Today we had a scheduled afternoon event in Lucerne: Eszter had organized a postcrossing mini-meetup, with the commemorative card she designed shown above. Postcrossing is a hobby where people exchange postcards from different parts of the world, and occasionally postcrossers will get together to sign and write postcards together. Often, the organizer will design a postcard for the event, as in the one shown above. (The inspiration for this card came from Susannah’s recent interest in quilling and the scenery in Lucerne, which led to an intriguing AI-generated image.) Since the meetup didn’t start until later, we had the morning to explore Zürich a bit more before heading to Lucerne. We took a walk through the University of Zürich’s botanic gardens before meeting up with Eszter for lunch at Hiltl, the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world (established 1898). Its buffet style allows the chance to try lots of different dishes.
Wisteria gazeboOzymandias?Greenhouse bubblesCloseup bloomsStreet artMünsterhof fountain, on our way to the restaurantSundial on the side of a building in the old cityWall of Swiss chocolate at a local supermarket – this doesn’t even capture the full selection!
After lunch we hopped on a train to Lucerne, where we visited its landmark wooden bridge before taking a stroll along the lake. Our route happened to take us past the Swiss Transport Museum (Verkehrshaus), reputedly one of the best museums in the country — so we decided to visit. It’s sort of like the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, except that it’s Air and Space and Water and Road and Rail and Energy all in one ticket. There’s something for all ages, with real working machines in some exhibits and miniature trucks, boats, and trains for kids to ride and play on.
We’ve arrived in Lucerne!Lucerne’s famous Wooden Bridge plus the Water Tower were part of the city’s defense systemInside the bridge are paintings depicting the city’s role in the Counter-ReformationLake LucerneTunnel boring device outside the Swiss Transport Museum – not boring at all!Train hallYou could pump the handle on this exhibit and it would slowly speed up, with a sound just like a steam locomotive.Highway signs outside the road exhibitHistoric Swissair planes. The one in front is a DC-3. One building had a booth that would take Matrix-style video that would pan around you while frozen in an action shot. Hard to capture in a still image!The Swiss mountain rescue service sometimes parachutes in with a dog on its own rope so it can land separatelyThis lifesize steam engine once powered a ferry. When you press the button, the machinery swings into action.Postcard back signed by all the participants at the meetupGelato at the end of the day. This shop offered a free “taster” scoop on top of the main cone. Yum!View of the Alps from the train back to Zürich
Today is May 1, which is Labor Day across much of Europe. We had heard there might be protest action in Zürich but we had planned to be out of town anyway, visiting Nick’s colleague Andreas. This involved crossing the language divide from German- to French-speaking Switzerland.
We stopped along the way in Bern in the morning (still Germanic) to take a walk through the old city and along the Aare river. We even got to see bears!
Lots of stores line the street behind the arcadesA fancy mechanical clock tower. We happened to be passing by at 11:00 and saw the show. First the animals at the bottom marched around in a parade, then the rooster flapped his wings and crowed. On the hour itself, a bell tolled as the king on the throne waved his scepter.Statue of an armored bear on a pedestal. The bear is the symbol of the city.In fact, the city keeps live bears in a public sanctuary by the riverside. We were lucky to see several out and about in their enclosure.The old city behind a bend in the fast-flowing river Aare. Nature path along the river
Our route to Andreas’s place included several train transfers. Imagine our surprise in leaving Bern to find ourselves riding the Chocolat Express! The final destination of this train is the site of the Cailler chocolate factory in Broc-Chocolaterie. Sadly, the ride did not include free samples.
Fribourg, our next transfer point, lies right on the linguistic border but is mostly French-speaking. As in Bern, we did a walking circuit of the city, taking in the view from atop the river bluffs, and we also stopped for lunch – crêpes au dehors!
Heading into Fribourg from the train stationThe crêperieThe crêpes – the left is regular flour, the right is buckwheat
The final leg of our train journey led us to Bulle, where Andreas kindly met us at the station and drove us to his home in Le Paquier. If we had spent lots of time researching the most picturesque Swiss villages, it is doubtful we could have found an area more charming than this. From Andreas’s house, one looks out over a grassy meadow, to see Chateau Gruyère in the distance, backed by snowy peaks. Despite not previously knowing the castle existed, we simply had to add it to our itinerary – and Andreas graciously obliged.
View from Andreas’s back yard
Not only is there a castle, but a whole medieval village attached to it – now catering to tourists but still oozingold-world character.
Fountain in the Gruyère village squareOne has to go through about six gates to reach the castle stronghold – this is number three or four (we lost count).Sometimes you just get a hunch about where to take a great picture. 🙂View from the castle terraceView of the castle terraceMain village gateClimbing the rampartsView from the ramparts
If the name Gruyère sounds familiar to you, it’s likely due to the eponymous cheese. Yes, it’s made here, and they take their cheese seriously – so seriously, in fact, that Andreas’s town has a refrigerated cheese-vending machine in case of emergency need.
Need cheese?
Besides taking in the spectacular scenery, we also enjoyed spending time with Andreas and his extended family. We began with a board game that was pleasantly interrupted by the ring of the doorbell. As it turns out, May 1 is not even a holiday in the canton of Fribourg, but they have a unique custom for celebrating the date. Children go door-to-door singing songs for the inhabitants in exchange for small coins or sweet treats – sort of a combination of Christmas caroling and our Halloween. We were treated to songs from two different groups of young children.
Andreas introduced us to the game Harmonies, which was lots of fun
For dinner, another tradition awaited: raclette. This dish, which is popular in Switzerland and France, involves melting slabs of raclette cheese in a special table-top oven/grill (also called a raclette) in special trays (also called raclettes) and served over potatoes (not called raclettes) – confusing perhaps, but delicious!
Three kinds of raclette cheese: original, smoked, and truffle
Dinner was also interrupted by the doorbell ringing yet again. This time it was the local teens who had dressed in traditional costume and prepared several songs sung in multiple parts for the neighborhood. They too collected cash donations, presumably to support group social activities. Watching them meant missing our intended train back to Zürich, but we didn’t mind in the slightest. (And in Switzerland, there’s always another train.)
Howes' Doings 