On this morning, we took a bus to the town centre. We alighted just in front of the main train station, and walked down the staircase to San Lorenzo Cathedral. I opened the front door to go in, but there was a mass going on inside, so we didn't go in eventually. We just stopped for some photo-taking and resumed our walk in Lugano town. Being in the town was almost like being out of Switzerland. The buildings and how they are built on the slopes just felt really Mediterranean. The town was also surprisingly deserted, it was the one place we visited which we hardly saw any Asians.
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Our hotel in Lugano didn't provide breakfast, so Wen Lee and i stopped in Piazza del Riforma ( sort of like the city square) to have some cakes with coffee.
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After filling our tummies, we had a nice walk along Lago di Lugano from this part of town, with fine views across the lakes from Lugano's peaks. Along the way, we passed Santa Maria degli Angeli, at the southern end of the Via Nissa. The monumental fresco of the Passion (bernardino Luini, 1529) in the church is also quite remarkable.
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As with Wen Lee making the decision to visit Lugano, i also made a major choice in the trip. Our first itinerary plan was to actually head to Zurich after Lugano, but i consulted my travel partner and we mutually agreed to forego Zurich and spend 2 nights in Lucerne instead. Lucerne, after all, is well-known as the most beautiful city in Switzerland.
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I bought a big slice of pizza at the train station, and we headed to Lucerne. Reaching Lucerne, we suddenly felt cold again, with them temperature dipping to 8 Deg C in Lucerne. We checked into the hotel, rested for a while and started exploring Lucerne.
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Lucerne is such a beautiful place, and here i quote Insight Traveller 'Lucerne, on Lake Lucerne, with quaint, covered wooden bridges across the Reuss River, Alpine peaks in the distance and paddle steamers on the lake, is a picture-postcard idyll.' I couldn't have put it better myself!
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First, we walked to Spreuerbrucke, an old covered bridge containing paintings of the Dance of Death. We crossed the bridge and visited Alstradt, the old town in Lucerne. We gave it a quick glance before heading to Kapellbrucke, undoubtedly the most recognised landmark in Lucerne. It is the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe. Sadly it was severely damaged during a fire in 1993, and some parts of it were destroyed even though it has been reconstructed.
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While waiting for our boat ride in Lake Lucerne ( or in German, it's called a tongue-twisting Vierwaldstattersee), we strolled along Lake Lucerne, admiring the ducks and swans as well as posing for photos with the Art Museum, just outside the boat quay.
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Finally, the boat arrived and we took a round trip in Lake Lucerne. Many previous tourists to Lucerne have earnestly informed us that no trip to Lucerne is complete without a boat trip in the lake, and boy, do i agree! However it got too chilly during the ride and midway we had to dash into the boat's interiors, instead of admiring the perfect scenery outside. We witnessed the beautiful sunset and made it back just after sundown. We had some take-away McDonald's back in our hotel and spent the night the same as every previous night , watching Obama's progress in the US elections from CNN. That was the only channel in English during our stay in Switzerland....haha....
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