Lucerne, Switzerland: Pretzels and Cool Air

This past weekend, Jamey, Luke and I decided to do something a little different. Although we all love Pizza, we felt it was time to explore Switzerland and a different culture if possible. All three of us had heard wonderful things about Lucerne (Luzerne) so we booked a train for Saturday morning through Monday morning. The train ride was stunning, we went through the Alps and small towns built into Alps in addition to waterfalls with the water the color of snow and full of ice. The views were different than those that we are used to in Lugano.

When we reached Lucerne, the air was cold–and we were ecstatic! The heatwave and lack of AC in Lugano has been tiresome. We were happy to be there despite the cool air, rain and clouds. Even in the rain, Lucerne was gorgeous.

After a 10 minute walk from the Lucerne train station, we walked to our Hotel Rebstock, located slightly out of town. Just enough to steer clear of some tourists. The hotel was quaint with a traditional feel, despite receptionists and staff speaking English very clearly. We realized that the German-Swiss mostly all speak English. Later we were told that English is something they learn very early on.

Our trip to Lucerne was centered around: FOOD, which was a good idea since the food was absolutely incredible. Our first stop was for lunch at about 2:30 where we went to a traditional restaurant in the middle of Lucerne overlooking the famous bridge of Lucerne, covered with flowers and a roof. We ordered pretzel sandwiches with meat and mustard, schnitzel, sausage and sauerkraut; all of the traditional German food that we could handle. The boys were especially happy to have beer–something they have surely missed in Italy.

We later went on to a restaurant/bar called Stern where we spent some time the next few days. It was there that we met two Americans traveling around Switzerland who were later going to Lugano (and we were so happy to be providing people with recommendations for Lugano), we met such nice bartenders and staff. Stern is a quaint bar/restaurant located in Hotel Oldener Stern. They have their own vineyards and beer distillery and in addition to their own brand, they have a menu full of local beers and wine. The bar itself is not only a place to order drinks and apps, but it is also the hotel reception area. The main entrance is small, and the restaurant is comprised of about 10 wood tables, with benches and pillows to sit. We soon became friendly with the bartenders, who were also the waiters, as they spoke English (like mentioned before) quite well–it was shocking and qnjoyable as in Lugano we aren’t able to communicate like that with staff. We sat there through dinner time, and realized that so many people were walking in and asking for tables. The restaurant, being only a few tables, was all booked for the night however we were able to make a reservation there for the night after. The waitress recommended another restaurant that we could try, something away from the tourist areas. She also recommended bars and clubs and informed us of the Lucerne nightlife; this too being very different than Lugano.

More on food: The waitress noted above also told us a lot about the German-Swiss culture and how it is in fact very different when it comes to food. One of the most differential qualities is the way they prepare their potatoes. For example the German way is through Rosti, which is more of a cooked Hashbrown whereas the Swiss use potatoes in fondue or on the side like potato wedges or fries. Additionally, the German tend to use more sausage whereas the Swiss-German often use a roast approach with their meat such as pork loin or roasted chicken. Luckily in our two full days in Lucerce, we were able to try all kinds of Swiss and Swiss-German food to try this out for ourselves. Turns out, our kind and informative waitress was correct–and one dish was better than the other.

We later ate a restaurant (recommend by above waitress) called Helvetia. (Side note: I later read about Helvetia and how those were the people who initially lived in what is now known to be Swiss territory). There, we had incredible food including pork loin, veal cordon-bleu and a local tart dessert; we were definitely the only tourists. The waitress there, Sabrina, told us about a local bar to go to in the neighborhood called Bar 58. The number 58 in Switzerland is pronounced: achtundfünfzig. Try saying that: once! There, we met another group of people who were also surprised to see us as we were clearly tourists (due to JO’s red hair), and they took us to one more place that is well known to locals: Madeline. We had a BLAST.

On Sunday morning we went to a museum called the Rosengart Collection that had a surprisingly number of Picasso paintings and drawings (over 125 in total), in addition to other artists such as Matisse, Monet and Braque. The Rosengart family, a husband and wife, were very good friends with Picasso. They have some work that at the time was not appreciated by the art world, so they began collecting at an early stage. They have drawings and sketches displaying work from the 1930’s as well as a section specifically dedicated to pictures and stories told by Picasso himself.

My favorite part of the weekend was when we entered the Church in the center of town, which is captured when looking at the skyline of Lucerne. We walked in, through a dark entryway into a brightly lit and breathtaking space. The Church was unlinke any other that we have seen; : pink and white marble, lighting including crystal chandeliers. Having not realized it was a Jesuit church at the time, we lit candles and sat. After reading more about the church when we left, I soon realized it was a Jesuit church and the six part cycle of paintings in the ceiling symbolized six parts of St. Francis Xaviers life. They were drawn by two brothers from Lugano (where we currently live). I later read that the structure of the building is symbolic to Switzerland. The Church was built during a time of architectural renewal, and is listed as one of the most important Baroque buildings in Switzerland. It is known to bring together the similarities between places of worship in Italy, and southern Germany.

Sunday we continued to explore, eating and occasional drinks, but we had dinner early at Stern consisting of beer tartar, salad (finally, greens), roasted spring chicken, veal and a Swiss chocolate dessert. We woke up early on Monday for the train home. What we learned this weekend: being so close to Italy, we tend to travel there on the weekends however we now know that northern Switzerland is highly underrated.

Dinner at Stern, the boys with their Beer Boots Night 2

Hotel Rebstock

A Swiss-German traditional meal: Our first non-Italian meal in 4 weeks.

More pictures from Lucerne here!