Great set Mark; it looks like a place we would enjoy exploring (of course, that's the case for most of Italy).

Thank you Earnest, I appreciate your comment. I took that with my compact (fits in a shirt pocket) Canon G5X Mk II.

Thanks for the thumbs up Longshadow.

Yes it is NMGal, and it sure moved Mark Twain. Thanks for your comment.

Thanks mvetrano. I just posted another set at https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-806022-1.html

We are enjoying them. Our oldest grandchild is 15 and the youngest of our 14 is 1, with number 15 on the way and probably at least a couple more in the future.

Thank you CCPhotoist, it is one of the most beautiful places we've visited.

About 2 ½ hours after leaving our hotel we got our first view of Lake Lucerne. We arrived in Lucerne about 30 minutes later for a short walking tour, some time on our own and a group lunch provided by Viking. It was an overcast day and threatened to rain.

One stop on the tour was The Lion of Lucerne rock carving. the Lion of Lucerne is a rock relief, 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. It is one of the most famous monuments in Switzerland, visited annually by about 1.4 million tourists. In 2006, it was placed under Swiss monument protection.

Mark Twain praised the sculpture of a mortally wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world."

“The Lion lies in his lair in the perpendicular face of a low cliff—for he is carved from the living rock of the cliff. His size is colossal, his attitude is noble. His head is bowed, the broken spear is sticking in his shoulder, his protecting paw rests upon the lilies of France. Vines hang down the cliff and wave in the wind, and a clear stream trickles from above and empties into a pond at the base, and in the smooth surface of the pond the lion is mirrored, among the water-lilies.

Around about are green trees and grass. The place is a sheltered, reposeful woodland nook, remote from noise and stir and confusion—and all this is fitting, for lions do die in such places, and not on granite pedestals in public squares fenced with fancy iron railings. The Lion of Lucerne would be impressive anywhere, but nowhere so impressive as where he is.”
— Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, 1880

My previous post can be found at https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-805926-1.html, while the first post of this series (that includes a map of all of the places where we stopped) can be found at https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-801137-1.html

Next up: More of Lucerne

Our first look at Lake Lucerne

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Arriving in Lucerne

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The Lion of Lucerne

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Wandering around Lucerne

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Thanks for the thumbs up Eugene.

Thank you Don. So far, I've only driven in Italy and San Marino (a tiny country, completely surrounded by Italy). All of the signs are in Italian or use symbology to indicate what to do. I spent some time reviewing road sign meanings before we left home and didn't have any real problems. A good GPS makes a big difference, and the one in our rental car was excellent. I did a little navigation using my Samsung Android phone's GPS and it was also good; we also used it to navigate on foot in many cities. Of course you need a European data plan, which was easy with AT&T as our provider. You need an international driving permit to drive and you have to get it before you leave the U.S. I got mine at my local AAA office and they are good for a year. I drove for one day in Sweden in 1973, but we had a Swedish friend with us (it was her parent's car).

Thanks Mark, I'm not the master of the from the tour bus photos that you are, but I'm working on it.

Thank you very much Joe, I really appreciate it.

Thank you Dennis, I'm happy to share.

We are truly blessed, and two more blessing just left after spending the afternoon here, our 6 and 9 year old granddaughters.

Thank you topcat, I'm glad you enjoyed my photos.