Discovering Luzerne

by Hollie Luck

June 2015

Follow Hollie and Phil as they trek around Europe, dropping into a few vineyards on the way

Had a super breakfast in our hotel, featuring muesli which included tiny chocolate flakes and DIDN’T contain raisins – what is the UK’s obsession with raisins?! Echt! The rain cleared overnight (not sure how we’ve been so lucky!) so we headed out on our (map-less) journey from Luzerne to Küssnacht. A highlight of the morning was Schloss Megganhorn, an old estate which still has its own little vineyard. Mid-way through the morning, Mount Pilatus started to peak out of the clouds, showing just why Luzerne is such a tourist trap. Heading slightly inland, and climbing up what felt like 500m in the space of 10 minutes, we stopped for lunch at a local tennis club. I was very proud to crack out my German, asking if they had cheese sandwiches…important stuff. The afternoon highlights included a place named Wagenmoos, and a delicious apple from a help-yourself farm shop. We concluded the 10.5 mile walk with a Magnum; only notable because Phil chose the glittery pink raspberry one, much to my amusement. My joviality was cut short by our 10chf fine on the train home. “Take a risk a day,” Phil said. Pre-dinner drinks were interesting. The first bar Phil chose, ‘Cheers’, seemed a good idea because it had a happy hour, but, on entering, we lowered the average age by about 20 years, increased the average tooth count, and discovered there are still bars in existence with separate smoking salons. The disaster of the second bar should have been obvious from its proximity to ‘Club Bijou’, the town’s only strip club. In both bars, there was that awkward moment when the locals turn and stare, and you have a split-second opportunity to make an inoffensive 180… but each time Phil heads straight for the bar, and the complementary peanuts. He does make me chuckle. Follow Phil and Holly’s journey at toucangotouring.com