It sounds romantic doesn’t it, a large alpine chalet on 21 hectares with 150 pigs, 27 milking cows, 7 horses, ducks, chooks, 21 cats and 1 old dog. The picture that this little image doesn’t paint, is the smell of having 150 pigs living directly below you in the basement, or the flies and mosquitoes that go with it. But I guess you must get used to that. It is nice to have fresh milk and bacon on the table for breakfast, and to wake to the sound of the cow bells.
We drove into Lucerne today, mainly just to have a browse and absorb the sights and sounds. The contrast between the extremely clear waters of the river running through its heart and the smog and pollution and smog that is all around in the air. When looking from one bank of the river to the other (just a few hundred metres) the haze is evident. When you come to this place expecting to see the fabulous mountain peaks that this country is famous for it is hard not to be disappointed and feel negatively towards the place, so we are trying hard to see the positive aspects.
From our experience driving in Switzerland is not a positive experience. The drivers here are the most impatient that we have seen, even more so than the Italians. The Italians have managed to develop a whole communication style based on their car horns and the way that they use them, the Swiss just have one message with theirs “get out of my way.” And gestures that convey the same message. But on the positive side we have met some very helpful people on the street that will go out of their way to help you out, just don’t confront them when they are in their cars, or on their bikes.
One of the features of Lucerne is the two wooden covered bridges that cross the river. These were built in 1408 and very cool. With window boxes of flowers strung along both sides of them they are very picturesque. In the middle of one bridge is an alter and in the middle of the other is a souvenir shop. The souvenirs in this country are quite different to the ‘two dollar shop’ trinkets that you normally see. In Switzerland they are Swiss watches, Swiss army knives, cow bells, cuckoo clocks, and Toblerone chocolate. The Toblerone comes in 4.5 kg bars and the Swiss army knives come with over 300 gadgets and totally unusable, and certainly not very portable. This little puppy isn’t little, it is huge and would struggle to fit into most back packs. But for 1500 Swiss Francs it can be yours.
We went for a walk along the river, which is a pleasant walk passing cafes, well kept gardens, and bronze statues. On the way back we met an old woman in a mobility scooter, painted bright red and fully enclosed like a cocoon for her ‘protective custody’. The driver could barely see over the oversized steering wheel and was weaving madly down the length of the promenade, threatening the welfare of pedestrians, dogs and the ice cream stands. Although judging by the smashed headlight, the dinged and battered panel work, and the scrapes on the ‘roll cage’, she had taken this route several times before. We wondered if she was well known by the locals as they were all very quick to make a hasty retreat.
We finished the day going to see the ‘Lion Monument’. Getting there was quite a mission driving around in circles, only to finally find that it was in a pedestrian walkway area and we would have to park in the nearest parking building, which was the parking building that we had just left, and we didn’t feel like parking in there again. We thought the monument was further away than it was. But luck was shining on us, we found a free park just a few meters away. The monument is a sculpture of a huge lion carved into a vertical wall of white rock. The lion looks very pained, has broken spears sticking out of its back, it is dying. Mark Twain once said that this is the “saddest piece of rock in the world” and we would concur.
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