August 25, 2015

August 25, 2015

It is a beautiful day so we journey across the river to finish our tour of the Old Town of Luzern, Switzerland.  There is a farmer’s market along the river this morning.  We check out the wide variety of merchandise and end up buying food for our long train ride tomorrow.  Afterwards we stroll the Old Town.  Other than murals on some of the older buildings, there isn’t much to see.  Mostly it is an urban pedestrian shopping mall.  I am bored, but Aimee is happy.

We stopped by the boat office intending to buy a ticket for an afternoon lake cruise only to find summer ended last week.  Now that highlights tour only runs on Sunday.  We punt and buy tickets for the regular ferry service to the other end of the lake.  Unexpectedly in a hurry now, we rush back to the hotel for warmer clothes, and then stop at the grocery for picnic items.  We make it back to the ship with only a few minutes to spare.  

The cruise down the lake is nice and relaxing, a welcome change of pace from our normal power touring. The weather is delightful, and the scenery beautiful.  I keep looking at the incredibly steep meadows on the hillside and wonder how a cow can graze standing up.

The Swiss name of Lake Lucerne is Lake of the Four Forest Cantons.  Here around 1300, the four counties surrounding this lake revolted against their Austrian overlord and swore an oath of freedom. William Tell of the arrow and apple fame is supposed to be one of the key players. Over successive years, 22 more cantons joined the Swiss Confederacy.  We got off the ferry boat at Rutli Meadow, the legendary site of this birth of the Swiss Nation.  Like all Swiss sites, it is up a very steep hill. Surprisingly for this “Liberty Bell” of Switzerland, there is virtually nothing to see.  Just a flag, a tiny signpost, and some rock chairs.  Oh, and a goat to keep the meadow grass trimmed.  

Seeing all there is to see, we rush down the hill to catch the next ship back to Luzern.  This one turns out to be an historic steam paddle-wheeler from 1926.  The engine deck is exposed in the middle and I keep looking all over to see if I can spy a Nalco drum.  Almost a hundred years ago my former company got its start treating the steam boilers of locomotives and steamships. They still have a small legacy group that continues this business.

The Swiss Confederation is arguably the world’s oldest living democracy.  This was a major accomplishment considering all of its much larger and more powerful neighbors were autocratic monarchies.  Fortunately for the Swiss, mountains were considered less than worthless in olden times.  To toast the Rutli Oath, on the ride back, Aimee and I drink an Ur Brau, a beer made here in Uri, one of the four original cantons.  Just before 5 pm we pull back into central Luzern.