Lucerne and Interlacken

Stewart and I read a book that took place in Lucerne and the Interlacken area. We read about a few places we would like to go visit. First stop was our picnic lunch, waiting for the rain to come and letting the kids play in the playground. They had been stuck in their car seats for a few hours.

The Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe. It is 670 ft long crossing the Reuss River. It was constructed in 1333.

The water tower attached to the bridge served as a prison, torture chamber and treasury over the centuries. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Lucerne's history. Parts of the bridge and paintings were destroyed in a fire in 1993. The bridge was rebuilt, and some of the burnt paintings are still displayed.

The Lion of Lucerne is a monument commemorating the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. An officer of the Guards who had been on leave during the fight collected money and initiated the monuments construction.

We did have a little rain today. We strolled around the town with rain coats and umbrellas.




















Stewart, the kids and I spent the night camping in Lauterbrunnen. Carrie and Ken stayed in a hotel in Interlaken. The next day they took the train to Jungfraujoch. Stewart, the kids and I took a hike around our camp site the next morning. The roads were closed leaving the campground because there was a marathon. So we went hiking along the marathon trail.

























The kids were very tired after their long hike. Zachary kept getting in and out of the backpack. We did not walk very fast, obviously. So after we made it back to the campground the kids went right down for a nap. Well not really, we discovered the playground in the camping area and the kids found they had energy to play, just not walk.

After all the runners had passed. We drove up to Mürren and took a tram up to Gimmelwald. We found another Spielplatz. We did some more hiking and Cassidy led the way. She is the one who chose to climb all these stairs. We took switchbacks up to those houses on the hillside.

We did get a great view of the Alps after our hike. It was a beautiful day, a little cool in the shade but nice and warm in the sun.

















Zachary hung onto the wooden rails as he walked along the edge of the road. He as trying to balance and walk along the curb. He and Thomas love practicing their balancing on curbs. But in the end Zachary got a splinter that had to be removed at 4593 feet.

The tram ride up was a bit crowded and we did not get a good view. I didn't mind, because I didn't really want to see where we were going. But on the way down we sat right up front. Zachary would not let go of me. I would lean out toward the window and he tightened his grip around my neck. Thomas and Cassidy thought it was cool. They don't have my fear of heights.