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.
Last full day in Switzerland. S, M and I headed to Broc via car. After traveling by train, this was a nice alternative way to see the countryside. Our mission on this morning was to head to the Cailler-Nestle chocolate factory. My mission, well one of them anyway, was to pick up chocolate for the chocoholics back home. When we arrived at the factory it looked like it was closed for the weekend; no cars were in the parking lot. We decided to give it a try anyway. As soon as you got out of the car you were hit with the smell of chocolate in the air. A pleasant aroma if I do say so myself. We headed in and was greeted by one of the tour guides. Prior to taking the tour, we watched about 20 minutes of old film footage about the factory along with advertisements. Once leaving the theater, we walked past old mold used for making speciality candy shapes and old posters used to advertise the candy. 
We eventually made our way into the raw materials room. Here we were given information on the material used by the factory. The sugar, milk and butter all come from Switzerland. On the factory's property are 1,500 cows. These cows produce the milk used by the factory. The Cocoa nuts come from several places. These nuts are roasted then ground into a powder. We were able to try the roasted nuts. Very bitter in taste hence why the sugar is added. 
After the raw materials room, we were able to look at real time footage from several areas within the factory. Another room showcased the the old equipment used by the factory. The factory was built prior to the 1900s so there was a lot of old records, photos, ledgers housed in this room. At one time, the company used to put stamps in the bars and kids collected them. There was a club for the kids called the FipFop Club. After leaving this room, we walked into the sample room. 
Here laid out for your tasting pleasures were several samples of the product produced by the factory. I'm not a chocolate person but I did sample several of the pieces. S and M also enjoyed the samples. We laughed because prior to us entering this room a family, who came after us, quickly by-passed us and headed straight to the sample room without stopping to see the actual parts of the tour. We joked about getting to the sample room and having nothing to sample.
Once you had your fill of delicious chocolate, you entered the store. Here you could buy speciality chocolates (the Ambassadors) to chocolate bars. Though the Ambassadors were delicious I figured I would stretch my money further by buying chocolate bars instead of a box of chocolate. I picked up bars for the nephews and their parents, my sister and her family, my husband, my mother-in-law, friends and my parents. When I got to the counter, the cashier just looked at me. I told him that the huge stack of chocolate bars wasn't for me. To which he replied "Yeah, right!" M and S joined in the laughter. I told him to count how many white chocolate bars were in that enormous stack and that those 4 bars were for me ( I like white chocolate over milk/dark chcolate). Everything else was for the chocoholics back home. I did pick up some shaved chocolate for homemade hot chocolate. After leaving the factory, we headed back the way we came and ended up stopping in Gruyere. 
We didn't originally plan on stopping in Gruyere. We were directed to an empty field by a policeman. We decided to go with the flow. We parked the car and headed up the incline into the Gruyere. Here we were treated with a street festival. 
Not sure what the special occasion was but it was a nice cap to a wonderful time in Switzerland. Vendors had out several types of cheeses and wines for taste testing. Several fondue stations were set up. At one end of the street, traditional alphorns were being played while at the other end of the street, traditional garbed dancers circled around. 
Enjoyed the views from the castle before doing a little shopping for the nieces. We left Gruyere and headed back to Geneve. S dropped us off in Lausanne so we could catch trains to Zurich or Paris. Since I had an early flight out the next morning, it was better for me to go back into Zurich the night before.
M was heading to Paris to meet up with her friends and continue her European vacation. It was good to see S and to visit her adopted country. Who knows, S and A might be staying in Switzerland for good. I definitely miss S and our movie time, tea time, shopping, gardening, or just fellowshipping. Maybe I'll make it back to Europe in the future and see other countries. 
While traveling to Zurich, I was entertained by the individuals heading to Zurich for the street parade. The street parade is kind of like Mardi Gras just European style. It was being held in Old Towne Zurich and was in a way a huge bash before the fall began. I must say teenagers will be teenagers where ever you go. It was sad to see how many young individuals were drunk or on their way to being drunk before 5 pm. To them, this was what life was all about. It's sad to see that this is all the good their life is going to get since they are missing the big picture. This, along with other topics, I spent time dwelling on while I spent my last night in Switzerland. My next adventure to come...Belize and Guatemala 2009.
