Lazy days in Lucerne

After having recently spent time in Swiss cities such as Zürich and Bern, the town of Lucerne surprisingly turns out to be the prettiest of them all.

It feels more like a town in northern Italy than one in Switzerland. Surrounded by snow-clad alps, Lucerne features towers, medieval walls, wooden bridges and waterfront promenades.

Kapellbrücke in Lucerne.

Kapellbrücke is crossing the river Reuss, being the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe as well as the world’s oldest surviving truss bridge. As I walked across the creaky wooden planks, the covered bridge with its octagonal water tower reminded me of the town’s age.

Wägmann’s 17th century panels.

Ironically, it survived all the way from year 1333 before burning in 1993, leaving only the tower as original. The roof has a lot of triangular panels painted by Heinrich Wägmann in the 17th century, but many of them are black from the fire.