Lucerne: City of Lights & Legends

Lucerne is known as the city of lights because of its beautiful lights at Christmas and the Lilu Light Festival. It's name is associated with the the Latin word lucerna which means "lantern" or oil lamp. The Old Town of Lucerne is full of fascinating symbolism and history - if you know where to look! Come along as we explore Lucerne's old town.

It's my second day in Lucerne and I've just come back down to earth from the Swiss Alps. It's 4:30pm when I meet my lovely guide Doris under the arch at the railway station and we set off on a one and a half hour guided tour of the secrets of Lucerne's old town.

We reach the Chapel Bridge where a white swan shears through the water in the Reuss River. Doris points out the Lucerne flag that flies alongside the Swiss flag. The white on top symbolises the snow capped mountains while the blue symbolises Lake Lucerne. Overseas tourism to Lucerne first enjoyed a boost after a visit by England's Queen Victoria in 1868. She spent several weeks in Lucerne and after she returned home, many were curious to visit the place that she enjoyed so much.

We stop by the Jesuitenkirche Luzern, an incredibly ornate Baroque Jesuit church. The Jesuits were invited to Switzerland in 1573 as they were said to be good teachers and they wanted to build a Catholic school. Nowadays the major religion in Lucerne is Catholicism and it was the only major Swiss city to remain Catholic after the reformation.

The story goes that when people asked for help with their health, once they were better, they purchased silver symbols of each healed body part to thank the church. And even the offerings can be made easily using their QR code – a touch of modern and so very Swiss.

Further down the Reuss River, Doris points out the needle dam. They control the water level of the river using vertical wooden planks or needles. These measure 3m/9.8 feet high and weigh 30kg/66lbs and are made out of Douglas fir wood. This is dangerous work and technicians must be tethered in case the waters sweep them away. Each needle is manually added or subtracted depending on how much water is in the river.

And while the Chapel Bridge is one of the best known tourist draws, Doris is excited to show me the second wooden bridge, the less known one with an interesting message to it. The Spreuerbrücke bridge was built in 1400 was designed to link the Mill district with the Bakers district. Like the Chapel Bridge, it is a covered wooden bridge but with a very unique feature.

They call this bridge a "Memento Mori" which is Latin Latin to "remember you are going to die". If you look carefully at the paintings in the archway, you will see that there is a skeleton appearing during mundane situations in a "Danse Macabre" or dance of death. This is to remind people to make the most of their time as death can come at any time.

Make sure to look for the wooden stairs at the end of the dam. These are the stairs for the city's beavers that make a rare appearance.

Lucerne also has an underground beer pipeline that starts at Rathaus brauerei and extends 70m/230feet and ends just near Magdi bar. Doris and I stop there for one of Lucerne's specialties: Kafi Luz. This is a hot beverage spiced with schnapps and coffee. The key to a perfect Kafi Luz is that you should be able to see the spoon through the liquid so the coffee level is light and just therefore there for a little flavour. It's deliciously warming and I can really imagine this as a warming pick me up during winter.

The last stop on our tour is at the colourful fountain in Old Town called Fritschibrunnen meaning Brother Fritsch. At the beginning of spring each year Lucerne hosts a Carnivale. Thousands of people converge and music is played (badly and deliberately so) while people wear ugly masks. This noisy celebration is to chase away winter. The symbolic figures behind the carnival are Brother Fritschi and his wife who are depicted as jovial characters. This character was created by the Safran guild, one of the oldest guilds in Switzerland.

After the tour I head to dinner at one of most historic and traditional Swiss restaurants. Burgerstube is part of the Wilden Mann hotel. Burgerstube restaurant has been open for five hundred years. It started with life as a bar then changed into a tavern and then a hotel in 1860.

The restaurant itself is spread across many different areas and rooms. Burgerstube is the traditional restaurant and there is also a more modern terrace. I opted for the Burgerstube room, the traditional Neo Gothic room with dark wood panelling, bulls eye glass windows and family crests of notable families in Lucerne. The dining room has not changed much from when it was furnished in 1908 and it is atmospheric and quiet.

Mindful of the serving sizes at Swiss restaurants I decide just to have a main. First comes out an excellent assortment of freshly baked bread and then an amuse bouche.

The amuse bouche is a delicate oxtail praline (croquette) on creamy horseradish foam. It's a delicious start to the meal.

Tonight I am trying a Lucerne specialty called Luzerner Chügelipastete or Fritschipastete (a nod to Lucerne's pivotal carnival figure). This is a pie with nutmeg scented pork and veal sausage meat shaped into tiny oval "Chügeli" balls. This is combined with a fricasee of small pieces of veal and mushrooms in a creamy ragout with raisins marinated in cognac with a generous side of perfectly turned spring vegetables. This historical meat pie was first seen In the 18th century and is absolutely delicious, similar to a vol au vent with a thin and crisp pastry.

Dessert is a cheesecake with a topping of amarena cherry jelly, sorbet and a grapefruit espuma that gives the rich cheesecake a nice bitterness. I take the scenic walk home, even at 8:30pm it is still light and the streets of old town are quiet.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like to do guided tours of a city when you visit or do you prefer to wander around yourself?