Day 8. 24th April 2024.
Rhinefalls to Mettmetstetten and Lucerne.
Today Gareth and I visited the Swiss family Hunters, it was bloody lovely to catch up with them, time goes by so fast.
They kindly let us do some washing while we were there and use their WiFi. This is the first year we have had a problem with our mobile networks in Switzerland. My data charge was 20p per MB 
. Just having noodle maps on for a few minutes used up my £10 credit, and after topping up a couple of times I just turned it off. Gareth’s wasn’t so bad at 2p per MB.
The view from the Hunters balcony is glorious. The sun was shining on the snow covered mountains until the clouds engulfed them. It was still very cold so when outside we still swaddling ourselves.
Sinead made a delicious chestnut and mushroom lasagne for lunch, yum yum, followed by Eton mess with marscapone. Got to try that again as it was lovely.
We did a little bit of shopping and then popped back to see Rocco who had been at nursery. The boys love Meg and she is great with them, especially as they were a bit nervous of her.
Saying goodbye to the Swiss family we looked for an overnight spot. The one we had used before is no longer on P4N so we moved on to Cham, a town on lake Zugersee.
Driving up the narrow lane to the parking area we had a deja-vu moment, 
and so we should have, as we had been there before!
Luckily there are a couple of big parking spaces at the end of the carpark and it was just 5CH for 24hrs. Perfect. There’s a little bit of a walk here but the space is mostly for the sailing club, so Meg was able to have a run out before it got too dark.
There’s also a railway but luckily the trains stop from about midnight and we managed a very good night’s sleep 
.
Andrew and Jane meanwhile were in Lucerne, and this is what they were up to:
So here’s our mini brief.
Today as you know we were up and out with the larks to avoid astronomical parking charges. The trip to Lucerne was eventful as a car towing a caravan nearly took out the side of our van. I thought I was going to sit at their breakfast table! Anyhow Andrew was quick off the mark and managed to enter the next lane, thank goodness.
We arrived through the main centre of the city which circled the lake of Lucerne as the sun came out (yes it did!) We found our campsite just after the Swiss plane and transport museum on the left.
The site looks lovely but we were keen to set off by foot along the lake to the city. Marley had a run in the dog park and even ventured into the lake for a swim! Nutter! At one stage I thought I was going in with him!
It was a beautiful walk alongside the lake with people walking, running, men exercising shirtless (I had to avert my eyes!) and even some men sunbathing topless 
. Has he not seen there’s snow in them there hills! 
Here I was with my 5 layers on! I pulled the zip up higher on my coat and we walked on.
Lucerne (or Luzern as they say here) is beautiful. So many gorgeous buildings, some new but mostly older. We stopped for a coffee and light snack. Andrew had pizza and I had a pastie type thing. Both were lovely and we even found Black Forest gateaux!
After being fed and watered we wandered the city. People are so friendly here and a lot stopped us because of Marley. We walked past lots of interesting shops, crossed beautiful bridges and generally enjoyed just wandering around getting a feel for the place.
We thought we might do a river cruise but then saw a noddy train so went to find the start. However the ratings were not good and, as we were thirsty, we did what a Brit abroad does do and found a pub 
. As luck would have it there was an Irish bar just around the corner. Andrew had Kilkenny and I had a cider, lovely.
Next we decided it was time for tea. I’d seen a nice restaurant during the day next to the lakes serving spag bog so as we were close, started to walk to it just as the rain started. We ran into what I thought was the restaurant but lo and behold it was another Irish bar.
It was rude not to stay so we sheltered whilst the storm passed. One drink later and the restaurant beckoned. The food was delicious and we sat outside with blankets for our knees and even a blanket for Marley. Soup and turkey Zürich style was eatenwe were well fed and decided to catch the bus back to the van. A lovely day had been spent in Lucerne.
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