Chapel Bridge, Mount Pilatus and the Lion of Lucerne

We started our morning early (at least I did - my sleep schedule is still a bit wonky) with breakfast at our hotel with our friends. Breakfast is a wonderful (very European) assortment of coffee and tea, fruit and yogurt, meats and cheeses, and bread loaves to slice and coat with cherry or apricot jam (which is everywhere here - they grow these fruits on the French side of the country, I'm told) and Nutella.

After bidding our friends goodbye, we realized we'd be able to catch an earlier train down to Lucerne, so we checked out. The overcast day didn't much motivate me, so a train ride through the incredible mountains was just what was needed. We burned through a lot of time on the ride taking photos and videos through the windows, more amazed with what came around each corner, and equally frustrated at the reflection from the windows and constantly passing poles and trees and sometimes modern apartment buildings that blocked our otherwise stunning view.

Travel Tip: We didn't pack any roller bags - highly recommend backpacks and shoulder bags because cobblestone streets are everywhere and they will not only wreck your wheels, but will disturb everyone around you like a squeaky wheel on a cart at the grocery store. So, just don't.

When we arrived, heavy with our bags, we made our way to our hotel, Hotel Balances, a short walk from the train station via the oldest covered bridge in Europe, Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke). Built in 1333, it still stands over the River Reusse. It has beautiful paintings inside on the roof panels to enjoy as you walk along. The water tower, built roughly 30 years before the bridge, has housed a prison and torture chamber, as well as a municipal archive (it's now closed to the public).

Beautiful medieval architecture stands all along the water, with multiple church steeples and spires and charming riverside restaurants. We had a riverfront view from our room, so we gawked for awhile at our luck - the room was reduced because it's winter, otherwise, there's no way we would probably have ever had the chance to stay here. Thanks for the tip, Invisible Tourist!

It's overcast but brighter than Zurich, so we decide our first move will be to head to the mountains, to check out Mount Pilatus. We took a bus from the station a few minutes out of town, then hiked a short while to the gondola station. We got a 50% discount with our Swiss Travel Pass, but had to pay separately for the tickets. The little red cars pull you up to a breathtaking mountain pass slightly above all of the clouds that had settled in.

Travel Tip: Get the Swiss Travel Pass while you're here, or the discount pass. We picked ours up at the airport's information center outside of the train station. We *rarely* had to think about tickets - get on a bus, get on a train, go anywhere, you're good to go. We didn't waste time at each station getting tickets, and in one case (tomorrow's blog) when you go the wrong way for, like, hours because you screwed up a very basic and easy to use app because you were tired, there's no monetary penalty! Only twice did we have to buy other tickets - going to Mount Pilatus and Jungfraujoch - and otherwise, we were set.

Part way to the summit of Pilatus Kulm, you can stop at Frakmuntegg, which we did. I've rarely in my life seen Derek so excited! I dropped into a seat in the restaurant there (aptly named Restaurant Frakmuntegg) which is set up like a self-serve ski resort restaurant. I bought apple cider and alplermagronen, a traditional Swiss alpine dish made with cheese, macaroni and potatoes, topped with crispy fried onions, and served with a side of stewed apple sauce (which I find is best eaten with it, on each forkful). That's comfort food at its best!

Now on a new cable car, called the Dragon Ride, we rose to the summit. There is a red dragon, Pilu, on each of the cable cars, symbolic of the medieval fable that a dragon with healing powers lived within the mountain. We paused at the top for the landing to be fully aligned, and being hit with Swiss watch advertisements without apology as we hovered.

Then out we went through Hotel Bellevue - instant regret for not knowing that you could stay overnight in such a beautiful place hit us for a moment before we walked out into the blinding light. Above the clouds at nearly 7,000 feet up, we hiked up Esel (carefully, it was crazy icy) to view the other peaks nearby (the clouds below made it feel like we were in Neverland, with no sign of the valley or even Frakmuntegg just below). Everyone is taking selfies and photographs, and I held on to my phone for dear life as the wind whipped through. An unaccompanied minor hurled snowballs over the edge, and wiggled the rather weak looking bars keeping us from tumbling down the mountain. The stairs are not terribly narrow, but become so when foolish people stop in the middle to take photos from them.

