Swiss/German Homecoming, Pt. 2

So why the title 'Swiss/German Home- coming'? Good question. Because our family roots are German from my dad's side but a mix of German & Danish & some Swiss heritage (!) on my mom's side, believe it or not, from the Alpine village of Mürren above Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland. Every time a European acquaintance begins politely rolling on the U.S. as an indelicate, myopic and peregrine superpower--with which I don't entirely disagree--I nonetheless raise that Americans are really mostly a mix of European backgrounds, salient point being the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. This almost always causes a significant pause for consideration. If you've traveled in Europe, have you had that feeling, a slightly curious but comforting nostalgia? My first time in Germany ten years ago, within moments of stepping off the train, a weird sensation of "home" hit me. The people and I looked kind of alike, I thought--same complexion, similar features or bearing, mostly something slightly beyond perception. Maybe I'm making it up, but I had no predisposition or grand anticipation for visiting Germany, so the feeling came as a surprise not a premeditation. Probably I just think too much. And I needed a title for the blog. But my mom loves the notion of being from Mürren.

We chose nearby Lucerne's (Luzern in German, not to be confused with Swiss-French Lausanne) offerings for our Sun-Mon excursion. Only an hour from Zürich, Steph and I spent a few hours there during our original July 2007 Switzerland reconnaissance trip prior to agreeing to move. Apart from being a lovely classic Swiss-German town in its own right, Lucerne (map below, point 'B') lies nestled beneath Mount Pilatus, on the Alps' northern edge, on the picturesque Vierwaldstättersee, or Four Forest Haven Lake. We opted Sunday for the "Golden Round Trip" tour--ascending Pilatus via ski lifts, descending via the world's steepest cogwheel railway, then returning to Lucerne on a lake cruise.

At only 7,000 feet, Pilatus ranks as more of a "local maximum" of topography than a towering mountain peak, but views are nevertheless spectacular. Experiencing Swiss Alphorn players on the ascent, bratwurst (ever more) and beer at the observation summit, and the engineering marvel cogwheel railway on the descent was an excellent precursor to the lovely, nearly three-hour cruise zigzagging between serene lakeside towns. Highest marks to our subsequent stay at Lucerne's art deco Hotel Montana whose patio views and staff were equally generous for reasonable rates.

Dare I say (dare, dare!) that topping Sunday's occasion, Stephanie unexpectedly achieved her first Meal of the Year candidate for 2008 at the Brasserie Bodu in Lucerne's Old Town?!? Everyone enjoyed a superb dinner, but the chefs hit her classic selections of quiche lorraine and steak-frites squarely in the crosshairs--simple but fantastically good (wine and dessert were also solid). Mine qualified as best meal so far this year, but not equal to Steph's and not quite MOY caliber. The pressure is off her but I'm left slightly anxious, a reversal of 2007's mid-year fortunes. The infinitely mind-boggling puzzle of why similarly excellent, affordable French food remains apparently absent in Zürich (we've looked!) continues to exasperate us, but we promised ourselves a return dinner trip to Lucerne this year, bugger the train fare!

My parents retired to the hotel after the late dinner, Steph and I delayed only to down a Guinness at a lively lakeside British pub hosting a birthday party featuring 30 Dutch revelers singing together merrily and quite soddenly (such action is rare on Swiss Sunday nights). We chatted with a nice couple at the neighboring table, on vacation from Saskatoon--it never fails to amaze me how North Americans (especially in this case sharing middle-west continental sensibilities) mutually latch on to each other in Europe. Canada, U.S. and Mexico, we're cut from the same social cloth, globally speaking.

We spent early Monday in Lucerne's Old Town, my parents and I chilling with Kaffee + Kuchen at an outdoor café while Steph capitalized on Lucerne's much more reasonable haircut prices. My mother was tickled with pride (Moms are awesome!) when the waitress in parting complimented (in English, of course) my various attempts at ordering in German, saying she initially mistook us for German visitors. On the return to Zürich, we stopped for lunch and spent the afternoon in cute nearby Rapperswil ('C'), touring the local church and castle--impressive for such a little town. We sadly bid my parents Tschüss! the following morning and continued luck on their European adventure, just warming up. We're already anxiously anticipating seeing them at Christmastime in South Carolina and their imminent return to Switzerland!

Travel map below and continuation of pics here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=2hd8fyj.6xpeet43&x=0&y=-361zx6&localeid=en_US