Welcome to Luzern!
The River Reuse with several of the wall towers around the old city in the distance.
Built in the 13th-14th centuries, the 870-meter wall, complete with its nine towers, is one of the best preserved and longest fortifications in Switzerland.
Nölliturm – built in 1513; the only round tower on the Musegg Wall
Männliturm – a 15th-century tower, renowned for its “Little Iron Man” crowning the top.
Luegislandturm – built in 1290, the oldest and the highest (52.6 meters) part of the Musegg fortification.
Heuturm/ Wachtturm – a former hay storage from the 14th century, destroyed by gunpowder explosion in 1707; rebuilt as a watchtower, 44 meters high.
Fabulous view of the oldy city and the lake from the base of the wall.
Unfortunately none of the towers were open to climb to the top in the winter.
Zytturm – one of Europe's most unique clock towers, with mechanism made in 1535 – still working; famously strikes the hour one minute before all the other clocks in Lucerne.
The clock works are visible at the base of the tower.
Most shops in the old city were closed, but we did find an open coffee shop and got cocoa and pastries.
The clouds started rolling in as we
Between 1230 and 1270 Luzern grew from the land side towards the water and the small town also expanded on the left bank of the Reuss. During this time, the inner fortification ring of the big city. Bridges were built to connect the districts with each other. While the city was secured from the land side by its defensive structures, there was a lack of protection from the sea side and the banks of the Reuss. The water tower was therefore initially built around 1300. The Kapellbrücke was intended to serve as a defense against potential ship attacks. The bridge fell victim to a fire on the night of August 18, 1993, which is believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette. The fire destroyed a large part of the bridge and, among other things, 78 of the 111 famous pictures. After the fire, the remains of 47 pictures were recovered. 30 pictures were restored by 1998. The bridge was immediately rebuilt, inaugurated on April 14, 1994 and reopened to pedestrians.
The 25 gable paintings that were relocated when the bridge was shortened around 1835, depicting the career of St Mauritius, patron saint of Switzerland were hung in the middle section of the bridge as a replacement for the unrestorably burned exhibits. At the two outer seams between the originally preserved and the reconstructed part of the bridge, charred remains of the original images are a reminder of the fire.
So much lovely chocolate in the shop windows!
St Karl's church is just around the corner from our airbnb so we attended Christmas eve services there. They have a large bell tower that rings 4 bells actively for 10 minutes before every service. Very loud!
There was a children's nativity story enacted by the kids of the congregation. It was in German and I caught a handful of words, but not enough to make full sense of the story they told (It was not quite the traditional Christmas story). Joseph had a tunic and a Tyrolean hat on (haha!). The nativity was set up underneath a heavy marble alter in the sanctuary.
The congregation joined in 3 hymns with the children.
The angel Alexandra read from a cool elevated pulpit. The church was concrete with a high row of stained glass windows around the top and pretty icons painted on the walls. A pretty modern building, not laid out with a transept and apse, etc.
At the end of the service we all got dripless, thin tapers and walked forward to stand around the large Christmas tree up front. Then we sang Stile Nacht (Silent Night). 
Dinner and The Grinch movie followed by Christmas stories that I brought from home.
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