Month: January 2013

Last night was Jon’s penultimate Swiss concert, Verdi at the KKL.  The choir’s last rehearsal was midday Saturday in the concert hall, leaving us 5 hours to entertain ourselves in Lucerne.  Our goal was to see whatever we might have missed on our 1^st visit in July.

Our list:  Cathedral, the Nine Towers of Lucerne, and the Lucerne Historical Museum.  We were happy to be joined by Bettina, a multi-lingual choral friend who enjoys practicing English with us.

The Cathedral (Hofkirche St. Loedegar) with its tall spires is easily spotted from the opposite shore, so how we had missed this when we were here with the Patels is beyond me.

I had printed directions to our next site, but missed the 1^st turn.  With the help of our GPS, we wiggled through the narrow streets to get on the right road and suddenly we see above us one of the towers.  Buildings are so dense and tall on the hillside up to where the town wall was built that you can’t see the towers from the water.  But when you get there, and walk along the wall looking at the 9 towers, you are reminded of the medieval need to guard what you have from ground attack.

Meandering back to the lake, through some squares I well remember due to their unique painted buildings, and across the covered bridge with death panels (now covered with bright signs for the coming Fastnacht), we find the Historical Museum.  How each town displays its history is itself intriguing.  Lucerne’s museum is in a 15^thcentury building, plain in itself, with the interior completely rebuilt for the museum.  The décor is all painted gray metal staircases and shelving which feels like a cross between an old warehouse and a military ship’s hold.  Still the conglomeration of odd articles always entertains.  Each item has a barcode displayed on its case and you are provided for no extra charge with an audio guide which reads the barcode and tells you about the item in your own language.  That was an improvement on museums with signs only in one or two languages.

Strolling along the quay toward the concert hall, we pick a restaurant for dinner, based on its sandwich board menu out front.  A very happy choice:  Bettina and I both had their “Kurbiscremesuppe” which is winter squash soup, here made with coconut milk, ginger and a swirl of pumpkin oil.  (Yes, I am a foodie!)  And Jon was happy with a light pasta dish.

Fortified, but not stuffed, since the two of them were to sing, we return to the hall and separated there.  I had not bought a ticket before the concert because I had put it off too late to have them mail one, but also vaguely hoped to wriggle out of it as I had in Geneva.  I knew they had over 200 seats left, although most were in the 4^th balcony.

Ticket for the cheap seats in hand, I walked upstairs, and upstairs, and upstairs–accidentally coming out one floor too high and finding myself on an outside terrace,  below the huge expanse of roof.  There I watched the sky darken and the surrounding city brighten.

The concert went well.  Acoustics were excellent even where I was seated.

 

Winter is a mixed blessing.  We rather enjoy the loveliness:  snow here seems always to be soft and fluffy, clinging to trees, and the streets never seem to accumulate the dirty slush that I remember from St. Louis, I suppose because there are fewer cars and the snow often melts after a few days and then a few days later we get a fresh coating.

Our friends Bruce and Susan, back in Lake Shastina, recommended to us the little town of Dornach which they had once visited.  Yesterday the Dornach Symphony was to play at the Goetheanum there, so despite cold and snow we planned our day around that.

A little history:  Rudolf Steiner (who started anthroposophy and whose work is the inspiration behind Waldorf Schools and biodynamic farming) designed and built a wonderful structure in Dornach, The Goetheanum.  Begun in 1913 and completed in 1919, this was the home of the Anthroposophical Society and its primary performance venue.  That one was destroyed by arson Dec.31, 1922. A new one was built, this time mostly of concrete.   Due to its presence, many anthroposophists moved to Dornach where they built homes in the “Steiner-style”.   As you walk through the town, you go by what were once very unconventional (for Switzerland) houses.   While they do not seem unusual to the modern eye, they definitely look more interesting and friendly than more rigidly right-angular houses.

The train ride from Gumligen to Dornach is 1 hour 40 minutes with 2 changes.  For us, now familiar with both of the train stations where we needed to change (Basel and Bern) this was easy.  We know to take something to read; we know we’ll be warm and comfortable.   Arriving in Dornach and getting our bearings (all our destination points were programmed into our GPS), we headed up to see the Goetheanum.  Up being the key word.  A few slips on icy walkways, but no tumbles, and it was easily found.  Outside it is imposing, but it seemed institutional with its massive concrete walls and mostly small windows.  Inside, unusual angles and curves proved interesting and vari-colored walls warmed the look.  We saw photos and models of the 1^st Goetheanum and wondered why, as beautiful as it had been, Steiner’s second design was so much less graceful.

 

We then hiked further uphill to the ruins of Dorneck Castle.   As is common practice, it was built on a high and rocky promontory.  Much of the exterior wall remains, though the inside is closed to visitors in winter.  Footprints in the snow led us around the building, but we missed the same turning of the path as someone before us, and had to climb the hillside a bit.  For me it felt like the 1^st time in weeks I needed to use my whole body, hauling myself up with tree branches.

 

Continuing our walk, we skirted a horse farm, watched lots of sledders enjoying the hillsides, and made our way to the Hermitage, a landscaped park from 1785.  We were a bit cold and tired by now, so we didn’t try circumnavigating its 3 lakes in the snow or climbing to Schloss Birseck, a partially-restored palace.

Our last stop was the Arlesheim Cathedral.  Erected in a mere 2.5 years, it has a simple enough exterior, but the inside is pure Baroque candy:  dozens of plaster cupids and flower garlands, more pink than one expects in a church, carved choir stalls, and marble altars and pillars.

 

 

Proceeding again to the Goetheanum, we paused in their café for sustenance, and then heard the delightfully well-executed concert by the Dornach Symphony.

With more than half an hour until the next train, we extended our day out with dinner in the only available restaurant, The Pergola.   We’ve been in Switzerland a while now and we think we’re used to the high prices, but a cup of cooked pasta with a little sauce for 22 Francs?  Worse than Bern!