Travel Tip: If you visit in the winter, dress like you're going skiing - the winds up here are very strong, it can get very cold, and wear shoes with stellar traction, as people were falling all over the place from the ice that coated most surfaces.

We made our way across the ice rink that was the walkway to Hotel Pilatus-Kulm for some food, only to learn that they were closed. We wandered outside to watch people playing games and eating their picnic lunches on lawn chairs, huddled under blankets. Black birds circled in the air, waiting for someone to drop a snack. On faraway summits, crosses are visible through the fog.

Travel Tip: Everything, and I mean everything, seems to close early here. Want to catch a bus after 9 in Interlaken? Fat chance! You'll have to pay for a taxi, which run at unbelievably high rates. Want to eat at a restaurant on the summit? You can, if it's before 4 pm. Walking the main street in Bern on a Friday night, looking for dinner and to shop? Not if it's after 7, you don't!

We got in an impossibly long line to head down, and with the last cable car leaving at 4:30, we knew it was possible that we wouldn't make it if they held the line (we made it to the front of the line as the 4:30 pulled away, but they had to keep running the cable cars because it's a holiday, and what did they think was going to happen?!). Derek bought me a hot chocolate to drink in line while he took in the view as the sun began to set. We traded spots so that I could see one last time. It was truly breathtaking.

On the way down, we chatted with an American and a German living in Switzerland. The fog was so thick, we couldn't see anything anyway. Back to the bus and back to our room, and just in time for our dinner reservation!

I will follow good food to the literal ends of the earth, so the Old Swiss House in Lucerne was high on my list. This is a pricey place to dine, and you should dress nicely (not too nicely, but for the love of all good things, don't come in anything resembling jean material), but if you have your hotel make a reservation for you and you're ready to fill up on some serious calories, this is the place for you. My brother gifted me $50 francs for my birthday and told me to spend it like he would (read: not practically), so this is where those funds are gonna get blown.

The bread was divine, as it is everywhere. Derek ordered their three course fixed price meal, with cheese croquets, poached fish and chocolate mousse (which we doubled - it was served at the end straight from the container with a hot spoon rinsed between servings and atop a bed of fluffy homemade whipped cream - I think I made Derek uncomfortable with how much I was enjoying it).

I ordered their house special, of which they make 1500 servings a month - their wiener schnitzel, made table side, with so much butter I could FEEL my arteries clogging. Whatever. No one makes dairy products better than the Swiss, and whether or not you'll work it off later is really not important. I ate every crumb. Well, except a few I inadvertently popped onto the table cloth, which our waiter expertly whisked away with his little silver crumb collector. He met us at the door with our coats. I was angry that I was full.

Right down the street from the Old Swiss House is the famous Lion of Lucerne monument (Löwendenkmal), which is accurately described as the saddest stone in the world. Built in 1821 to commemorate the fallen Swiss soldiers who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, while protecting the royal family in Paris.

The dedication written on the monument is Helvetiorum Fidei ac Virtuti ("To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss"). The dying lion has a spear stuck in his side, covering a shield bearing the French monarchy's fleur-de-lis and another next to him with the coat of arms of Switzerland. The inscription below lists the names of the officers and gives the number of soldiers who died (760) and survived (350). The outside shape resembles a pig, purportedly because the sculptor wasn't paid the agreed upon commission.

Viewing it at night is incredibly solemn and almost eerie, but very peaceful. It brings something out in you that you didn't know was there, to see the shadows of the branches falling over the image across the little pond, the reflection showing the massive, critically injured lion. It can't be captured on film or by photograph...not really. The quiet part of town where it's located keeps annoying sounds and bright lights away, and we were there alone or with a few others who were equally quiet, so it was a magnificent time for reflection.

We wandered back through the old town, Altstadt, a shopping district where buildings are covered with colorful facades and paintings of medieval scenes. Beautiful fountains and golden signs hang off of the buildings. We visited the hotel bar for free glasses of Prosecco (they love their Prosecco here! This hotel is my favorite). Back in our room, we threw one last glance from our balcony over the river lit up below, and enjoyed our turn-down service chocolates, oval-shaped and stamped with the hotel's information.