Today we decided we should explore the old city walls and the towers and ramparts. After another hearty breakfast we walked a short distance to the first tower and up we went. The stairs were plentiful, but they had been remade in wood so weren't too bad. The view at the top over the city was lovely. Along the rampart and we came to the next tower, so up we went. This one was the clock tower and had lots of different clocks and clock mechanisms in it. I saw one chime at a quarter to and then whizz and wind itself up again in anticipation of the hour.
This clock has the honor of chiming one minute before the rest of that clocks in the city! There are about 4 different chimes in the tower . They start at the top one minute before and then the next two go on the hour and the last one where we were standing is actually wrong and goes at 5 past. So you could start at the top and make your way down and see them all. But we weren't hanging around for another hour so we continued our tour along the rampart.
Once outside the old city walls we found a little farm with the cutest little Pygmy pigs in! They were delightful, snuffing and tunnelling in the grass. They weren't any bigger than the bantam hens they were in with. They entertained us for quite a while!
We walked along the wall and found anther tower. I passed on this one, but Ken went up. I sat and enjoyed the views below and the pain of people as they trudged up the big hill from the centre of town. Then they were going into that tower, which was apparently the worst. We definitely started at the right end!
We have done a bit of shopping but were keen to check out to see if anything caught my eye in the new town. First we stopped and had coffee, our most expensive yet 10CHF (about $15) for 2 small coffees, without table service . Then the waitress came and used our table as a repository for all the full ash trays she was clearing. Time to go!
We couldn't really find a great shopping area. We did find a food market that had some tasty looking treats in, but kept on going. We finally found the underground shopping centre under the station, but didn't buy anything there either.
We had booked a 3 hour cruise of Best of the Lake on a paddle steamer. We found a seat in the first class section, all fancy today! The boat was lovely, we got some cushions for extra comfort and sat back to enjoy the views. And they were certainly spectacular. The clouds were still hanging around so the mountains were hidden, but the water was deep and clear and blue. We passed the fancy houses high on the hill and stopped at little villages for people to board and disembark.
There was a 1st class restaurant downstairs and a cafe upstairs, but we stayed outside and got drinks delivered to us. I sat back and watched the magnificent world go by while Ken kept jumping up and down to take photos and check out the engine and the wheel and stuff. We shared a great cherry cake with coffee as we made our way back to Lucerne. A really enjoyable, relaxing and extremely picturesque tour.
Back home we went about the chore of repacking. It never gets fun trying to shove everything back in. I have started half packing and then doing my case up and banging it up and down so that everything settles and I can stuff more in .
We decided to check out what was happening with the Blue Balls Festival. As we arrived KT Tunstall was finishing a set on the stage outside the Schweizerhof Hotel. We made out way over to the stage by the Lake and a local act was just finishing a transy set. So we decided to get some dinner and joined the throng around the food tents. We settled on Sri Lankan and both had the Roti. I had Vegan and Ken had Lamb. They were both great. We paid 30CHF for the meal, plus another 4 deposit on our disposable plates. You get a token and when you return the dirty plates you get you money back. We sat on the side of the lake and I managed to drop one of the tokens in! So a takeaway festival meal for 2 cost about $45 AUD, then we had to get drinks and they do the same deposit on the plastic cups. There is no rubbish or food left lying around but it must be a pain for the food and drink vendors. They were selling cigars at one of the tents and a girl was giving out free samples.
We decided to go to another of the free concert venues, across the bridge to the KKL Plaza. As we passed the Schweizerhof we heard a duo that sounded good so stopped there to listen. They were a couple of Australians, called the Hussy Hicks. They were really good and had the crowd well entertained.
When they finished we went to the KKL Plaza. There was a mass of people there. We listened to a Jazz trio for a while, but they couldn't really get much volume and were lost in the noise of the place. There was a concert inside the venue, which was ticketed and then another guy started playing out the front, an English dude called Gareth Icke. He was a bit intense!
It was time to head home and he was doing my head in so off we went. A final walk over the pretty Chapel Bridge and to our side of town. As we walked through the the squares we saw a crowd and went to check in out. It was a Pokemon Frenzy. We had seen a few kids around but this was a mob. Some had chairs to sit on and food to sustain them. Then there was yelling and a group of them went running off down an alleyway.
We got an ice cream down on the Lakeshore from Dieci. A tasty treat to finish in Lucerne.
Lucerne has been a great stopover. It is quaint and ever so pretty. If the clouds had cleared it would have been even more spectacular. It is expensive, but we have expected that. We have done all the major tourist sights in the time we've had. We haven't been lost at all, so it is obviously an easy city to navigate!

Steps 19,517
Kms walked 13.5