A Duck Walks Into a Pub: Day 12: Lucerne

After a "refreshing" bit of sleep on our prison cell cots, we woke to a sight of dismal weather and cold rain. Not exactly the best way to start the morning but we tried to stay optimistic as most of the group went off on a trip up to the top of Mt. Pilatus. Driving into town yesterday afternoon I could see why everyone talks about how beautiful the Alps are, but today we couldn't even see any of the famous peaks that surround the town.

We had a small breakfast and after a quick shot of espresso we headed off to collect our free spoons from a Bucherer store that contained a few watches and other jewelry that was worth more than some houses. Some of the watches, which the Swiss are world renowned for making, had price tags of 80,000 to a max of 110,000 francs. Which after converting comes out to about $132,000, pretty ridiculous for one small watch, but it was honestly one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen.

We then had a quick stop at the tourist shops to pick up a few knick-knacks and afterward walked to the remaining wall and towers that were built to prtoect the city about the same time that the original wooden bridges were in the 1400s. Walking along a mini version of the Great Wall of China was a great experience and some of the towers rose about 100 feet above the land below and afforded great views of the city and lake, and by great I mean it probably would be a really great sight if there wasn't so much fog and rain.

Since the weather had put such a hamper in our day we decided to fill the void with extremely delicious chocolate from the supermarket for only 45 cents. Such a great deal and we would have bought more but all of the stores close around 4 on Saturday's and don't open again until Monday, so they were moving quickly to get everyone out. We grabbed a quick bite to eat for dinner and ended up going out with most of the group to a small bar near our hotel that had pool tables, bowling and air hockey. It was a good night until we headed to leave which is where we found out that the pool table cost 18 francs an hour. A bit steep I would say but as Russell likes to put it, " When in Rome..".

All is well though, a much better evening than the night before where we drank 5 franc beers in the club underneath our jail hotel and reeked of smoke after only 5 minutes. One last night as an inmate and tomorrow we're off to Venezia!

See you in Italy,

Josh