen sweeping its way across the lush green land. Small houses pot-marked the hillside. Around Brung-Hosliberg, the scenery was amazing. The light from the dawning sun hit just right to make for some awesome photo moments.
Since we had several hours on the train, we were able to catch up with our journaling.
We arrived in Lucern and headed out of the station. We joined the morning commuters on their way out of the station. Heading up the escalator the first seen that greeted you was the enormous arch that marked Bahnhof station.
Across the street was an area for tourist to take a steamer ride up and down the Reuss river. As we walked across the street we stopped on Seebrucke to view the Chapel Bridge and the Water Tower.
Chapel Bridge was built in the first half of the 14th century. It's named after St. Peter's chapel which lies nearby. The paintings along the bridge were added in the 17th century and illustrate scenes of Swiss and local town history such as biographies of the city's patron saints, Leodegar and Mauritius. The paintings were done by Heinrich Wagmann. The Water Tower, built 1300, was used as an archives, a treasury, a prison, and a torture chamber. A fire in 1993 ravaged the bridge. The gabled roof and sides were rebuilt and only 30 painting panels were saved. You can see the empty spaces where panels once were held. At one end of the bridge you can see the evidence of the fire in the form of charred timbers and panels. We walked along Bahnhofstrasse on our way to the other covered bridge, Spreuer Bridge. While walking along the Reuss river vendors were setting up stands for market day. At end of Bahnhofstrasse is the Jesuiten Kirch. It was constructed in 1666 by Father Vogler of the Jesuits.
Of course because we got to Lucern around 8 am, the church wasn't open for us to take a tour. We weaved our way down the narrow streets to the Spreuer Bridge.
The bridge was completed in 1408 as part of the city fortification plan. Between 1626 and 1635 Kaspar Meglinger added 67 paintings titled "Dance of Death."
It is called Spreuer Bridge because of the chaffs of wheat thrown into the river at this location. This bridge is smaller than the Chapel Bridge but it drops you off at the Northwest corner of the rampart walls. We headed up the slight hill to the Musegg Wall.
This structure is part of the city rampart walls built in 1386. For the most part, the wall is intact. Work was being done on some sections of the wall. The oldest city clock, built by Hans Luter in 1535, is located in the Zyt tower. Getting to the first tower, Schirmer tower, was an early morning mountaineering adventure. Winding stairs lead to the entrance of the tower. Entering the tower, more narrow stairs greeted you.
The stairs aren't located at a normal person's step. By the time we reached the top, our calf muscles were screaming in protest.
Nothing like a good hike at 8 am in the morning to get the blood flowing. It was going to be a long day of walking. We continued walking along the wall and entered into the Fussgangerzone (Pedestrian area). We strolled down Museggstrasse and crossed over a busy intersection to head up Denkmalstrasse to the Dying Lion Memorial.
The memorial lies next to the glacial garden. For a small fee you could see where glaciers carved and polished the bedrock as it moved over the area. Since both M and I have seen glacial evidence before we opted to not pay the fee to view this area. The Dying Lion of Lucern Memorial is one of the world's most famous monuments.
It was hewn out of natural rock in memory of the heroic deaths of the Swiss mercenaries at the Tuileries in 1792. Mark Twain described it as "the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world. Across a little pond area tinted green due to algal growth lies the lion.
You can see the anguish on its face as it breathes it last breath while lying on spears and shields. It's an impressive piece of craftsmanship. After a quick bathroom break, we headed back towards the river and stopped at the Hof church.
Hof church is the main cathedral for the city's population and was the religious center for St. Leodegar and Mauritius. A Benedictine monastery was founded at this site in the 8th century. A fire destroyed the church in 1633 but it was rebuilt by 1645. It is the most important Renaissance church building in Switzerland. After climbing the stairwell you were greeted to an amazing facade on the front doors.
Opening the doors took a lot of strength because the doors were extremely heavy. No wonder most claimed sanctuary in cathedrals over the course of history. Inside you were able to view the different types of alters throughout the church. Mary's altar was directly in front of you as you entered the church.
One of the panels on Mary's alter is from the 1500s.
After touring Hof church, we headed back across the Chapel Bridge before heading to the station. Of course we grabbed lunch at a Coop before boarding the train to Lugano.
We had several hours on the train so we caught up on our journaling and enjoyed the views of the countryside. Lugano is situated on the shores of Lago di Lugano. Mount Bre is to the east of the town. M viewed Bellinzona on her way to Milan and pointed out some sights as we passed the town. We arrived in Lugano and stashed the bags in a locker before heading down the winding stairs to the lake. One place we stopped at first was San Lorendo Church. 
This was the most ornate church seen to date. A lot of paintings covered the ceilings, arch ways, and side walls. 
Tons of statues lined the center aisle along with the side aisles. Prayer altars were located along the sides of the church. It was sad to realize that all the wealth in this church came from people who were paying the priest to have their sins forgiven. They believe that the priest is their mediator to God when in all actuality Jesus is. Viewing this very lovely church just had me thinking..."treasures stored on earth and not in heaven." 
After leaving the church we continued to head down toward the lake and entered the shopping district. 
M didn't get gelato in Milan so she definitely wanted some here. We headed to the lake area, which was crowded with the summer crowd, and M got her gelato.
We walked along the lake just taking in the sights and enjoying the nice summer weather. Eventually we had to head back to the station to catch a train to Zurich. Of course since we walked downhill all morning this meant that we had to walk uphill to get back to the station. Instead of walking the winding roads back to the station we decided to take a short cut. 
This short cut involved a lot of stairs but it dropped us out on a street below where the station was. As we walked back to the station we ran into Samet heading from the station. Seeing his expression was priceless. He was just arriving in Lugano. We spoke of the sights in Lucern and then parted ways. We booked a private room at the Zic Zac Hotel in Old Towne Zurich. Since we were going to be heading to Schaffhausen in the morning this was the best place to stay the night. We arrived at the main station in Zurich (HB) and took the tram to Old Towne. 
Finding the hotel was a challenge. It was nestled in a small alleyway off the main road we were walking. Since Zurich is more German than French asking for directions was interesting. We wandered and saw the sign for the hotel but there was no door. Thinking we passed it we back tracked. Eventually a nice waiter took pity on us and showed us were the stairwell was. It was definitely hidden and I'm sure the waiters at the street cafe below the hotel are use to wandering backpackers. The hotel was a Rock-and-Roll themed hotel. All the floors and rooms were named after famous musicians/bands. Of course we couldn't get a cool room like B.B.King or Aerosmith, we were given the Georg Michael room. I don't know what was more freaky, the huge mural of Georg on the wall or the color combination. Oh well. It was a private room and the bed was clean and comfortable. We had to share a bath with other occupants on the floor but it wasn't so bad. They had little packages of gummy bears on the pillows and M was able to pick up the football game on the small TV. M is a big football (soccer) fan and since the Euro2008 was just a few weeks before our visit a lot of that atmosphere was still evident in the towns we visited. A quick, hot shower and then it was off to bed. The next day plans were shaping up to be just as busy as today's.
