We woke up before it was light outside this morning. And way before 6 a.m., which is the earliest we could use the shower (out of courtesy for those still sleeping). I had tidied our room and we were up and showered and out the door to do some sight-seeing by 6:45. The only other people out and about were joggers and an extensive clean-up crew picking up litter in the parks and on the streets. Just like Disneyland, right? ;)

We saw a couple hot air balloons floating high in the sky, and watched the swans and coots on the lake . We strolled into town taking frequent stops to click pictures of this and that. We were thoroughly enjoying the cool of the morning and having the town to ourselves. We stopped into another little Backerei Hug and got ourselves breakfast. Bryan asked the lady working at the counter if there was anything that did not have milk in it, because his wife was allergic. She gave us an apologetic look and pointed at a plain roll on the back wall. Fortunately, her co-worker was able to point out three other items that were safe for me to eat. I ended up with something like an apple fritter, and it was very satisfying. Bryan made off with a chocolate filled croissant that he seemed quite smitten with.

As we got further into town we noticed vendors setting up for market. There are all sorts of berries here that I don't recognize. I told Bryan I wish they had a sampler platter of berries, because I don't want to spend 5 francs to find that I don't particularly care for those bright red berries that look like only birds should be eating them . Behind the vendors was the Jesuit Church listed on our walking tour. We tried to go in, but found that Mass was in process. Not wanting to disturb the worshipers, we closed the heavy door as quietly as we could manage and headed back into the market. As we walked further, the stalls of fresh food, cheese and salami gave way to tables selling clothes, nick-knacks and oddities. This flea market area was already busy with locals enjoying their Saturday morning.

We walked on Kapellbrucke (the Chapel Bridge) and across Spreuerbrucke (the Mill Bridge). These wooden bridges are very old and pretty. Then we headed out to the Museggmauer (the city's defensive wall built in 1386). As we hiked up a hill by shaggy bulls, a church bell tolled eight o'clock. We climbed steep stairs up the towers and walked on a stretch of the wall. We particularly enjoyed the tower that they use now as a museum of the old clockworks from around the city. Huge pendulums swung ticking the time.

We wandered next down through old town, a car free shopping area, where they were setting up for a music festival . We were glad to be there early, because it is sure to be crazy once that is in full-swing. We stopped into a gift shop and I bought a couple of postcards. I (Merilee) was very brave and said, "Guten morgen" to the salesperson. :) Afterwards, we went into a chocolate shop and I gave the lady behind the counter my little "I can't eat milk, please help" card in German. She read it and told me everything in the case was made with milk. I thanked her and encouraged Bryan to still get the little cocoa covered truffle he had been eyeballing. He said it was amazing. I got into our bag and broke off some dark chocolate that we had bought last night, not to be left out.

Next we headed to Löwendenkmal (the Lion Monument). There were lots of people there (both an Indian and an Asian tour group) so we didn't stay long. We snapped our pictures, refilled our water bottles at the fountain, and moved on.

From there we went to look inside our first gothic-style cathedral . As we ascended the steps to Hofkirche, the bells began to ring out the hour. Inside, it was very quiet and we walked around looking at the artwork and architecture. Afterward we walked outside around the church.

By this time we were hungry, so we headed back to the market and bought some hazelnuts. We contemplated salami, but we weren't sure what kind to get, so we ended up in a place called New York Food instead where we split a burger. After that we went in search of a coo-coo clock shop Bryan remembered from his last trip here. We never found the exact shop he was after, but we did look at some coo-coo clocks. Then on the way back to the hostel we treated ourselves to some gelato/sorbet. It was delicious, but even better than that, it was cold.

Back at the hostel we napped and relaxed, trying to escape the heat of the day. Our room is not air-conditioned, however, so we met with marginal success. During our rest time, a parade of men in old fashioned military uniforms marched by drumming, and later the church bells rang for about 15 minutes . Finally we gave it up and emerged to find dinner.

The two grocery stores we tried to go to that were closer to our hostel were closed. At 6pm on a Saturday? We can only figure it must have to do with Mass? Not sure, but it meant we walked back into town to shop at the Coop at the train station. There was thunder and a downpour again and we arrived quite damp. No matter. Unfortunately, everyone else was doing their shopping there at the same time. This store is the size of two 7/11s, and easily had more than 100 customers jostling around inside it. Fortunately, we had been there last night and knew more or less where we wanted to go. Even so, it was fairly ridiculous. Bryan wants me to mention that the food is pretty well marked with allergen information. It isn't in English, by any means, but we are getting by. :)

Part of the reason for the crowds is the big festival going on right now. There are street vendors selling food, bands playing music in every square, and people drinking and smoking all over town . We overheard there may be fireworks tonight. We will see.

Anyway, we walked back to the hostel and ate salad with chicken and bread. We drank tepid grape juice (which tasted heavenly). The Internet connection was not working very well, so we walked back into town to use the WiFi at Starbucks. We may check out some of the festival tonight before heading to bed and an early train out of town tomorrow.

This was our first full day in Europe and we were still really fighting off the jet lag. We found ourselves being tired or awake at odd hours and waking up in the middle of the night feeling very hungry. None of it deterred us from really enjoying ourselves as we had a great time in Luzerne. In fact, more fun than I had on my first pass through, which would be a theme. I really enjoyed going back to some of the places I had been before with Merilee. I found that I saw more and enjoyed more than I had when passing through by myself.  Switzerland is really a beautiful place, but wow, can it be expensive. We ended up being fairly conservative with our spending while we were there. This was both due to prices and still feeling out how our budget would hold up on our trip. Looking back, we probably could have spent a little more money, like buying Mer those berries, but it worked out well in the end.