Little Things: Lucerne in Spring Time

Lucerne(or Luzern as how the locals spell it) is a beautiful place which you have to visit. It's a medieval city with the lake, mountains and a relatively low medium temperature of about 10 degree celcius. It's also one of the places frequented by tourists and you'll know why as you view the pictures. And I like what the visitor's guide says: You'll arrive as a stranger and leave as a friend :)

As I know we'd be going to Lucerne again, thought it would be good to show the contrast between Lucerne in Spring and Lucerne in Summer.

On our way to Lucerne

Wa, these 2 reading Swiss news which is in German leh ;p

Lucerne is about less than an hour's ride from Zurich. The journey was much more pleasant than the one to Bern, with less underground tunnels and passing by scenic places.

For the first time we saw so many swans...couldn't resist not feeding them thou there was a sign nearby indicating 'No feeding'. Heck, we are tourists ;p

Getting up close and personal.

The weather was cloudy but at least there was some sunshine.

Crossing Chapel Bridge, which was built on the first half of the 14th century as part of the city's fortifications. The paintings on top were added in the 17th century to illustrate scenes of Swiss and local history including the biographies of the city's patrons, Leodegar and Mauritius.

In 1993, about two thirds of the wooden Chapel Bridge were destroyed by fire. Only the pillars, the bridgeheads and the Water Tower could be saved and 25 out of the 110 paintings could be restored.What a pity!

Apparently, the fire broke out on the bridge itself (could due to a cigarette) and encroached upon the boat from there. Hence after the incident, parking of boats under the bridge was banned.

The octagonal Water Tower (the very first picture and the icon of Lucerne) was 34m high and was part of the city wall and was also used as archives, treasury, prison and torture chamber. Now it is being used by traditional association as a club room, so it's not open to the public.

Restaurants by the lake. Reminds me somewhat of our Clarke Quay.

The famous Lion Monument

"The dying Lion of Lucerne" is one of the world's most famous monuments which was carved out of natural rock in memory of the heroic death of the Swiss mercenaries at the Tuileries in 1792. It was described by Mark Twain "the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world"

Aiyo, and both of us still happily smiling away in front of such a sad, injured Lion...

The Glacier Garden

The Glacier Garden is just a stone's throw away from the Lion Monument which showcases natural monuments with gigantic glacial potholes from the Ice Age 20.000 years ago and 20 million-year-old fossils. So you can imagine Aunty Tan going around feeling the fossils which were aged millions of years old and...it may sound morbid, were corpses of past living and even extinct species ;p

It was uncovered by accident on Nov 2, 1872 by Joseph Wilhelm Amrein-Troller during the building work of his wine cellar on this site. It was opened to the public on May 1, 1873 with excavation works going on till 1876.

It's interesting to note that Lucerne was once covered by glaciers. Fossilised mussels and palm leaves indicated that some 20 million years ago that Lucerne was a subtropical beach. There's a multimedia show (at various timings and there's one in English) which highlights the exciting history of the earth.

Palm Beach

Lucerne, 20 million years ago...

Fossilized sea shells where they were swept onto the sand beach 20 million years ago.

Behind the "then 29+ old fossil" is the sandstone where the ripples were shaped by waves and currents.

There was also an imprint of a palm leaf that further proves that the climate in the region where Lucerne stands today was once subtropical.

The largest pothole - 9.5m deep and diameter of 8m.

These potholes were formed at the bottom of the glacier by the sheer force of the water where the melt-water will flow on the surface of the ice before seeping into the glacier through fissures. At the bottom of the glacier, the water was under tremendous pressure. So as the flow of water gathers speed, vortices with speeds of up to 200km/h began to form. Within a few years, potholes had been eroded out of the rock where most of the erosion was done by sand and gravel trapped in the cloudy melt-water flow.

The house of Joseph Wilhelm Amrein-Troller (1842-1881), founder of the Glacier Garden.

An artist doing the repainting works

The picture in the centre is Joseph Wilhelm Amrein-Troller.

Welcome to the Alhambra Labyrinth of Mirrors

It has a total of 90 mirrors and was created for the Swiss national exhibit in Geneva in 1896 and is now in the premise of the Glacier Garden. It's an interesting place to explore, especially with a group of friends :) Be careful of where you step next before you bang yourself into the mirror!

This photo looks creepy huh...so many Wendys...

The place is actually quite small but because of the ingenious use of mirrors, it has created the illusion that the place is huge.

On our way to the tower walk...

View of Lucerne town

Opening Hours for the Glacier Garden: (364 days a year)
Apr-Oct: 9am-6pm; Nov-Mar: 10am-5pm

Fees:
Adults: CHF12; Guest Card: CHF10; Student:CHF9.50; Children (age 6-16): CHF7

How to get there:
On foot: from train station/old town is about 15 mins,
Bus: 1,19, 22, 23 from train station and alight at Lowenplatz

I tot I thaw a kitty cat :)

Hof Church

The main cathedral for the city which was rebuilt in1645 after a fire destroyed it in 1633. It's also the most important Renaissance church in Switzerland.

The Transportation Museum

Transportation has always been an important industry in Switzerland, and especially their railway transport where you could find a whole collection of trains here for the last 150 years. It's quite a big museum including exhibits of rail transport, aviation and space travel, road transport, etc.