The welcome party for the conference at ETH didn't start until the evening, so I took a train with a friend to Luzern (or Lucerne). The weather, as you can see, was glorious. This was the week when the UK would hit 37ºC on the Thursday—the highest temperature all year (it's been downhill since then, and is now so cold that the sweaty humid heat is a long distant memory.
The Kapellbrücke (literally, Chapel Bridge) is a covered wooden footbridge spanning diagonally across the Reuss River in the city of Lucerne in central Switzerland. Named after the nearby St. Peter's Chapel, the bridge is unique since it contains a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century, although many of them were destroyed along with most of the centuries-old bridge in a 1993 fire. Subsequently restored, the Kapellbrücke is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, as well as the world's oldest surviving truss bridge. It serves as the city's symbol and as one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions.
We tried to grab some Rösti, but they were sold out in the restaurant, so we simply had fries. My luck was in the following night, however.
The Lion Monument (German: Löwendenkmal), or the Lion of Lucerne, is a sculpture in Lucerne, Switzerland, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France. Mark Twain praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world."
I really enjoyed my time in Switzerland, though most of my time was spent within the confines of ETH. The streets were generally very clean, and there were perhaps more old buildings than anywhere else I have been. I suppose that's what you get if you declare yourself neutral in a world war...