We make our way through the train station at Basel. We are still on French territory. We flash our passports one more time at the customs official and now we are in Switzerland. Basel is much larger than the way station I imagined it to mix of classic Swiss architecture and modern buildings, all very clean and very quaint, but not too too precious as lakeside in Lucerne. I admire the mannered details in Switzerland, charming, bijou, but with a veneer of sophistication to elicit wows, even from hopelessly jaded New Yorkers who normally think of rivers of champagne and mountains of caviar. But I am not that narrow minded and I have benign lapses of culinary permissiveness where I can admire less than regal bratwurst and pretend my arteries arent hardening as I eat. Surprisingly everyone is dressed very casually, loosely and in shorts (shorts seemed taboo in London & Paris).I spy trendettes on their way to Lucerne.
In our motor coach with a German engine, we make our way out of Basel to Lucerne, about 40 miles away. The countryside is appearing out of nowhere, cottages in white and brown with the
obligatory pots of geraniums in the windowsill. Finally we have a view of Mount Pilatus, shrouded in clouds. Down in the valley, corporations have built their landmarks in the shadow of the massive mountain.
An impromptu bus tour precedes a dinner at Hotel Flora on Siedenhofstrasse 5. Healthy and well presented food is set before us in a dining room of beige linen, chocolate fabric, contemporary chairs and a ceiling lit up with what looks to be illuminated shards of ice This hotel restaurant seems above its genre. .(The hotel has since been renovated since this article). Carafes of water are free. The food, not surprisingly, is quite good: a chicken soup with character and texture (thicker than most), a roast chicken, 2 generous portions with potatoes Dauphine and zucchini. For dessert, there is a fruit salad, a mix of light colored fruits that was also a treat for the eyes. What better way to walk off that excess than with a walk over bridges, walkways and streets of Lucerne. Our hotel is right by the river leading to the lake. A giant pointed tower with shingled roof rises majestically from the water. Wooden bridges curve across
the with vaulted wooden ceilings. Many storied buildings, windows all with flower boxes, spindly towers and roofs, narrowing and pointing upward and illuminated at night. Spires are used by architects to increase building height easily.
Morning is the usual melange of continental breakfast (drama over orange juice division: they say we are not entitled to any in our plan, we say were entitled. Nanny (our guardian tour guide) intervenes and we got our vitamin C that morning and again that had broken the contract, you see. Mini tours afterwards: The Lion Monument of Lucerne, a rock relief that dates back to 1820, honoring the Swiss Guards who died protecting French royalty, very sad, we mourn; But we are resilient, impromptu shopping as I had already converted my Swiss Francs to Italian lira: bad move.) Lucerne is a shoppers paradise; then visits to the post office and bank.
At noon we have a folklore lunch at Stadtfeller, a Swiss brasserie. In a charming atmosphere of linen, fresh flowers, vaulted ceilings, lace curtains and cagily arranged geraniums. The restaurant is quite beautiful with pleasing details and studied gracefulness. We dine on Swiss
Gruyere fondue, spearing crusty bread and dunking them into heated cheese over burners, a mixed salad (very mixed: shredded carrots, red cabbage leaves, leaf lettuce and cucumbers), bratwurst with roesti potatoes and a single tomato, all hot and very Swiss. For dessert we had Swiss surprise (a mix of vanilla and strawberry ice cream in a cracker shell and topped with a Swiss flag,) With a bottle of German mineral water, ever so slightly fizzy and bitter), the cost was 28 Swiss Francs per person (Cost are not accurate in todays wildly inflated times).
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