Lucerne & Interlaken

I will need to ask for your forgiveness in advance when it comes to being what I call ‘timely’ with regards to how swiftly these missives get Posted. This trips Itinerary is unlike the ones of the past when it comes to being ‘jam-packed’. You see, there are no ‘Sea Days’ that allow me to catch up with Duties Penned and at least try and be timely. But I will try.

                        Saturday was our first Full Day here in the ‘Land of the Secure’. I remember my first time here in Switzerland, back in 1968, I came here to go to camp with my friend who was stationed in Belgium at the time. To be correct, Chucky was not actually stationed in Belgium, his Dad was CFO of ITT in Europe and as an 8^th Grader, Chucky had no choice but to follow. Anyway, we went to International Ranger Camp in Leysin for two weeks. It was at this time that the USSR decided that it needed some new cuisine, so it marched into Czechoslovakia and made it ‘theirs’. I remember seeing the International Edition of the New York Times with photos of tanks rumbling down the streets. I am quite sure that my parents were not too happy that I was this close to the ‘action’ but , on the other hand, I never felt so safe and secure!

                        We started out on our first full day with a walking tour of the Old City of Lucerne (English/French) or Luzern (German) and it is as charming as many an old medieval city that we’ve found.

                        We want to move here. Now I know that you’ve probably heard me say that previously as we’ve come across some stunning old cities (like Talin in Estonia) before, but this one is quite different. The setting is like out of a storybook, nestled on the shore of Lake Lucerne and nuzzled into a few gorgeous mountains, this place has everything that one may need to be comfortable. A great rail system, an immaculate city, nice folks, some gorgeous watches, and good chocolates (sorry, but the best are still from the French and Belgians). Just a note here concerning the deportment of the Citizens Local….. and this does explain mostly everything when you come to think of it…. no one crosses the street except in the crosswalk and on the green. Period.

                        Our Tour Guide was our very own Catherine who was Viking’s representative /Class Mother of our Pre-Trip Group here in Lucerne. Catherine is one of those rare individuals that truly love their job. And it shows! She is a fountain of information and always seems to be around when needed. This is our first encounter with Viking and if Catherine is any indication of what else we may expect then I am sure that we are in for a grand time! We would love it if she were to be on the rest of the trip when we embark on the Rhine, but her duties as Host for the next group to come along will keep her quite busy.

Saturday mornings in the City are pretty busy as you may expect. The Farmer’s Market is unlike anything that I’ve seen… the quality of the local produce ferried in from the nearby valleys looked like perfect photos of themselves pretending to be fashion models. Either their culling processes allow for them to bring only he best to market or it all looks like this. Either way, it just goes to further explain that Swiss mentality that I mentioned.

                        Back in the day, before there was a ‘country’ of Switzerland, there were a bunch of warring factions that were politely belligerent with each other. But they were small, and the other guys were big, like the Hapsburgs who I am sure that you all recall from Freshman World History (or probably not 😊) So, the little guys got together and formed a union, defeating the Hapsburgs (at least twice) which showed them the power of cooperating with each other, leading to a more formal confederation of their Cantons (read States) and the rest is History. That is definitely the Cliff Notes version of this conflict and by now Mr. Bruchalski, my former World History teacher, is turning in his grave, but hey! I got the basics down pat!

                        Fast-forward a few hundred years and we’ve got a country with as much National Pride as any, and they accomplish this while speaking four National Languages! German, French, Italian, and Romansh.

                        And what???

                        Romansh. Take a look at that word and give the root word.

                        Correct!

 Roman!

And when in Rome we do as the Roman’s do and we speak….. Latin! Latin is the closest language to Romansh that there is, but it is only spoken in a very small region of Switzerland. But now I’ve redeemed myself with respect to good ol’ Mr. Bruchalski because he was also my Freshman Year Latin teacher!

And guess what? English is their lingua franca, or bridge language, or common, or trade, or auxiliary, or link. I’m sure that you get the idea, which makes it that much easier for us who failed Freshman Romansh to move here!

The second part of the day was spent traveling by rail to Interlaken, a wonderful town located a few lakes and towns further up into the Alps. You saw a photo of this excursion at the beginning of this Post. The local peaks include the Eiger (quite famous if you follow mountaineering) and Grindelwald (also famous, but for alpine skiing instead). If you don’t care about either if those activities, then may I suggest Sightseeing and I can promise you that the Sights are well worth the Seeing!

We had reserved seats in the Panoramic First-Class car which whose attributes were amply taken advantage of. Each turn of the tracks introduced us to yet another incredible vista. Another apology is apropos here as I am afraid that photos taken through highly reflective, UV inhibiting, somewhat blueish tinted windows do NOT make for a good representation to you of the sights that we saw. (I think that sentence makes sense.)

            Luckily….. the software program that I use to post-process my images (Lightroom) just last week (yay!) came out with an addition that tries, to the best of its ability, to examine and identify (when asked to) annoying reflections. This is my first encounter with it and so far I am elated! Correcting for the other stuff will hopefully come with more experience on my part. The entire trip I wished for an outside, no windows, ‘Photo Platform’ but alas, my request was not in time for our journey.

            We all agreed that as nice as Interlaken was, that the excursion, to and from, was the highlight of the afternoon!

            I truly hope that you don’t get tired of me expounding the virtues of every place that we see. But I’m afraid that I cannot apologize for presenting to you what I deem as something that is just plain obvious! And if Traveling is not something that nags at your Being, then hopefully some photos “28 glossy photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back describing each one” (Sorry, that just slipped in!) and descriptions of places far away will help your mind’s eye conjure up what we are experiencing!

More tomorrow! (Hopefully!)