We started the day with our complimentary breakfast over at the Krone Hotel, which is where we had checked in. The spread was excellent and we were fed and ready for a day of walking and sightseeing.
We followed a Rick Steeves walking tour, with Ken being my guide . At times he just rambled over the bits he thought were unimportant so I'm not sure I got the whole history. We walked all over the old town and saw the many bridges, the Jesuit Church (which is closed so we couldn't go in) and the many painted buildings. A lot of the old squares have statues and painted murals, depicting a historical or mythical fact. They give colour and interest to the buildings. The squares are all paved, but the footpaths are mostly sealed (which is nice if you are dragging a suitcase!)
Time for a coffee, we first went into a chocolate shop and bought some famed Swiss chocolate. They didn't have a proper coffee machine there so we took our goodies elsewhere!
After coffee we walked up to the monument of the lion, which is a beautiful and moving sculpture in the side of the hill of a dying lion, a tribute to Swiss soldiers who died in 1792 trying to defend the Tuilleries Palace in the French Revolution. Really lovely, with a pond in front.
Walking home we passed a pastry shop with a delicious looking strudel cake in the window. It was only a little one and only 8 CHF so we bought it for lunch. Back home, Ken made a cup of tea, but the only tea they had was to go in the Nespresso machine and it was disgusting, but the slice of cake was marvellous.
So next on the agenda was a walk I had seen on a 48 hours in Lucerne site by the UK Independent. It took us from the Train Station and around the Lake to the Richard Wagner museum. It was a really nice walk, following the lake shore all the way . We passed a yacht club with many boats in the yard, but there weren't many out on the water. The water was beautiful, the sun was shining. There were quite a few clouds around so the visibility of the mountains wasn't great, but with so much beauty around it didn't really matter. We stopped at a little beach and Ken did a quick change into his bathers in the bushes and stepped into Lake Lucerne for a refreshing swim. He said it was very nice and not as cold as you'd expect. The water feeds down from the melting snow in the mountains.
We only had a tiny travel towel which dried him off, but wasn't big enough to get changed under and the crowd at the beach had grown. He wandered along in his boardies for a while, getting changed once we got to the museum. He was looking particularly fetching.
We didn't go into the museum, but did enjoy the views and appreciated the beauty of the house where Wagner once lived.
We had seen a lot of promotion for a festival, the Blue Balls Festival so checked that out on our way home. A band, Faber, were doing a sound check so we stopped to listen. They were really good, a little bit like Cat Empire, but in German! Then the rain started. We were stuck under a Heineken umbrella, which leaked while the rain poured and the thunder sounded. We grabbed a beer and listened to the band, hoping the rain would clear. One woman was sitting, sheltered under her umbrella, reading a novel on her iPad! We chatted to a young Swiss girl who had come to Lucerne for the weekend just for the festival and wasn't sure the rain would clear .
We finally made a run for it and got home absolutely drenched. We dried off and decided that the Blue Balls could wait until a drier night. We had read a couple of decent reviews of a place called Rathaus Brauerei was just down the alleyway in Unter de Egg on the water. We got there at about 7.30, grabbed a table and were immediately, instantaneously given menus. Then about 30 seconds later the efficient, but not so friendly waitress was back asking for our orders. We ordered drinks and told her we weren't ready for food orders. The drinks were back within a minute, no we still weren't ready. Finally we chose some good Swiss sausage meals and she soon had them back to us. Ken had a bratwurst and fries. One sausage in gravy with fries, for 22CHF I had boiled sausages, presented in the boiling water with mustard and a giant pretzel for 16CHF. They were tasty, but the most expensive sausages we've eaten. But I'm all for trying the local cuisine and we know we are going to have to pay a lot for whatever we have here. We opted not to stay for dessert and she had us out the door by 8.30!
We had been thinking it would have been a long, lingering meal at the brewery so we then decided to head up to the Geutsch Chateau, a picturesque castle hotel sitting on the hill. I had read that we should follow the lake shore in the opposite direction to our hike and come to a funicular. We should have turned off earlier than we did as we found ourselves in a subway that was dark and we were thinking it might be a bit dodgy coming home later. But on the positive, it was the sweetest smelling subway I have ever walked through, with floral undertones. I think the city of Lucerne actually has a slightly sheepy smell, so the subway was a surprise.
We found the funicular. I had read it was free but there was a sign about purchasing tickets in the foyer of the hotel so we hopped on and pushed the button and made the steep ascent up to the hotel. The outside is a little run down but the views are spectacular. There were a lot of people in the restaurant eating fancy dinners and it didn't look like they would welcome us so we had a look, took some photos and headed off. It is more the place to go for an aperitif, not a digestif! We hopped back on the funicular without paying and we can never go back as they have taken our photo and we will be charged if we return! Or something like that.
We made the long walk home and had more strudel cake for dessert. A good day, a lot of walking in this beautiful city.

Steps 27,225
Kms walked 20.7