Luzern
Swiss efficiency welcomed us in Zurich. In 1 hour, we cleared the customs, picked up the car from Hertz, and we were already driving toward Luzern. The only unpleasant surprise was that our GPS that did not cooperate and we could not use it but otherwise, the luggage fit in the small and compact Ford Fiesta.
Switzerland is small and the distances between cities, especially on highways, are just a short hop. In no time the highway brought us to the center of the city. After driving in circles we finally found the way to our already-booked cell at the Jail Hotel. This hotel was an interesting pick for it had been built in a jail cell used in older times. Its location is perfect too, right around the center of town. We parked in front, dropped the luggage in our miniscule, cell and began to visit. The hotel is located right at the entrance of one of the two covered bridges over the river. I had to learn how and where to park the car because in Switzerland, it’s probably impossible to find free parking places on the street or maybe I could not figure it out yet. A hotel voucher of CH5 gets you parking from 6pm-11am as long as you are able to find a spot on the street, otherwise for Ch2/hour you can park in the garage.
I walked on those two bridges with their beautiful painted wooden panel along with death related motives painted on then. I strolled the streets of the old town and the river shores teeming with restaurants. The light was perfect, the golden hour in a golden city built on the fast running XXXX (a train) and the enchanting Lake Luzern that at the time was filled with hydro boats and graceful swans. Time being short we limited to a stroll to the new railway station that has nearby a nice promenade on the lake and the famous new Konzert Hall, a magnificient modern building of Jean Novel. After a short walk on the opposite side of the lake in front of the Casino, I started to walk back to the hotel where the activities were in full swing and unfortunately did not end until 6:00 am. The hotel kept intact the jail look, with bunk beds and toilets separated by a simple wall to the room. The rooms were cells and they did not differ too much now that of what they were before. The lack of elevator was also drawback but the worst was that hotel was booked up with a tour group of young Americans, “Oh yeah, I was, like, hysterical” who went to the club and latter kept talking until 3:00 am both in front of the hotel and on hallways. When they went to sleep some German/Swiss took their place and kept up the level of noise until about 6:00 am. At 6:30 am, we had to walk up because we wanted to have breakfast and drive to Interlaken to get on JungFraujoch, on an absolutely impeccable day. We intended to continue visiting Luzern the following day but the forecast was sunny indicating a perfect day to go on Jungfrau, a glacier said to be the biggest in Europe.
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