I invite you to join me at Vision & Verb to read my very brief history of Lord William Armstrong who was an inspiring scientist, innovator and philanthropist.
After breakfast our first port of call was the Jesuit Church which we had been meaning to visit all week. The inside reminded me very much of an ornate wedding cake. We then ventured into the Museum of Art which is located in the Culture and Convention Centre (KKL). We were tempted there by the following description:
Covering an area of 2′100 square meters, the museum has temporary exhibitions displaying significant works of modern art, as well as exhibitions from the museum’s own collection, with an emphasis on 19th and 20th century landscape painting and international art from 1960.
Nearly all the art on display was extremely modern and not what I think of as ‘art’ and I didn’t notice any landscape paintings… The temperature was in the 90s so after viewing the artworks we hoped to have refreshing drink on the terrace, but the cafe/bar was shut. We left the art museum and found an alternative cafe where we could sit and chill out before making our way to the train station for the start of our home journey.
On the way back to the hotel to pick up our baggage we visited a very old church before picking up sandwiches to enjoy on our train journey back to the airport. When we arrived at the station there was train just about to leave and Mr C decided we would rush to catch this one rather than wait for the one we had planned to catch. The cases then had to be hauled up and down stairs and along the carriages until we arrived in the correct part of the train for our tickets!
Not quite the relaxing journey it should have been, especially in the soaring temperatures. But it did mean that we arrived at the airport in plenty of time for the flight. The airport was cool due to the air conditioning, which was quite welcome.
Our flight was a little late leaving, but the pilot/flight was much better than our outward journey experience. It was also nice to see Birmingham without cloud as we landed, that has got to be a first for many years…
8 Comments CherryPie on Aug 6th 2013
We made what, because of the heat, seemed a long trek to the old town wall in order to view it and climb some of its towers. When we arrived at the wall I wimped out part way up the first tower (I am not very good with heights) so, whilst Mr C ascended the tower, I opted to take the short walk along the ramparts to the next tower and then down to ground level. I was glad when I arrived back at ground level where I found a nice bench in the shade to wait for Mr C.
When Mr C rejoined me, we made our way back into to town where I had one more of those refreshing mineral water and berry drinks. We then strolled through the town where Mr C found a book shop to investigate. He didn’t manage to find anything to purchase but I found a rather interesting board game which I did purchase. Later we went to a nearby bakery to buy a sandwich which we ate in a nearby public park accompanied by sparrows who fed off any stray crumbs.
After lunch we visited the ‘Rosengart Collection‘. This is a gallery of modern art including paintings by impressionist artists and a large number of Picasso’s works. After enjoying this museum we made our way to the lake where we relaxed over a leisurely drink and enjoyed the views whilst waiting for the arrival of the boat that was to take us on a panoramic tour of the lake. The tour of the lake was nice and relaxing, the more so because it was accompanied by a refreshing glass of wine. It just had to be done 
For that evening’s meal, we chose to return to the same restaurant that we ate in on our first evening in Lucerne. Thunderstorms were imminent so, to keep dry, we sat outside but underneath an overhanging roof. A number of Swiss army officer cadets from a nearby training school were occupying a large table in the restaurant. This made service for us a little slower than our first experience there.
Earlier, we had tried to check in online for our return flight with the intention of avoiding the problems we had incurred on our outward journey. Technology problems made this a little difficult so we abandonded it until after dinner when I insisted we try again! We checked in successfully only three hours after the earliest time that we could have and took the last two seats that were adjacent to each other. We also noticed that very few seats remained available after we had secured ours. I wonder how many people didn’t get a seat on the flight…
Our usual bar was full of Swiss army officer cadets, milling around, so plan B was put into action which, just around the corner, led to the discovery of another bar that was full of locals and had a nice, relaxing atmosphere.
I could hear the officer cadets partying underneath my hotel bedroom window and indulging in what sounded like drinking games well into the night…
11 Comments CherryPie on Aug 5th 2013
Though human ingenuity may make various inventions which, by the help of various machines, answer the same end, it will never devise any invention more beautiful, nor more simple, nor more to the purpose than Nature does; because in her inventions nothing is wanting and nothing is superfluous
Leonardo da Vinci
25 Comments CherryPie on Aug 4th 2013
The weather forecast predicted that there was quite a high chance of thunderstorms so we opted for the safe option of visiting the museum of transport. We chose to walk alongside the lake to get there and the views along the way were fabulous and very photogenic.
The museum was excellent and we spent most of the day there. It covers rail, road, water and air including space travel. It also had a display on cable cars and gondolas. The car display was very ingenious. They were displayed up the side of one wall and a crane was used to bring them down to a viewing arena. The cars to be displayed were chosen by the audience via voting buttons. The most popular of a group of four was the one that was brought down to be viewed. The model corgi cars had a similar albeit smaller crane arrangement for picking them to view. Although in this instance there was no way of knowing which cars where in each of the display cones.
Unfortunately when we left the museum we had just missed the boat back to the other side of the lake. By now it was glorious sunshine with no sign of storms so we opted to walk back along the same route we had arrived. The lake views had changed but we just as spectacular in the different afternoon light.
We had a lovely evening meal in an authentic restaurant on the Sternplatz. It was obviously a notable place because lots of tour guides stopped ther with their tourists in tow. There was a place opposite with (supposedly) authentic Swiss entertainment. Lots of parties of tourists poured in, it didn’t look big enough to hold them all but they all vanished inside.
We strolled back to the hotel via another part of the historic bridge that used to be the mill race. We then had a night cap in what had become our usual place next to the hotel before retiring for the evening.
8 Comments CherryPie on Aug 3rd 2013
I discovered this delightful drink of sparkling mineral water and fresh berries whilst having lunch in Heini, Lucerne.
More ‘Fresh’ photos can be found in the gallery.
20 Comments CherryPie on Aug 2nd 2013
