Luzern, Switzerland

Today we took the train to Luzern, Switzerland.  Luzern is about an hour away by train, just southwest of Zurich.  The town is recognized by many around the world as "the heart of Switzerland."  There's a lot of tourists here, and it's easy to see why.  The city has everything you need, from nice restaurants and shops, to a state of the art train station and concert hall.  Then there's the lake and surrounding mountains.  Everything you want in Switzerland is right here in one place...and that's why this town is so popular with tourists.  We arrived by train and the first thing we did was take the kids on the "Chapel Bridge," which is the official landmark of the city.  One of the interesting things about the bridge are the paintings on the rafters, which depict scenes from Switzerland's past.  The bridge has been rebuilt a few times over the decades, but the landmark is original to the town's origins.  We had a nice italian lunch outside, and then we walked around some of the city streets taking in the sights.  Finally, we hopped on a boat and took an hour long cruise out on Lake Luzern, where we got great views of the surrounding mountains.  We were wanting to take a trip up to the top of Mt. Pilatus, but it was too windy and they were steering people away.  So we'll have to save that for another time.  Anyway, here's everything we did in Luzern.  We really enjoyed our day here.  And oh...by the way...that's cranberry juice Megan is drinking.  Not a "Rose Pinot Noir" or something like that.