Lucerne to Lauterbrunnen Valley

We didn't have much time to explore the city of Lucerne yesterday, so before we caught our next train, we spent the morning wandering the labyrinth of alleys and streets of town. We decided not to really plan our exploration and just let our feet lead the way, and it turned out to be a good decision - we discovered lots of interesting buildings, monuments, and sculpture.  We used the Spreuerbrücke to cross the river; this is the first bridge that was built in Lucerne, and as it was the furthest downstream, was the only place where one was able to dump chaff (spreu in German, hence the name) into the river.

Random Benedictine church across the street from our hotel

Found the Triforce in this crest

A needle dam: hand placed wooden "needles" control the flow of the river and the level of Lake Lucerne

Spreuerbrücke - first bridge built in Lucerne (not the original though

Old street with fresco-style painted facades

Our little geologists admiring a large geode and other stone jewelry

Outside a candy store

We eventually came to a little grotto off the beaten path, where we found the "Lion of Lucerne".  Dedicated to Swiss mercenaries who fought in the French Revolution.  

One last look at Lake Lucerne

   

Taking a second (very old) covered bridge across the river, we returned to complete our final pack, and caught the train through Interlaken to the Lauterbrunnen Valley.  I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that JRR Tolkien used Lauterbrunnen as inspiration when writing about Rivendell, the last homely house and dwelling place of the elves.  We checked into the Chalet Rosa B&B where we would be spending the next few days, and since there wasn't too much daylight left we played at the playground, and Joey and I hiked up to a little outlook behind Staubbach waterfall.  A lamb was actually born at the exact moment he and I were walking past - one more new arrival in the deep valley, in the shadow of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau.

Zipping thru Interlaken, the adventure capital of Switzerland - we saw lots of paragliders from the train, even this late in the season! In the peak of summer it's supposed to be teeming with adventurists

Our first look at Lauterbrunnen - the snowy Eiger is visible

Newest addition to Lauterbrunnen!

Some cool rock ball sculptures we saw along the main street