Cuckoo Clocks and a Swiss Watch

We had another fairly early start on Friday morning. We spent the night in the Rhineland at a medium sized hotel that had provided a rather tasty buffet for dinner with a few German treats including sauerkraut and an ensemble of meaty treats.  We made our way south towards the Swiss Border thorough the beautiful Black Forest – which is famous for its chocolate gateau and interestingly enough cuckoo clocks. We stopped off at a tiny village called Freiberg where we were taken to a cuckoo clock factory. They gave us a short presentation on the history of the clocks and a demonstration of how they are made and how they work. It was very interesting and made more so with a dose of German humor which largely drew from the nations’ love of beer and stereotypical mother-in-law relationships. The stop had a café which we stopped for lunch and had a bowl of goulash.

The Freiberg Cuckoo clock

From there it was off to Switzerland. After a quick stop at the German border to pay for the roads we had used we then headed through no-man’s land to Switzerland where we prepaid for the roads we were about to use. John (our tour guide) gave us an interesting overview of Swiss military history which largely related to its staunch if not militant policy of neutrality. Which coupled with the stunning green scenery was a great introduction to this beautiful and clean country. We stopped off at the Rhinefalls for an afternoon tea break. While they don’t compare to Niagra (or even the Athabasca) they were still very impressive and a nice chance to get out for a bit of a walk – which is needed when you have been on coaches as much as we have over the last three days.

The three of us at the Rhinefalls

We continued on to Lucerne which is the first of our two night stops. Upon arrival our bus took us on a quick orientation tour through the downtown, which John complimented by taking us on a quick walking tour through to see the Swiss Lion Monument. Which was sculpted in the early 1820’s to commemorate the Swiss Guards who were killed during French Revolution in 1792. The sculpture evokes quite a bit of emotion with the wounded lion. However, can anyone see the hidden pig? This was a joke made by the Bertel Thorvaldsen who was commissioned to design the sculpture but not to sculpt it – much to his apparent annoyance. So in retaliation, he apparently sabotaged the sculpture with a pig.

The Swiss Lion Monument - can you spot the pig

We had dinner with the rest of our tour group at our hotel. The hotel is right in the downtown area and is a family business, which is a nice change from some of the bigger hotel chains. The dinner was an impressive three course meal with soup, a meat casserole and ice cream for dessert. After dinner it was already getting a bit later in the evening and we simply fell into bed exhausted after all the travel and activities over the last few days.

We got up around 8am and had a quick breakfast at the hotel before heading out to explore a little more of the Older part of Lucerne. From our hotel we headed out to the Lake and down towards a pair of historic bridges. While there are two bridges one of them (the Chapel Bridge) is a bit more impressive, built in the 14th Century it crosses from one side of the river to the other and is complete with a Chapel building which is also built on the water.

The Chapel Bridge - Kapellbrücke

Mum on the bridge

We had quite a bit of fun wandering around the town and taking photos of the stunning scenery and historic buildings. We actually felt quite at home with the colder weather - which was a bit reminiscent of our time in Canada and sadly we weren't quite as excited as some of our Australian tour mates when it came to the nearby snow. In fact, we were quite happy to forgo any snow related excursions that we could have done today.

Sam and I - Desperately trying to find new photo poses.

After we explored the bridges we went for a walk along the remains of the old city wall. The Wall itself is probably half a kilometer long and is on a hill above the city. Along some parts of the wall you can climb up the towers and walk along the top of the wall, which gave us some fantastic views of the city, both from the front and towards the back. Over the back of the wall (which naturally is less scenic than the lake), there was a little bit of farm land where we saw some funny animals including a yaks and alpacas. 

The view from the back of the wall

Once we had sufficiently explored the towns cultural attractions it was time to hit the shops for some of the local essentials - chocolate and watches. While I think it got a bit much for Sam, Mum and I had fun looking around the different watch shops (I even bought one). Mum stoked up on Chocolate to take home, which is a good thing because when she realizes that her luggage is overweight at the end of the trip, I will be more than happy to help her lighten her load.

Later in the afternoon Sam and I went for a walk around some of the lake - it is a very big lake. It was so nice to be out walking rather than sitting in a bus. It also gave us a chance to snap a few more pictures looking back towards the city. We really love Lucerne, it is beautiful, clean and green. The houses are really beautiful and I can understand why it would be a popular tourist destination.

This evening we will probably take things pretty easy as tomorrow we are back on the bus again, this time heading East.