Luzern, Switzerland

September 17, 2025

It is quite a journey to get from Wenatchee, Washington USA, to Luzern, Switzerland. First, it's a 3-hour drive across a mountain pass (Blewett and Snoqualmie, heading west across the Cascades) to Seattle. Then it's a 10-hour flight from Seattle to Frankfurt, Germany. Then it's a 5-hour train ride from Frankfurt to Basel, Switzerland, then to Luzern. Even with the incredibly punctual Swiss German transportation, there are transfers and waits and panicked sprints across airports and train stations before finally, bleary eyed and discombobulated, we arrived to a brilliantly sunny afternoon in Luzern.

The first thing I learned is that Luzern is the same thing as Lucerne (like the supermarket butter brand). German is the official language of Luzern, yet its English name Lucerne is what appears on all things interweb (because that's what the algorithm shows me when I query in English). The Swiss are very much multilingual, switching easily from their Swiss German dialect, to High German, to French, to Italian, and to English for the many Americans like myself who can only handle one language. I can't be the only tourist to frantically google "is Luzern the same thing as Lucerne?" to make sure it really was time to disembark the train.

Since I'm on the topic of broadening perspectives, Won pointed out that I confused Switzerland with Sweden a lot before visiting. Swiss culture is traditional, orderly, and not known in Europe for being particularly progressive. They have a high rate of (regulated) gun ownership, tight restrictions on immigration, and are not part of the European Union (was I the only one who thought I could use euros here?). Healthcare is market-based, though it is universal. I appreciate their commitment to procedure (reservations at restaurants are expected, because why would you just walk in, you uncivilized schmuck), to tidiness and conformity (even construction sites were spotless), to clean public spaces, and to in-person gatherings and connection. They hang together on lakeshores, in cafes, and on mountain trails, and very few Swiss are glued to their screens. I spent an afternoon watching Swiss parents on a playground, and realized what felt different was the way the adults played with the kids, rather than sitting along the periphery on their phones. They played tag and took their turn on the merry-go-round, with not a smartphone in sight.

Courtesy of jet-lag, we were awake at dawn to watch the swans gracefully enjoying Lake Luzern (Vierwaldstättersee in German). The Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke) and the Lion monument were empty at that hour, and exquisitely beautiful in the early morning light. Even the locals were taking photos during their commute.

Perched on the shores of Vierwaldstättersee where the river Reuss flows out on its way into the Swiss heartland, within sight of the Alpine mountain range, the city is very picturesque. It has its origins, like so many towns in continental Europe, in the early Middle Ages after the fall of Rome. Kapellbrücke is the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe, built in the 1300s as part of the town's fortifications. It always boggles my mind how old things are in Europe. People haven't really changed much in the intervening 1000 years, but could they have ever imagined that a tourist from half a world away would be standing on their bridge one day taking photos with an iPhone?