Luzern

It took almost 3 hours to travel by train from Appenzell to Luzern.  And along the way it just got more and more beautiful.  The hills turned to snow capped mountains.  Big lakes emerged with sail boats.  And all the while, the sun beat down through the rail car windows.

Northrup and Homan girls

Phil and Jeff catching up

We arrived in Luzern at 11:20.  Within 30 minutes we dropped off our bags at the hotel and met up with both Phil Nell and Matt and his girls.  Phil, my good friend and former soccer coach, lives near Luzern.  Matt Homan, my good friend from Minnesota who is spending 2-3 years working out of Montreaux, came up with his three daughters (his wife Janna – yes, same name – was in Paris this weekend).  The plan was that all 11 of us would spend the weekend together with Phil as our guide.

Quinn on the boat.

Phil had us moving right away – just the way we like it.  When the weather is nice in Luzern, you must rush and take advantage.  We made the 1:00 boat to Vitznau across Lake Luzerne (about an hour’s ride from Luzern) where we would take the tram and hike up to the top of Mt. Rigi (Rigi Klum).  What a lake.  The water is crystal clear and, from north to south, the mountains get bigger as they build into the “gateway to the Alps”.  It is an unbelievable setting.  The European idea of beauty is so unique from America’s.  Europeans are integrated with their idea of beauty while Americans like their beautiful places un-touched by human hands.  Around Lake Luzern, there are beautiful buildings built right up to the water’s edge, and homesteads dotting their way up the hills, and trams cut right into a mountain.  Can you imagine doing that at the Grand Tetons?  Or Yosemite?  Not a chance.  But imagine, for a minute, if Yosemite had been in Switzerland.  It would be equally beautiful and yet there would be castles and homes and cities built around it.  It would be amazing – like Luzern.

Hiking (and resting).

One of many stops.

We rode the tram halfway up to Mt. Rigi.  Then we huffed it the rest of the way.  The views got more and more striking as we climbed in elevation.  We took our time – laughing, telling stories, and all the while listening to Phil share the history and facts around his home canton (state).  By the time we reached the top, the temperature had dropped 10 degrees and the wind was up.  But you could see clear to the Alps to the South.  It reminded me of that part in the movie “Alive” when the boys reach a  mountain top and see the Andes mountains between them and Chile.  Each mountain peak looked a million miles away.

Janna at the summit of Mt. Rigi.  The Alps on the horizon.

After a nice dinner at one of Phil’s favorite Italian restaurants, we hit the hay.  Tired.

The wall and one of the towers.

Day 2 in Luzern started off with Phil giving us the history of the Luzern while we stood in the hotel lobby.  He had note cards!  As it turns out, in one of Phil’s many past lives, he used to give tours of Luzern.  And boy was he good at it.  The city is over 600 years old and he knows things in significant detail.  Wooden bridges, fortification towers, cathedrals, and the narrow streets of the old city.  He walked us through every inch of it (Janna later was amazed that Phil hit everything listed in our two tour books!).

Quinn and Erika near the old city.

Shelby and Matea

Underneath a real train.

After that, we had big pans to hit Phil’s favorite ski town of Andermatt an hour away, but the weather was still cloudy so we took the kids to the famous planes, trains and automobiles museum (Verkehrhaus).  By far the best museum I have ever been to – especially for kids.  So interactive.  Our kids were running around laughing and climbing and interacting with the world-class exhibits.

Phil and Aubrey doing radio.

Jeff and Gillian goofing around.

Oh, we did lose Shelby.  Yeah.  Janna overhead on the loudspeaker that a “Joanne” had a lost child named Shelby.  When Janna heard that she looked at me, her eyes got huge, and she said “That’s SHELBY!”  Apparently we had lost track of one of our 11 passengers and left little Shelby outside at one of the exhibits.  Good parenting, eh?  I am sure that 15 minutes was a lifetime to our poor 7 year old.

Quinn comforting poor Shelby.

We were quickly reunited and, after wiping away the tears, we set off for more fun. 

Quinn hangin with the dairy cows.

After lunch and another 2 hours of museum fun, we headed out for a small suburb of Luzern called Kriens where Phil makes his home.  He showed us his house – perfectly neat and well organized – like everyone is Switzerland.  And then he took us up a hill near his home.  This little hike might have been my favorite Luzern experience.  No tourists, just locals out walking up and down a hill that quickly transitions between suburb and dairy farm.  And, of course, at the top of the hill there is the same two things that are at the top of every Swiss hill – a place to get a beer or coffee and a spectacular view.  Oh, and the little café where we drank our coffee had an actual stammtisch table (a table where community locals come together to discuss sports or politics or women or whatever).  There were some hardened veterans sitting around that stammtisch drinking their beer and making important conversation. 

Everywhere a view.

The hike, the dairy farm, the views, the stammtisch – all of it was so beautifully Swiss.  Like I said, no tourists (except us).  Just locals like Phil doing their normal Sunday routine.  It was awesome.

Locals on a Sunday hike.

We headed back to Luzern and said good-bye to Matt and the girls.  We then went with Phil to dinner at another awesome restaurant. 

We said good-by to our good friend Phil.  He took two full days and guided us around his home town.  We are so grateful.  There is no better way to see a city than to have a good friend, who has a deep knowledge base and good taste, give you a personal tour.  It was amazing.

Grace and Aubrey did this most of the time.