DISCLAIMER : I appoloize for any inconviences caused by my lack of abilty to spell or write in complete sentances. However, I'm in the middle of my vacation and I'm having too much fun to take the time to correct for these short comings.

Last updated 9/01/01

September 1 - Lucern

Today we flew to Zurich, and then drove to Lucern. The drive is mostly on what Americans would consider secondary roads. It's a little over an hour through beautiful countryside. I always have the same problem when I visit mountainous places, the scenery is so big and my camera is so small, that few of the pictures I take make any sense. But I took several anyway. Here's one.
	On the ride over, I noticed that nearby Lucern was a balloon ride, so I immediately walked 10 minutes east of the hotel and bought a ticket for the "hiflyer". Here's me 140m above lake Lucern.

Of course there are some really tremendous views from the balloon.

Here's one to the east of the city.

Here's a view of Lucern.

After the balloon ride I walked back west. Lake Lucern is a big lake and there's a lot of boating. I didn't see any "industrial" boats; mostly pleasure craft either tour boats or private sailboats. My first impression of Lucern was from the waterside. Lucern is built on either side of a river at the east end of an inlet in Lake Lucern. Lake Lucern is a BIG lake, but crossing the river is totally reasonable. You can see an old footbridge spanning as well as a few newer car bridges, which connect the city sides.
Across the river from the hotel is the concert hall. Like the hall in Lubeck, it's a modern structure in a prominent place in the city. Culture is important here.
	Just so I don't give the impression there's nothing but water in Lucern, here's a picture of some random alley with pretty Swiss looking buildings at the end. My impression of the city (after having walked around for a couple of hours) is that it has built up around the spa/resort trade. On the main drag, there are a couple of "normal" stores - apothecary, bakery etc - but there are a lot of boutiques and jewelry stores. Watches are on sale almost everywhere. (There are watches on sale in the hotel lobby and at the post card store, but not at the pizza joint where I had dinner.)