Holiday in Lucerne

This past weekend we took a mini holiday trip to Lucerne, Switzerland, which is described as "the city, the lake, the mountains."  Lucerne is located in central Switzerland, three hours from our house.  While living here we have tried to learn about the Swiss traditions and are always looking for ways to experience them.  Switzerland in the winter celebrates their biggest festival, Fasnacht.  I had read that Lucerne had the best carnival celebration, so we decided if we were going to learn about this tradition, why not experience it at the largest one in Switzerland.  We had no idea it was going to be as entertaining as it turned out to be- it totally exceeded any expectations we had.

Fasnacht is a pre-lenten carnival- think Mardi Gras- but no beads and everyone kept their tops on!  It is a six-day all out carnival which starts at 5am on Thursday and ends on the morning of Ash Wednesday.  It was absolutely crazy!  Over 100,000 people come out to celebrate in Lucerne for this celebration- the streets in Old Town were packed with people marching along, playing musical instruments, dressed in elaborate costumes and wearing the most amazing masks we had ever seen.  I had read the celebration in Lucerne is famous for its chaotic "march any direction you like" street parades- and they were not joking!  The marching bands started around 8am on Saturday and when we went to bed they were still marching on.  It was definitely a memorable experience and we loved seeing how much joy and pride the people had while participating in the Fasnacht.
** For some reason I don't think the videos work- but it still gives you an idea of what it was like.

One group parading across the bridge- 

Other groups would stop and play live music anywhere in the street- 

Lucerne- showing how crowded the streets were along the lake- 

Although the carnival was very entertaining, there are so many other cool things to do in and around Lucerne so we definitely took advantage and headed to the mountains both days.  On Friday, when we arrived, we headed to Mt. Pilatus.  We took a cable car up to the sledding area and spent a couple hours enjoying the scenery and sledding down the mountain.  The girls loved sledding- unfortunately, I learned that I am not good at sledding on a wooden sled, and almost went off the side of the mountain with Adalyn, so Chris took the girls the rest of the time while I watched!  After sledding, we went down to a lower point and the girls played on the playground.  It was a wonderful afternoon spent in the mountains.

The sled they took down the hill- typical German sled- 

Eliza's first cable car ride!  Loved it- 

Playing at the playground- 

View from Mt. Pilatus

Friday night, we walked around Old Town and visited the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrucke), which is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe spanning across the Reuss River.  The bridge was originally built in 1333 to link the old town on the right bank to the new town on the left bank.  The bridge is 560 ft long.

Daytime view of bridge- 

Night view of bridge-

On Saturday, it was a beautiful sunny day, so we took a boat to Weggis, which is also on Lake Lucerne.  From there, we took a cable car up Mt. Rigi to the Rigi Katbad stop about 1,433 meters high. The views were once again unbelievable.  After walking around a bit, we took a train back down the mountain, and hopped back on the boat and went back to Lucerne.

Getting ready to ride the boat- 

View of Lucerne from the boat- 

View from Mt. Rigi

They had horse drawn sleigh rides on the mountain- 

Girls on the train- 

On Saturday afternoon we walked around Old Town and enjoyed the joyous ambience- everyone was so happy and having so much fun!  Who wouldn't be happy dancing in the street to live music??

We had such a wonderful holiday- we are so glad that we visited Lucerne and already have plans to go back.

Now, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of my sister and brother in-law who arrive on Tuesday.