Lucerne

What can I say about Lucerne?  What can't I say about Lucerne.  It's a beautiful, old city, well kept and well loved by the people who live there.  I feel unqualified to write too much about it - what can one learn in an afternoon, after all?  But like all good tourists, I saw all the main attractions.

The statue above is the Lion Monument, designed by Bertal Thorvaldson and carved by Lukas Ahorn in 1820.  It was created to honor the Swiss Guards massacred during the French Revolution.  Mark Twain called it "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world."

Chapel Bridge, built in 1333, is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, though much of it had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1993.  At the far end is the Water Tower, now used as a guild hall of the artillery association, but has previously been a treasury, a watchtower, a prison, and a torture chamber.  The bridge and tower form the most photographed monument in the country, and Lucerne considers them its trademark.

I don't know what's happening on this building, but it's fascinating.  Like watching The Seventh Seal with chemical enhancement.

We had to get to Zurich before the sun set, so here's one last look at Lake Lucerne.