LUZERN


This is a picture of Luzern's trademark and the most photographed monument in Switzerland, the Kapellbrücke ( Chapel Bridge ), a covered wooden bridge with at one end an octagonal watertower, dating from the 14th century. It served as a watch tower and corner pillar of the city's fortifications, as well as a prison, a torture chamber and housed the city archives.

On the way back from Mt. Titlis the tourbus made a stop in Luzern. Just long enough to collect a free souvenir tea spoon at an upscale department store and to take a quick look around. So I decided to go back there to see more of that famous bridge. Of course, this also gave me a chance to ride a train....

That's why you see me here standing in line at the Zürich Hauptbahnhof to buy a roundtrip ticket on the 3:04 pm train to Luzern.

As you can see on the picture of the sign, the departure time is posted in the 24 hour mode, 15:04, something we should do in the US as well. Less of a chance to miss a train, or plane, by not paying attention to am and pm, or light and dark print in the schedules. It also tells you the stops in route ( Thalwil and Zug ) and from what track ( 3B ) the train leaves. The Zürich Main Station, by the way, is huge and finding tracks can be a challenge, even though there are plenty of signs. IR indicates the type of train ( Inter- Regional ) The train turned out to be a double-decker, as you can see on the next page.