Luzern is located almost at the center of Switzerland, thus it is very easy to travel around with boats and trains. One of the biggest attractions of Luzern is the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), with river Reuss flowing under. Beside the bridge is a Wasserturm (Water Tower) built in the 13th century. Probably because I studied at Mannheim in Germany, I have a special feeling for water towers. A first glance at Luzern just gave me a feeling of similarity. I find Luzern a very picturesque city because not only the lake, the mountains, but also the buildings around it are all very neat and tidy. Behind the water tower, there is a white castle faraway on the mountains, called Château Gütsch. At the beginning, I thought it is a historic castle, but turned out to be a castle hotel built in the 19th century. From the location of the hotel, both Rigi mountain and Luzern city are its window views.
As my friends and I don’t have enough budget to bring the mountain views to our windows, we visited the Rigi mountain on our own loll. We took a train from Luzern to Goldau, then switched to Rigi Bahn to Rigi Staffel. From Rigi Staffel we got a great overview of the panorama of Rigi mountains. After that, we did a small walk to Rigi Kaltbad to take the aerial cable car to Weggis. Photo 5–6 are the views we had on our way to Rigi Kaltbad. Then from Weggis, we took a boat trip (photo 7–9) back to Luzern. Another route to Rigi mountain will be from Vitznau to Rigi Kulm. The tickets are all covered in the Swiss Pass.
My friends and I had some trouble finding restaurants that are open in Luzern because we visited the place during Christmas time. Therefore, we tried to use our poor Hochdeutsch (High German) to ask pedestrians to see if they can assist us. Luckily, a local Luzern guy suggested and showed us the way to a restaurant that not only has a great view (photo 2–3) but also offers tasty cheese fondue. I guess that is some kind of Christmas blessings we got during this trip which really warmed up our hearts. We left Luzern with bags of Lindt chocolates in our hands and a full stomach. We will definitely visit Luzern again and to take some pictures of the Lion Monument.
