Lucerne and Munich...The Last Hurrah

I arrived in Lucerne around 9 AM and immediately found a hotel nearby, dropped off my backpack, donned my raincoat, and started walking. I knew immediately that this was the most beautiful place I had been so far; even though it was raining, I kept grinning from ear to ear when I would come across some new, unexpected place that proved to be as beautiful as the last. The Lion Monument (Lõwendenkmal), which you can see here:
was absolutely exquisite (and yes, the date on the photo is wrong, thanks for pointing it out). This is a memorial for the more than 700 Swiss Guards who fell while attempting to defend the palace of Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. Also breathtaking (and equally famous) are Lucerne's two wooden bridges, Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) and Spreuerbrücke (Mill Bridge), which both cross the (extremely clean, if somewhat swan-ridden) river that flows to Lake Lucerne.

There are so many beautiful places in Lucerne, it would be easy to spend a day simply walking around. The churches are splendid, many of the buildings in the old town are beautifully painted, and the city in general is just....well, dang pretty. However, I put a stop to my wanderings at the Picasso Museum (of course) and got to see both a fantastic array of photographs of his life AND a great assortment of his paintings. Afterwards, I found a chocolate shop (YAY) and then decided to walk along the city wall (and climb the steps of its many towers) to make sure it didn't look as though I had found the chocolate shop. I spent most of the day in this fashion, went back to the hotel for a night's rest, and had a few hours in the morning (still raining) to do a little more walking. Then it was back on the train to Munich (6 hours!)...

I was a kind of homecoming to be back in Munich, surrounded by familiar places and, to some extent, people. I stayed with Laura (Brazil) my first night back, and I was able to hear some of the U2 concert in Olympiapark from our room. I ran into Jack at SchnellRestaurant and we chatted for awhile...but I was really wiped out and headed back to the room to get some sleep. The following day (my last one in Munich!) I crammed in all of my "last things": My last Helles Mass in the English Gardens, my last walk down Sonnenstrasse, my last visit to the antiquarian bookstore on Schellingstrasse, a few last gifts for the folks back home, and then I met Jack to see "The Fantastic Four" auf Deutsch. It is pretty easy to follow the storyline, whether you understand the dialogue or not. After the movie, we ate at a Middle Eastern restaurant; then, I headed out to my hotel by the airport (which is nowhere near central Munich - 45 minutes on an S-Bahn). I dropped off my 3-ton suitcase and hopped back on the train to go back into Munich for a little farewell...I met my friends at Murphy's Irish Pub and said goodbye to everyone before heading BACK out to the airport hotel around 11:15 PM. My flight left the following morning at 7:40, and now I am sitting here, back on native soil, hoping that I have remembered most of the details of my journey. I lost about 45 pictures from my digital camera when I had a memory card malfunction, but that leaves me with around 250 pictures...so, when you guys want to see them, let me know! :-)

So, Part Four is forthcoming, as promised. I know you are all waiting anxiously for my "Things I've Learned" list...as though I really "learned" anything. Didn't you know that I already know it all? If you didn't know this, then I don't know why you are reading my blog. Clearly you have no idea about who I am as a person. This is something you should change about yourself. Immediately.