
Off to Luzern today to celebrate Michael’s birthday! One of Michael’s favorite dishes is wienerschnitzel and the Old Swiss House serves the best! Believe me when I say that as we have tasted it throughout Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and even in Vienna where it originated.
We took the Luzern - Interlaken Panorama Express train. This train originates at the Interlaken Ost (East) Station and ends in Luzern
I enjoy sitting at the side closest to Lake Brienz. The jet boat is on the lake this morning. Lynda, Will, Carolyn, and Keith want to go on this with me the next time we all meet up in Switzerland again. There would be so many laughs!
Our first stop is in Brienz, known as one of the few woodcarving schools in Europe. We
pass an Air Force base outside of Meiringen. The F/A-18 flies from here. The roar from the afterburners echos around the mountains.
We saw two jets land today.

Next comes Meiringen known as the place where meringues originated. In popular literature, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave the Grand (or Great) Reichenbach Fall as the location of the final physical altercation between his hero Sherlock Holmes and his greatest foe, the criminal Professor Moriarty, in “The Final Problem”.


The train pulls into the Meiringen station and then backs up to then go up the steep mountain. You can feel when the cog wheels engage.



When we reached Brüning-Hasilberg, we begin our slow descent down the mountain.




First stop coming off the mountain is Lungern.


Kaiserstuhl is where the last scene of the Korean Netflix romance/drama Crash Landing on You was filmed. The brown house was used in the series finale.

Interesting siding

Sachseln









Sarnen is the stop where we change trains if we want to go to the Glasi glass factory.

Pilatus

"THE THREE LIBERATORS
Deep inside Mt. Pilatus are the three legendary liberators of Switzerland. They rest in deep slumber, ready to be called when the nation faces danger…
According to an old legend, deep inside Mount Pilatus, the iconic mountain of Luzern, there lies a secret cave. Hidden within, the three legendary heroes of Switzerland, Walter Fürst, Werner Stauffacher and Arnold von Melchtal, rest in deep sleep. If their beloved Fatherland would ever again be in danger, they would swiftly rise from their slumber to protect their people and country. One fine summer’s day, a young Swiss shepherd was looking for one of his goats who had wandered high up the Pilatus. As he climbed over the large rocks along the edge of dangerous cliffs, he spotted a small crevice leading into darkness. Thinking that his goat may have sought shelter here, he peered inside and was surprised to see a soft, flickering light coming from within. Overcome with curiosity, he squeezed through the narrow opening and after a few timid steps, he was greeted with a magnificent sight.
A great stone fireplace was burning in the center of a huge chamber, its soft flames barely fighting back the shadows. Large shields were hung on the walls and the edges of swords and spears reflected the warm glow of the embers. The young shepherd could hardly believe his eyes and supposed he must be dreaming.
“Tell me, boy, what times are these?” suddenly boomed a voice from the darkness. It was then that the shepherd could make out three giant wooden beds against the back of the hall. Sitting up in one of them was Walter Fürst, with a long white beard and broad, powerful shoulders. “I… I believe it’s about noon now,” exclaimed the boy. “Then, it is not yet time that we shall come,” replied Fürst. Thereupon he quietly laid back down, his mind at ease. He turned to the side and went back to sleep.
Amazed and excited, the shepherd sprinted down the mountain to his village to tell his countrymen about his discovery. But when everyone from the village rushed up the mountain, they could not find the hidden entrance again. And until this day, the mysterious depths of the Pilatus stay hidden from strangers’ eyes."

Michael wanted his birthday meal to be wienerschnitzel at the Old Swiss House.
This is how the Old Swiss House describes their wienerschnitzel.
"The Old Swiss House is renowned for its exceptional cuisine that blends traditional dishes with a modern twist. Their chefs only use the freshest, highest quality ingredients to provide you with an unforgettable culinary experience. Whether you choose our famous Wiener Schnitzel or a delicious filet, each dish is prepared with care and passion."
"A deluxe wienerschnitzel as you have never tasted before! Very tender cutlets of veal are dipped in our own top-secret blend of beaten egg, Swiss cheese and herbs. The cutlet is then coated in specially prepared breadcrumbs and cooked in pure butter at your table. We serve our delicious wienerschnitzel with half a lemon and fresh egg noodles.
We have been serving this specialty for more than fifty years; with up to one thousand servings per month, it remains our most popular dish!"
The recipe…
150 grams of best-quality veal, pounded till very tender
Five lightly beaten eggs, 50 grams grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper
Homemade breadcrumbs
A generous quantity of butter, 80 grams per person
Half a lemon
Serve with: fine egg noodles garnished with roasted breadcrumbs
It’s so nice to be recognized and be warmly greeted, when you walk into a restaurant. Even the owner, Philipp Buholzer, came and shook our hand. Pia came right over and hugged us.

Katharina was our waitress again this year. It’s funny but she even remembered where we sat last year.


Veal was pounded so thin. That's a lot of butter!!

Small cranberries








This is a Swiss white wine. Paired so well with the wienerschnitzel.it




Close by the Old Swiss House is the Löwendenkmal, Lion Monument, in the allegory of a dying lion, commemorates the Swiss Guards who fell during the storming of the Tuileries in Paris on August 10, 1792. It was created on the initiative of the guard officer Karl Pfyffer von Altishofen, in memory of his comrades. The Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen made a design, but the monument was carved into the sandstone rock by the Konstanz sculptor Lukas Ahorn from March 1820 to August 7, 1821 .




The tourists are back in full force in Luzern. I don't recall this many tour buses and groups in years. Wonderful for tourism.
This was the first time since we have been here that I lit candles in churches. Michael and I always do this when we travel around. Even wrote prayer intentions for this evening's mass. Just know we keep you all in our prayers.
Hofkirche St. Leodegar
It was built in parts from 1633 to 1639 on the foundation of the Roman basilica, begun in 735, which had burnt in 1633. This church was one of the few built north of the Alps during the Thirty Years War and one of the largest art history rich churches of the German late renaissance period.




Luzern's Jesuit Church is the first large baroque church built in Switzerland north of the Alps. The Jesuit order, founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534, served as papal elite troops in the spiritual fight against Protestantism. Protestant reformers such as Zwingli in Zürich and Calvin in Geneva divided the predominately Catholic Switzerland. The Jesuits were called in to Luzern by the city council in 1573 to establish a college.




The flowers on the Kapellbrücke literally, (Chapel Bridge)are very pretty this year. The Chapel Bridge is a covered wooden footbridge spanning the river Reuss diagonally in the city. Named after the nearby St. Peter's Chapel, the bridge is unique in containing a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century, although many of them were destroyed along with a larger part 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 learned today that milk production is higher than in previous years even though there are 1,100 fewer cows.

Michael needs to wait another year to enjoy one of his favorite dishes.
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