Night raid on the Swiss mountains

When I rented a Volkswagen Golf at the Fellini airport (Rimini, Italy), not knowing that I would get a cabriolet, and when I stood by the lighthouse in front of the gloomy sea in Rimini, I had no idea where I could get to, where were going to visit. Only the first step came to mind. The first point that must be examined.

It was Bologna. Beautiful city, the birthplace of the Bolognese! And then - Milan. The capital of fashion ... And then to the north ... To the mountains, and now the Swiss border!

At some point, traveling from country to country without any boundaries, you are surprised. How so? You've just been to France, and here's Spain, and you did not even notice. Then you get used to it, and when, suddenly, before you cordon, you are surprised. What happened? And it happened that we go to the territory of Switzerland and here, among other things, toll roads and you need to buy a vignette, so that the computer monitoring system for the road knew that you were a welcome guest. I do not remember how much this pleasure was worth, but without it you still will not go anywhere, but I remember it was night, it was raining like a bucket. Visibility was no, the road is slippery, but very flat and with beautiful markings. And the rain would be such that I was afraid that our ragged roof would leak. From time to time the rain subsided and could be seen as dotted with electric lights of the valley and the mountains. It was something fantastic. As if 3d model, where the corner is a flashlight in the night. And, in the total darkness of the night, like a three-dimensional figure from these corner lights. And if you also met a lake in which this figure was reflected, there was a feeling that I was in space.

I was impressed with tunnels. Usually you dive into the tunnel and drive. The radio subsides and rumbles, the mountain does not miss the wave. It takes a few seconds - and you're back in the world. Again, music sounds and you see the sky.

And it also happens that you dive into the tunnel and you go, go, go ... and there is no end and end to this tunnel. You already think that it will never end - and suddenly it ends and you are free. But there is a third option. For example, the St. Gotthard Automotive Tunnel. Its length is about 17 kilometers. You go on it and already do not even hope that there will be an end. The monotony of the lights, the monotony of the movement, it all zombies.

But everything in this life ends, and the tunnel ends.

And so, imagine, in the night, on a mountain freeway, through tunnels and darkness, our convertible rushes from northern Italy to Switzerland and inexorably approaches the city of Lucerne.

Lucerne is a city in Switzerland, in the center of the Swiss Plateau, the capital of the same-named German-speaking canton of Lucerne and the administrative district of Lucerne. The city is on the shores of Lake Lucerne, at the foot of Mount Pilatus.

We arrived in Lucerne around midnight and after driving to the most historic center found a paid parking lot where they placed our iron horse. And they went to look for a night's lodging. Fortunately, we did not travel to the peak of the tourist season, but rather the opposite, so you could bargain with the receptionist, try to bring down the price. Literally a few houses from the parking we saw a building resembling a hotel and went there. Svid - the palace. On the door .. Four stars. Of course it's expensive, but in the courtyard it's already night and strength, that there's simply no way to go there-the trial of Lucerne. I decide to at least clarify the order of prices. We stopped by. And they got into a fairy tale. The fireplace is on. Click the wood or coal ... I do not know ... On the walls of the picture. The interior is made of mahogany. Bronze handles and different decor elements. Especially I do not want to leave, the more warmly. And on the street plus 7. There was a night administrator. He looked at us with concern. I began the siege. He inquired about the price for a double, stood by, ate a candy, asked a question ... Then he asked me to convert the price from francs into euros ... I ate another candy. The candies were chocolate.

In general, he will put forward a proposal, we asked to reduce it, he is not in any. We said we were leaving. He thought and agreed. It was a victory. We posh in the room and with pleasure stretched out on clean sheets. And in the morning, having breakfast, went to inspect Lucerne.

And this picture is from the window of our hotel. Straight from the bed.

They say that Lucerne is the most beautiful city in Switzerland. I will not argue. The city is very beautiful.

The first who met us in Lucerne were swans. Moreover, they behaved quite brazenly. Swam to the shore and demanded that they would be fed. And when we, nevertheless, decided to crumble them some bun, they began to tear straight from their hands. Complete ignorance.

With the weather we were a little unlucky, the photos are rather gray, and given the fact that I shot in jpg, I do not have a special opportunity to straighten out the situation. But, it does not matter. There will be time - I will definitely visit Lucerne again.

So, what I really liked about Lucerne. Well of course the river that flows into the lake and mountains that frame this beauty. This is a natural gift. And man created on this natural basis his magnificent works.

Of course, the main attraction of Lucerne is the Wasserturm tower and Kapelbrücke bridge.

Kapelbrücke Bridge is an ancient bridge in the Swiss city of Lucerne on the Royce River. The oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, one of the main attractions of Switzerland and the symbol of the city of Lucerne. The length of the bridge is 204.70 m. Kapelbrücke was built in 1365 and is thus the oldest wooden bridge in Europe. Originally, the bridge was built as a defensive corridor in the city fortifications and connected the old and new parts of the city, divided by the river Royce. Under the roof ridge along the entire covered bridge there are 111 triangular paintings telling about the most important moments of the history of Switzerland.

At the middle of the bridge there is an octagonal brick tower Wasserturm (German Wasserturm - water tower), built before the erection of the bridge, in 1300. The tower served as a watchtower, dungeon, torture and fire tower. Currently, in Wasserturme, there is a souvenir shop and a guild hall of the Artillery Association.

This is a dry line from Wikipedia, but believe me, when you step on this bridge, you do not leave the feeling of immersion in the Middle Ages. Triangular pictures under the roof of the bridge only add color to these sensations.

Lyutsert is a tourist center. The mass of tourists requires a lot of souvenir and other trade. This is enough here. If you have money, you can look at the clock. But here everything is quite expensive. This is thousands or tens of thousands of euros. Although, of course, you can and something cheap, to find, less than even for 100 euros, but, you know, is not that product.

The mass of shops that offer real Swiss knives. For me, there was always a useful and useful item in the household - a folding Swiss knife with a cross-head screwdriver, a corkscrew and a big blade. Well, that it would be possible to open a bottle of wine, cut the sausage and bread, and while the crux of the matter is, unscrew any bolt. In Lucerne, I found myself in a place where it was very difficult to choose a knife, since there were a lot of options for me. As a result, I took a few. One to myself and two as gifts. For myself, I found a knife with a wooden handle. He is still traveling with me. A great tool.

And my wife, my navigator, said that she would not leave Lucerne until she bought good shoes for herself. And we went in search of a shoe. Fortunately, he turned up literally through a couple of houses and surprisingly, it found something that suited the soul and heart, and the leg, and the wallet.

Very pleased with Lucerne, myself and everyone, we went to the chocolate shop. Switzerland is a country of chocolate and we make sure of it. In general, I recommend everyone to visit Lucerne. Walk on it, ride a boat on the lake, drink coffee with chocolate and enjoy the clean mountain air.