Interlaken to Luzern

The plan today is to leave Interlaken for Luzern and to stop to see where Brother Klaus lived en route. As I was unable to secure an English speaking guide I knew I would have to kind of "wing it" as the tour guide. Hoped Marina could help but en route he told me he had never been there and actually asked me what we expected to see there. Given it is touted as being such an important pilgrimage site in Switzerland I was surprised he was not familiar with it. I told him it was an important religious site but that did not seem to register.
This destination took us off the beaten path and Marina glanced at me several times with a kind of "you gotta be shiting me" look. After a little time on some back country roads through some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable we arrived at Flueli-Ranft, where the hermit and saint lived. At the beginning of his life as Nicholas Flue, Brother Klaus, was a very successful and wealthy farmer, father of 10 children, soldier and political advisor. He is even credited with being largely responsible for averting a civil war in Switzerland. Later in life he felt the call of God and after much deliberation and discussion with his wife he set off to come closer to Him through the life of a hermit.

Scenic view en route

Arriving in Flueli-Ranft I found a brochure and map in English and a nice gift shop vendor who spoke a little English. Together that provided enough information that we were able to piece together a tour of the hermit's birthplace and the house he built for his family. He was definitely an important, influential character in Swiss history but what struck me most was the absolute beauty of the place. We all enjoyed some additional hiking and exploring of the immediate area.
Departing Flueli-Ranft, it was about an hour on the coach to Luzern. As this was going to have us arriving at the hotel well before check in time I asked Marina to stop in Luzern for about 90 minutes to allow us to get lunch before proceeding to the hotel. He took us to a central location where the bus could park and there were several paces to eat. Had a nice bowl of pumpkin soup sitting outdoors and enjoying he beautiful day. Later went into Coop, which looks a bit like the Swiss version of Walmart. Picked up a nice bottle of inexpensive (read cheap) red wine that we had in our room.

View from our room of Lake Luzern

The Hotel Seeburg is really nice. The group rooming list was all ready for me in our own format. Most of our rooms were facing Lake Luzern which was just across the street. And we were conveniently located on the bus route with a stop right outside the hotel. Saying goodbye to Marina we checked into the hotel, got settled and then met in the lobby to depart for town. Getting everyone bus passes we then proceeded by public bus to the center of town (about a 10 minute ride) to meet our tour guide.

Bridgette met us at the arch monument infront of the Bahnhof, the train station. Since it was so nearby she took us first to one of the most modern sites of the city, KKL Luzern, the Cultural and Convention Center. With its 1800 seats and superb acoustics it is one of the finest concert halls in the world. It also contains the fourth largest Art Museum in Switzerland.

Chapel Bridge

One of the most iconic sites of Luzern of course is the Chapel Bridge, originally constructed at the beginning of the 14th century as part of the city's fortification and named for the nearby St. Peter's Chapel. Being made of wood, this is not, of course the original bridge. It is beautifully decorated with flowers all along its length. Other sites included the Jesuit Church which contain some of the original vestments of Brother Klaus! Brigitte was surprised to find we had visited Flueli-Ranft and were familiar with the story of Brother Klaus. The water spike was an interesting means of controlling the level of Lake Luzern by manually raising or lowering individual stakes comprising a weir across the connected river.

Following the tour we all had some free time to wander about and make our way back to the hotel in time for a delightful dinner.