Saturday, June 17th

In the morning Chuck, Mark and I go out to try and get some breakfast. Jim and Earl continue to sleep off the long day. There is a street fair along the river today. As we are walking around I stop and get some sausage for the trip home tomorrow. After trying a couple of places, we realize that restaurants don�t have much to eat. The most you can get is a croissant and coffee. Unless you are staying at a hotel, and getting the hotel breakfast, the most you can find are some pastries and coffee.

Everyone ends up going out on their own today. I want to take pictures and check out the rest of the town. After heading back and getting my camera I walk back through the flee market part of the fair. This side of the fair is your typical flee market type of stuff. The Jesuit Church is close by so I check it out. The church isn�t that large but like most churches in Europe has a lot of ornamentation.

Outside the church a stage has been setup for a small orchestra. I get a flyer and it seems that this weekend is a music festival in Luzern. I walk through the rest of the street fair. People are starting to close up their tents. I continue on across the bridge and find more tents selling all manner of food. At one of the tents they are selling bratwurst but they don�t have buns, they just give you two pieces for rye bread. I guess you are supposed to just take a bite of the brat and then the bread. Having to use both hands for the brat is too much work. I just get a slice of pizza bread, so I can move on.

I walk over to the other side of the river and run into a parade. It�s not so much a parade but a marching band competition. The competition is part of the music festival. Every couple of minutes a new band walks by playing their music. The band uniforms are anything from a simple shirt and tie to a military like uniform with an elaborate plumed hat. I watch about 5 or 6 bands march by. I�m close to the judging stand so I would assume that the bands are at their best when they march by the stand.

I go over to the Hofkirche . It was almost completely destroyed in the 17th century but rebuilt shortly after its destruction. There is an incredible gold laden alter that contains the patron saints of Luzern. . There aren�t a lot of people in the church so I feel comfortable taking a lot of pictures. Outside, in the back of the church, there are a bunch of graves or crypts. I�m not even sure what to call these types of graves and crypts. There are a lot of flowers around the crypts so either a lot of people visit the crypts or the church is keeping up the area.

The next stop for the day is the Lion Monument or L�wendenkmal. The monument is a memorial to Swiss mercenaries that were killed during the French Revolution. The monument is an impressive piece of work. It�s carved into the side of the stone. The area would be a very peaceful little place if there weren�t so many people around. A photographer is taking pictures of a couple of kids that are in one of the marching bands. The photographer has the kids up on a small hill so that the kids line up with the monument. The problem I find taking pictures is that the monument is in direct sunlight and the rest of the area is in the shade from the trees. There is a "glacier garden" that I read about close by, but when I look inside it doesn�t look like much so I don�t go inside.

I start heading back towards the hotel. I want to go up to this chalet that sits on top of a hill overlooking the city. We haven�t been able to tell if it is open. The place stands out from the lower level of town. It should be a good viewpoint to look back down at the city. I have to go all the way across town from the Lion monument. By the time I get over there it�s about 3:30. I try and go into the grocery store by our hotel but it closes at 3pm on Saturday. It doesn�t open on Sunday so if you live in Luzern I sure hope you bought your groceries for the weekend.

At the base of the hill, before going up to the top, I have a choice to make. I can walk up or I can take a small funicular (see Day 5 for info on funiculars). The funicular only costs 1.50 francs but I�m not sure it�s working. There is a car at the bottom and a schedule that indicates it will start in 5 minutes. There is nobody around so I don�t know what to think. There is a sign that says not paying the fee could result in a 30-franc fine. I might be wasting the 1.50 but I don�t want the 30-franc fine if someone is waiting at the top to take the ticket. I decide to pay for the ticket and take my chance. Sure enough, 5 minutes later a car starts coming down the hill and I start going up the hill. At the top, there is still nobody around, so I probably could have gotten away without paying.

The chalet doesn�t look like it�s open. Someone might be remodeling the place because the inside does look like it�s getting worked on. The view from up top is great. I can see all of the mountains around the valley. It�s good to see most of the city from up high. The city limits must be farther out then the main area I�m looking at, because Luzern has about 70,000, and they would be tightly packed if they were in this small an area.

Back at the hotel we are trying to figure out how early we need to get over to Pickwicks. The U.S. vs. Italy match is on at 9pm but people start crowding around the TVs for the 6pm match. Chuck wants to have a fondue dinner while we are in Switzerland so Jim and I agree to go to dinner with Chuck. Mark will get over to Pickwicks to get us a spot for the match.

We finally have a spot of bad weather. We have lucked out the whole trip with the weather being so nice. Supposedly, it�s the rainy season in Switzerland. For about 10 minutes it hails while we are at the hotel. I had brought a raincoat, so I finally get to use it. Chuck, Jim, and I walk over to the fondue restaurant in the rain, while Earl and Mark try to wait it out before going to Pickwicks.

The fondue restaurant has a couple of outside tables, and with the rain nobody is sitting at the tables. There is an umbrella protecting most of the seats but when you lean back the rain can drip on you. Since the inside is crowded we take our chances outside. It�s still raining but warm enough outside. We aren�t too sure of what to order so we luck out that the waitress speaks English. There is an all you can eat fondue cheese dish that we end up getting. You can get different dipping ingredients. We get steak, bread, and fruit slices to dip into the cheese. The cheese is ok, but not great from my opinion. There is a fondue restaurant in Chicago that I�ve been to once so I�m comparing it to that place. Chuck and Jim have the chocolate fondue for desert while I just eat all of their strawberries.

Some people finally sit at the other outside table. Chuck is wearing a USA soccer jersey so we quickly learn that they are Italian. The pretty girl in the group speaks the most Italian so we talk to her about going to Milan. They live closer to Rome so they dismiss Milan as not being that nice. We tell them we will be over at Pickwicks watching the match later on if they stop by.

We head over to Pickwicks to meet up with Mark and Earl. Pickwicks is starting to get crowded. The rain has stopped so people are starting to take the seats outside along the river. There is a U.S family plopped down in font of the TVs. The father works here in Switzerland so they�ve been in Europe for a number of years. I meet a couple of girls from Australia. They are in a high school exchange program. The fact that they are in high school doesn�t stop them from drinking and smoking. The one girl is one of the most dedicated smokers I have ever met. She makes her own cigarettes. She has a couple of zip lock bags, one filled with tobacco, and one with filters and rolling paper. She says it�s a lot cheaper to make her own. I guess being in high school means she�s on small budget, go figure.

By the time the U.S. match starts there is a large crowd at Pickwicks. There are a few more Americans then previous nights. We meet an American dental hygienist. Since Europe is slowly taking up dental care, there is a big market in Europe for hygienists. She has been in Switzerland for 6 years now. She likes being able to travel all over Europe easily. Betty and Phillip, who we met earlier in the week, show up. We are too absorbed in the match to talk them tonight.

The U.S. plays a good match given all the craziness that goes on during the match. Mark is fun to watch the game with tonight because he�s such a homer. The referee�s can�t get a call right and the Italy players are a bunch of fakers from Marks take on the game. I do have to agree that the Italian players seem to take a lot of dives.

It�s our last night here in Switzerland. We go back tomorrow, so we don�t stay out much past the end of the match. It�s sad to leave Pickwicks, which has been our World Cup home for the past week. We have met a lot of people at the bar so it was a lot of fun to hang out there and watch all of the matches.

As we are walking back for the last fireworks start going off. The fireworks are part of the music festival events. Of course, I didn�t bring my camera out to watch the match so I can�t get a good shot of the fireworks and the Chapel Bridge. I�m going to get up early and try and get some more shots of the Bridge during sunrise.

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