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The Inn offered breakfast in a quaint room on the second floor. We filled up and hit the streets. Shops upon shops impressed us. Every one of us found something to bring home. Tim spoiled me with a very pretty ring from Swarovski for our 18th Wedding Anniversary, which was on the following day. Brennin spent a lot of time looking
for a specific new model of Swiss Army Knife, and finally found it.
A unique tent market lined the lake, full of artisans selling their wares. We browsed through and stopped for an ice cream. The swans nearby caught our attention - they were extremely tame and very accustomed to people feeding them. The kids sat on a log by the shoreline, and the swans stood close with curious eyes. The birds were well mannered and waited patiently. As soon as the ice cream was gone the kids started to break pieces off of their cones and feed it to the swans. It was very exciting for them to be next to such a large and beautiful birds.
We wanted a tour of the lake so we enquired about prices. The lady we were talking to was a heavy set, sour, German lady. Despite the bad reception we decided to take the trip anyway. Once on board we loosened her up in conversation and even had her smiling! The trip itself was relaxing and scenic. Some of us sat at the tables inside on the main floor, and others went on the top deck in the open air. The weather again over 30 degrees made the breeze incredibly welcome. We saw many people enjoying the lake, swimming and boating. Swans dotted the shoreline, and the color of the water in some areas was a beautiful shade of emerald green. Of course the mountains made the whole scene very special. An hour later we arrived back at the dock.
We compared a few restaurants for supper and decided on a fondue aboard a retired paddle wheeler, Wilhelm Tell. We sat on the bow of the boat, adults at one table and kids at another. The experience was very nice, the bill - not so nice. The waters alone were 50 Swiss Francs! Ouch! But that's why Switzerland was only a 2 day stop. For how beautiful Lucerne is, it was worth it. The kids finished eating before us and went to the market that we could see from our table. They thought it would be fun to sing on the street (inspired by all the street performers they were seeing throughout the trip). They got quite a few compliments, one even from a music teacher. A few people looked for a basket to put money in but then realized it was just for fun. A nearby street performer looked a little grumpy - I think they were taking attention away from him.
Walking back we admired the Chapel Bridge lined in blooming flowers, and the Water Tower next to it. Their rust colored roofs were glowing because of the setting sun. The Water Tower got its name because it stands in the water, but it was actually used throughout history as prison, torture chamber, and later as a municipal archive.
We went back to the hotel for a swim to cool down, and then took a late evening walk over to the Lion Monument. It was dusk and we walked through closed shopping districts. Rounding a corner we came into a park surrounded in trees and two grassy hills opposite each other, with a massive stone wall on one side. In the wall, illuminated, chiseled out from stone, is a sculpture of a dying lion. We were taken back by the size and the lifelike emotion in the face of the lion. It was sculpted in 1820 and is a reminder of the Swiss guards who died during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris.
Seeing the monument was a nice way to finish off our day.
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