This morning proved to be another one of those mornings that builds resilience, a key mental health benefit of travel. Our plan was to catch the 9:30 am train from Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken, where we would change to a train to Luzern. Unfortunately, there was rail construction between Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken which meant that leg of our journey consisted of two trains and a bus. And sadly, that leg of the trip is already pretty crowded and chaotic, so we were wedged into our trains and bus with many other bedraggled, confused, and grumpy tourists. Nevertheless, we made it to Interlaken where we said goodbye to Cathy and Sam and boarded our blessedly peaceful train to Luzern.

Our hotel reservation was for a beautiful hotel in Old Town, a perfect location for us to drop off our luggage and finish the stroll we started when we visited earlier for the Euros match. We strolled back through the covered wooden bridges and made a quick loop through the Jesuit church. We took a relatively brief detour through the Rosengart Collection of art, primarily featuring works by modernists Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, and Marc Chagall, but with a few works by some of the Impressionists, as well. Neither of us are particularly partial to the Modernist art movement overall, but we both enjoy Chagall’s vivid, saturated works. We finished our walking tour along the Reuss River and then caught a bus to the Swiss Transport Museum.

There was an add-on exhibit at the museum for a “Swiss Chocolate Adventure” (branded by Lindt), so naturally we opted in. We didn’t know what to expect as we were ushered into seats on top of a giant Roomba and whooshed into a dark room. We both grew up watching Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and it’s safe to say we were both apprehensive. In the end, the tour was fun and quirky and we didn’t get dumped into a river of chocolate or yeeted through a glass ceiling. We did get free chocolate as part of the tour, though in the process of collecting our samples, ended up buying a considerable amount of additional chocolate. Lindt’s marketing folks really know what they’re doing.

The transport museum itself was fun and very interactive. Unfortunately, we had to rush through the exhibits a bit because we arrived a little too close to closing time. Nevertheless, it was fun seeing exhibits on so many of the modes of transportation we’ve utilized so far on our trip, as well as their predecessor versions. After the museum, we headed over to the Lion Monument, a memorial for the members of the Swiss Guard who died attempting to protect the French King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. We went. We saw. We checked it off our list and headed back to our hotel to drop off all of our chocolate and make a plan for dinner.

We had passed a restaurant during our stroll that promised Swiss folklore shows during dinner and, as we have yet to hear any yodeling, we decided to give it a try. Sadly, it’s a popular stop for tourists and they were fully booked, so we grabbed dinner at the restaurant across the square, catching little fragments of alp horn music whenever the door opened for a moment. After dinner we made a quick stop for gelato and headed back to the hotel for the night.

Today’s Highlights

• Building resilience
• Beautiful stroll around old town Luzern
• Art museum
• Not having tiny orange men singing a song about our moral failings
• Lion Monument
• Stolen fragments of alp horn music

Tomorrow’s Proposed Adventure

• Charles’ side trip to build a customized Swiss Army Knife (while Becky sleeps in)
• Taking the scenic route to Zurich with a couple of stops to explore
• England vs. Sweden match