LUCERNE
Situated in the heart of Switzerland at the foot of the Alps, Lucerne is seen as the essence of the country. Stopping off on his way to Europride in Zürich, Nigel Robinson found that the city on the Lake has something to indulge all six of his senses.
HEAR
If you’re a music lover in Lucerne then get used to the fact that you’ve died and gone to heaven. No matter what time of year you visit, it’s more than likely that Lucerne will be hosting some kind of festival. From blues to big bands, rock to classical, there’s something here for everyone. Unfortunately my schedule meant that I couldn’t attend the annual Blue Balls festival in late July which attracts upwards of 100,000 fans over nine days.
Chances are you’ll catch your culture fix at the KLL, the Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre. Acoustically, it’s one of the best concert halls in the world. But don’t take my word for it. That’s what Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra think: they’ve made it their home since 2003.
The KLL is equally famous for its futuristic architecture and especially its huge, almost wafer-thin cantilevered roof which projects a gravity-defying 45 metres out over Europa Square, its aluminium surface reflecting the waters of Lake Lucerne. During concert breaks, nothing beats sipping a Gewürztraminer on the roof terrace, with its fantastic view of the city and surrounding snow-capped mountains.
KLL: Denkmalstrasse 15, 6005 Lucerne Tel: 041 226 7070 kll-luzern.ch
SEE
I took a break from maxing out my credit card in Lucerne’s designer shopping district to view the Sammlung Rosengart, an outstanding collection of twentieth-century European art in an imposing Neoclassical building that was once the Lucerne headquarters of the Swiss National Bank.
The 220 works on show are from the private collection of art dealer Angela Rosengart who was a friend and model of Picasso. Frau Rosengart had a bad cold on the afternoon I visited, but if you’re lucky she might take you on a personalised tour of her gallery. Here you’ll find work from Picasso’s later years with over thirty paintings as well as countless drawings, watercolours, sculpture and memorabilia.
There’s an entire floor given over to Swiss artist Paul Klee, showing 125 works cleverly arranged in chronological order and tracing his development as an artist from traditional watercolours to the more symbolic work he turned out from the mid-30s onwards. Other artists in the collection include Matisse, Kandinsky, Monet and Cezanne.
Sammlung Rosengart: Pilatusstrasse 10 CH-6003 Lucerne. Open April – October daily 10am – 6pm November – March daily 11am – 5pm telephone: 041 220 1660
SMELL
It’s worth getting up early on Tuesday or Saturday just to catch the delicious smells of baking bread, tangy cheeses, mouth-watering food and fresh flowers wafting along the banks of the Reuss River, as stall holders set out their wares for the fruit, vegetable and flower market. On Saturday there’s also a fish market with most of the catch coming straight from the lake.
After the market closed at 1pm, I headed for the old town, crossing the river on the Spreuerbrücke, one of the creaking and covered medieval bridges that have become the symbol of Lucerne. The bridge was built in 1403 as part of the city’s fortifications and features the Dance of Death, a macabre seventeenth-century sequence of 67 tableaux of plague victims. Its neighbour, the fourteenth-century Kapellebrücke with its distinctive octagonal water tower (once used as a torture chamber), is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe, even though much of it was destroyed in a fire in 1993. With typical Swiss efficiency it was rebuilt in just nine months. The restored triangular paintings in the bridge’s gables depict key events in Lucerne’s history: look out for local lad William Tell aiming an arrow at the apple on his son’s head.
The bridges lead into the heart of the old town, a cobbled and car-free zone of fountained market squares. Like most of Switzerland, Lucerne survived largely intact during the War and its original medieval buildings, still stand, their façades brightly painted with frescoes according to which merchants’ guild they belonged.
TASTE
I spent a lazy Lucerne lunchtime on the terrace of the Taube Wirtshaus on the banks of the Reuss, watching chic Swiss stroll by, and enjoying a typical Lucerne dish of Fritschipastete, a sort of pork and veal puff-pastry pie, baked with mushrooms and grapes marinated in wine and brandy. As well as this rustic staple, the Taube also serves up Switzerland’s national dish, Rösti, a traditional farmer’s fry-up of potatoes, bacon, apples and herbs. The restaurant’s location also offers a great view of the huge Baroque Jesuit church with its distinctive onion-domed towers, and the snow-capped Mount Pilatus in the distance.
At the pricier end of the market, I knew I couldn’t go wrong with the Mediterranean cuisine of the Michelin-starred Restaurant Jasper at the Palace Lucerne, a magnificent Belle Époque hotel on the shore of Lake Lucerne. After dinner I strolled out onto the terrace for a magical view of the lights of Lucerne shimmering on the lake – there’s a good reason why it’s called the City of Lights. I’d had one too many glasses of good Swiss wine by then so it was probably wisest not to try my luck at the casino next door.
Taube Wirtshaus Bürgerstrasse 3 CH-6033 Lucerne Tel: 041 210 0747 www.taube-luzern.ch
Open Monday- Saturday from 11am
Palace Lucerne and Restaurant Jasper Haldenstrasse 10 CH-6002 Lucerne Tel: 041 416 1616 tinyurl.com/nb9j65
Restaurant open Wednesday to Monday noon – 2pm, 7pm – 10pm
TOUCH
After my gastronomic excesses of the night before, I thought an early-morning dip in the wonderfully clear waters of Lake Lucerne would be just the thing. And there’s really nothing to compare with a swim in surprisingly temperate shallows, surrounded by towering white-crested mountains and feeling the cool Alpine breeze on your face. Keep an eye out for the swans around the shore, though – they can be particularly vicious at guarding their territory.
If you only have time to do one thing in Lucerne, then it has to be a visit to the lake, Switzerland’s fourth largest and arguably most beautiful. Make a day of it and book a ride on the Goldene Rundfahrt – the Golden Round Trip.
You travel by old-fashioned steam paddler across the Lake from Lucerne to Alpnachstad before taking the world’s steepest cogwheel railway (a vertigo-inducing 48 degrees!) up to the summit of Mount Pilatus 2132 metres above sea level, and its awe-inspiring views over seventy Alpine peaks and almost the entire Lake. A spectacular ride by aerial cableway and gondolas then takes you back down to earth and a return to Lucerne.
THE GAY STUFF
You need a sixth sense to find the gay scene in Lucerne. There really isn’t one, with people opting for private parties rather than commercial bars. After all, this is liberal Switzerland, where homosexuality was made legal in 1942, and gays are happily integrated into society
HALU (the Homosexual Working Groups Lucerne), a LGBT support and advice group, runs the gay centre Uferlos, which plays host to a series of regular parties and events, including the FriGay disco every third Friday in the month, and the whynot party every first Saturday, as well as Mona Lila, a women-only party.
Uferlos: Geissensteinring 14, 6005 Lucerne Tel: 041 360 1460
Halu: halu-luzern.ch