Sleachmour Adventures: February Visitor and a Trip to Luzern

In February, I welcomed our second visitor to Sleachmour (temporary) B&B. Aarti is one of my oldest friends and is also a fellow expat, currently living in Brussels, Belgium. Aarti coordinated her visit to Zurich to overlap with Matt's second business trip. The weather wasn't on our side; most of her visit was drizzly and gray. Also, Aarti came down with (and shared) a killer cold. So, we kept things pretty low key, made dinners at the apartment for two of the four nights, spent a day exploring Zurich and a day in Luzern.

This was my first visit to Luzern (Lucerne in French), even though it's an easy 45 minute train ride from Zurich HB. Luzern sits on Lake Luzern, nestled between lots of mountains. Mountains that make Zurich's view look like foothills. In Luzerne, it felt like I could reach out and touch the Alps. Amazing! Mount Rigi and Mount Pilatus are the local mountains to visit. Both are short trips on public transport from the city center. Unfortunately, with the gray weather, we decided it was best to save mountain hikes for another trip. Instead we roamed the town.

The old and new towns are divided by the Reuss river. The Chapel Bridge, the world's oldest, covered wooden bridge, connects the two sides.

The bridge features stories of Luzern and Swiss history and legends.

And lots of noisy seagulls.

The Löwendenkmal, Lion of Luzerne.

Drinks at Mr. Pickwicks, a British-themed pub on the river. The Fuller's Honey Dew organic beer was surprisingly yummy.

We lucked into a bit of nice weather on our day in Zurich. We enjoyed an afternoon cocktail at one of my favorite spots to take guests: the Jules Verne Panorama Bar. Open for drinks beginning at 2 p.m., the view is well-worth the (typical for Zurich) 12-18 Chf drinks.

Decent cocktails are difficult to find around here, so we enjoyed a couple before heading on a walk through the Old Town. We stopped at the Lindenhof, a great lookout spot on a high hill along the Limmat river.