Lucerne

Our USO trip to Lucerne started off bright and early at 0500 on Saturday morning. We drove to base, hopped on the USO bus and we were off! A few hours later we had arrived in Lucerne and started our guided walking tour of the city. Our first stop along the walking tour was at the Lion Monument:

This really cool monument commemorates the Swiss Guard that protected the French King and ultimately died defending him in 1792. We both really loved this monument. It was carved right out of the stone wall in the 1800's and was such a unique memorial.

Next up on the walking tour was the Abby Court Church:

This was a really pretty and reasonably sized Catholic church. The interior was very light (white stone, white arches, etc.) creating a nice heavenly glow. After peeking around the church for a little while we started off towards the center of the city. To get there we had to cross Lucerne's famous Chapel Bridge:

This bridge was built in the Middle Ages and it was very cool to walk across. From the bridge there were some great views of the town! As you can see from the bridge photo the weather was a little foggy, but even through the fog we could tell that this is a gorgeous little city hidden in the Alps. Once we crossed the bridge we visited Lucerne's Jesuit Church, a great example of the "sugary" Rococo style:

Sugary or not, I LOVED the beautiful crystal chandeliers that were hanging in the church! After about two hours the walking tour was complete. We were finally able to go explore and check out the Fasnachts Markt (Mardi Gras Festival)! (We had until 1845, which was when we had to meet up on the bus to head home). Our first need after the walking tour was sustenance. We found this cute little pub right along the river called Mr. Pickwick's. We were sold. Finding a cozy table in the corner, we indulged in Boddingtons, Guinness, and some delicious pub fare. Cheers!

Once our bellies were full we decided to explore the festival. We quickly learned that live music was a major proponent of the festival, marching band style. There wasn't so much "marching" as there was just some really awesome live music. All the bands had their own coordinating costumes and would march over the bridge and up onto a large set of steps. Once in place they would play 4-5 songs for the happy crowd then they'd march out and a new band will take their place. Here's a shot of Brian standing where the bands were playing:

The bands were all SO good! They all played recognizable tunes. We heard: Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Guns 'n Roses, and more. Here's a sample of the great music:



Between the music, the drinks (beer, spiked tea and coffee), and the food, the festival had a wonderfully fun and jolly ambiance. We stood and listened to the bands for quite some time. Before we knew it, the sun was beginning to set. The dimming light cast a lovely glow over the town:



As it drew closer and closer to 1845 we walked around, stopped in at Mr. Pickwick's for a final beverage and then walked back to the bus. On our walk back to the bus, the Chapel Bridge looked so pretty with all the lights reflecting off of the river:

We reached the bus a few minutes early, got settled in our seats and then played a little travel Scrabble on our ride home. The bus pulled back onto base around 2230. Although a long day, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in charming Lucerne.


If you'd like to view the rest of our photos from Lucerne, please click on this link:
Lucerne Photos