Bellinzona to Lucerne
This was a simple travel day with only one train ride. I brought my suitcase downstairs so that I could leave right after breakfast and tried to confirm my taxi ride with the young woman at reception. She spoke only Italian but managed to communicate her doubts. Luckily, she was wrong. It arrived several minutes early, and the driver came inside to help with my suitcase.
Since we had to avoid the pedestrian only downtown, I knew that it would be a roundabout route to the station. I was happy not to be dragging my bag through the rain. We arrived 15 minutes early.
This was an SBB train, a different company than my previous Swiss trains. There were several other passengers who seemed to be travelling on business. I settled into my own little area.
The train had Wi-Fi, but I needed to receive a code by text message, which of course I could not get with my phone showing no Sim card.
The conductor checked my train pass. I was relieved that it did come up quickly even when I was offline.
This was supposed to be another spectacular ride. The Gotthard Express takes tourists up and over the mountains to Lucerne, with the bonus of a boat ride across Lake Lucerne. I wanted to follow the same route, but without the boat part. I had studied the timetable carefully so that I could avoid trains that were using the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel which made the trains faster by cutting out much of the climb (and the scenery).
It turned out that none of this planning mattered. The tunnel had been closed for months due to a derailment. A more obvious problem was the rain. It was pouring when we left and never stopped. I suspect that the scenery would have been quite marvellous.
Most of my fellow passengers got off at a stop with lots of construction, so I assumed that they were just reporting for work. That left one person in front of me and one man in the car behind, three passengers in two cars.
I checked out the coffee machine. It was three Swiss Francs for a rather small “large” cup. I decided to pass.
The train got busier as we got closer to Lucerne. We passed Lake Lucerne. It would have been a beautiful ride on a sunny day.
We arrived in Lucerne at the scheduled time of 10:41. That made 13 Swiss trains out of 14 that were exactly on time. I was still shocked that my train from Chur had been eight minutes late. I hope there was an investigation.
I had been stopping at smaller towns and cities in Switzerland, almost all with populations under 5,000, so Lucerne at 82,000 seemed like a big city. It is the capital of a region with a population of over 200,000.
It was still raining, so I decided to take my second taxi of the day. I asked the driver about a Sim card, and he suggested that I try the train station, the place I was paying him to take me away from.
He dropped me off at my hotel and drove away before I could read the sign that said that I had to go across the street to check in. My room was not ready. I left my suitcase and asked about buying a Sim card. I was again told to go back to the train station.
I walked along the river and was back at the station in less than ten minutes. Since everyone wanted me to shop here, I assumed it must be full of magical things.
I found an electronic store. They did not sell Sim cards and sent me to another store. Yes, they did sell Sim cards, but the cheapest was 60 Swiss Francs and was only good for Switzerland. I gave up.
I had better luck when I went to the public toilet. There was a 1.5 Francs charge, but it was being cleaned, and the turnstile was open. I hesitated but the attendant waved me in. I had a free pee.
I went to a coffee shop where it was warm and dry. Their regular croissants were sold out, but I had cappuccino and apricot croissant. I tried to use the station Wi-Fi but needed to receive a text. The free city Wi-Fi came up, but I needed a code from my hotel. I had a nice chat with the clerk about this. She was sympathetic but could not help.
Yes, I am old and can remember the days of travel before smart phones and computers. But sometimes we need to be connected, and this was one of those times. I wanted to make plans for my day to replace the original one of a ride to the summit of Mount Pilatus on the Pilatus Railway, the steepest cogwheel train in the world. But there would be no great views on this day of rain and clouds. I would add this to my list of Switzerland disappointments.
It was still raining, but I could not spend all my time in the station, so I began walking.
I first passed the Peterskapelle, or Peter’s Chapel, an 18th century church. There was a free concert in progress, so I entered thinking that I could spend some time in the warm and dry church, enjoying a bit of classical music. Unfortunately, I arrived just as the concert ended.
From there I walked to the Kapellbrücke, the Chapel Bridge, the larger of Lucerne’s two wooden pedestrian bridges that cross the Reuss River.
The Reuss is the fourth largest river in Switzerland at 164 kilometres in length. It forms in the south and then flows through Lake Lucerne. The most interesting part of Lucerne is where it exits the lake. There are two wooden pedestrian bridges and a special dam.
The Kapellbrücke was built in 1332 as part of the city’s fortifications. Pictorial panels showing Swiss history were added in the 17th century, but most were destroyed by a fire in 1993 that almost destroyed the bridge. Thirty (out of 147) of the panels were fully restored.
From there I walked to the smaller Spreuer Bridge. This bridge is noted for paintings that depict a “Dance of Death” theme.
Next to the Spreuer Bridge is Lucerne’s Needle Dam. This structure was finished in 1861 and is used to regulate the flow of water from Lake Lucerne by means of inserting or removing timber (the needles).
I enjoyed the bridges but also appreciated being under cover. I chatted with a nice East Indian family who like me were waiting for their room. I wondered if there were many more doing the same.
I returned to the hotel. It was busy with arriving guests. Most had left their bags like me. I still had to wait for a few minutes but was soon given my key along with my package of tourist information that included discounts and the city W-Fi code.
I walked back across the street and climbed three flights of stairs. It was one of the times that I really appreciated travelling with a small suitcase. I normally would have been annoyed to be in a separate building, but I really loved the room, with its layout on the top floor.
I made a quick list of the places that I would visit. The rain had stopped. I passed the Kapellbrücke and walked towards Lake Lucerne.
My first stop was the Church of St. Leodegar. The Roman Catholic church was finished in 1639 and was built on the foundation of the Roman basilica that dated from the 8th century.
I next visited the Bourbaki Panorama. This giant painting was commissioned in 1881 to depict the internment of 87,000 soldiers of the French Bourbaki army who had fled to Switzerland in 1871. The artist had personal experience in the events as a Red Cross worker.
It was a short walk from the panorama to the Lion Monument. The lion was sculpted from the rock face and was unveiled in 1821 to commemorate the Swiss guardsmen who were killed in 1792 in the French Revolution.
I continued up the hill to the Musegg Wall and Towers, which were part of Lucerne’s fortifications and were built in the 13th century.
A couple asked me, “Do you speak English?” They were Americans. Like me, they were looking for the best route. We chatted a bit as we walked up one way, realized we went the wrong way, and then walked back down before finding the entrance.
I climbed a couple of the towers. The walls offered great views of Lucerne.
I walked back down the hill. After all the rain earlier in the day, it had become a beautiful evening.
I chose a Vietnamese sub for my supper. For desert I stopped at a COOP store for some fruit and yoghurt.
It was a bit too cool and damp outside, so I brought my supper back to my room.
My next day travel would be even easier than today with just a one hour train ride to Zurich. I had a quick chat with Po, and then with no worries about travel connections, went to sleep quite easily.
This featured blog entry was written by Bob Brink from the blog Searching for Magical Moments.
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