(above) The curiously painted front of a restaurant in Lucerne Old Town.
THOUGHT I'd take a break from food and go traipsing again. It was last Saturday and I was foot-loose and almost fancy-free.
Lucerne is about half an hour's train ride from Cham, the tiny two-street town where I live. Unlike Cham, Lucerne is almost always bustling in the daytime with locals and tourists from all over the world.
It so happened the Old City festival was in full swing with all manner of bands playing here and there in the pedestrian area. For instance, one tent had two singers performing Abba songs while a couple of streets away, a bagpipe band was wailing heartily. The organisers had set up tables and benches for beer drinkers and the like. Seated revellers buzzed with chatting and laughter. It was like a mini Oktoberfest.
I had wanted to do some shopping and museum visiting but had forgotten that street shops closed at four p.m. on Saturdays (and the art museum near the train station closed at five). Only the shops in the train station shopping centre opened till seven or nine but those weren't very attractive.
So I skipped town around six. It was uncanny on the train ride home from Lucerne - I opened the book of Somerset Maugham's short stories I carried with me and the spy in the tale I had begun reading was also taking a train from Lucerne. The agent, Ashenden, however, was headed for glamorous Basel; while lil' ol' me was bound for lil' ol' Cham.
The water at Lake Lucerne (above) is crystal clear.
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29 comments:
Lovely photos. I've been to Lucerne (years and years ago) and really liked it there! You're lucky you live so close!
Argus,
Luckless? But not "duckless",eh? Here goes me again!
There is one cutely painted front in a vegetable store which I used to frequent. The curiously painted front of the restaurant reminds me of a shop I've seen in Aoyama, Tokyo.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5442/2087/1600/IMG_0208.jpg
Oops, sorry, I'm not techy savvy. Just wanted to show you the photo.
bestnya dapat melancong... heheh... the restaurant does have some 'weird' and curious paintings. haha..;o)
Thanks, Wok&Spoon. The character Ashenden in the book said it was too ridiculously beautiful. :-)
Hi, Wonda. Yes, I guess I ducked the luck but didn't duck the ducks, heh heh. Thanks for the picture link - it worked! The store front looked very western, ya?
Hiya, Grace. Long time no see! Yeah, if you had clicked on the photo, you'd see close-up weird things about it. ^_^
Hopped over from Mrs HBT's. Fattest bottom Lemongrass, eh? That made me laugh!! :-)
Hi, Lyrical. Nice to see you here. Well, that was how MrsHBT described the lemongrass stalks she chose and I picked up on it. ;-)
Argus,
My jolly friend, may I link you please?
Hie hie..! I've been lurking around.. hehe.. You are right! i clicked on it and i did see sum really weird paintings. Is the place crowded? Hmm..with paintings like tht...=X
Very nice photos! I've never been to Europe. Hopefully one day I'll make it there. : )
Wonda, sure, go right ahead. Did you notice 'Wonda's Wondaful World of Wonders' on the right sidebar already? ^_^
Spiffy, it was around four or five p.m. so it wasn't that crowded. I can imagine at mealtimes it'd get a lot of customers; but none of them were looking up at the facade like I was. ;-)
Dear Blur Mommy, thanks. I hope you make it to Europe, too. Yes, it's lovely in many places in Switzerland. And security is good. Many houses don't have fences and side/back doors are mostly unlocked or even open.
Dear Argus,
Looks like you and LL got acquainted as well. Great!
I have about 5 minutes to leave you a comment before I turn off my computer to get ready for workers to come and finish up the final coating on our balcony.
Looks like our library trip will have to be postponed to tomorrow.
I love your new banner. I was telling my husband that I wanted to retire in a home overlooking yachts.
Dear Mrs HBT, heh heh, LL sounds like a kind of dress size. If Lyrical is LL, then I'm XL. However, one little girl in a supermarket said to her young companion, "There's a small woman!" and pointed at me. I was amused coz I'm of average size for an Asian, and then I looked to see their moms -- guess what, they were really big and tall. No wonder! Everything is relative, I guess. ;-)
May everything go well and according to your liking in your renovations.
Thanks for the compliment on the new banner pic. I hope your dream comes true, Lee Ping.
Argus, Argus,
You also crack me up! WWWW! Haha! My 4WDrive will drive people nuts with my Wonda4. (Eh, good thing I don't own a Honda!)
BTW,what's the time difference between your place and M'sia? We seem to play hide-and-seek with our different time zones.
Wonderful Wonda!
No, you should really get a Honda, anyone would recommend it for you. ;-) Superheroine SuperWonda's vehicle of choice: the Wonda Honda.
I'm 6 hours behind Malaysia.
Eh, I cannot play hide-n-seek - my hip will stick out behind a pillar like a hippo.
Dear Argus,
The renovations is actually not to beautify but to fix a water problem. These days, I am quite content with what I have in life. The yachts I can always see from a hotel room somewhere when I am on vacation.
p/s My blouse size is XS but my pants' size is probably a Medium or Large. Hopefully, it will not turn into an XL. :)
LOL. I should have brainstormed my nick with all u flers before I decided on it lar. Suddenly got fat bottom la, dress size la, stalker la, somemore wat ar? heeheehee. Aar, you're quite the entertaining one. :-)
MrsHBT, then I hope and pray your house will be 100 per cent repaired in quick time.
Actually I'm apple-shaped (or tree trunk - not much of a waist, sigh) rather than pear - my blouse is either M or S and my trousers/skirts are S. My upper arms are like medium-grilled bratwursts! ;-P
Lyrical Lemongrass, I'm very happy to 'stalk' you - at least you're aromatic. Hey, maybe I can join you in eating Japanese when I go to KL end-August/mid-Sept. Food, I meant. ^_^
Argus, no problemo...just drop me an email and we'll fix a date to eat a coupla japanese....they can be quite delicious! ;-) Men, I mean. ^_^
Hee hee hee hee! Lyrical, I'm sure your Bald Eagle will not be too impressed. With our tasting Japanese, that is. (Thanks, will email you nearer the date.)
Aiyorr...both u and LL cracked me up la. Early morning summore.. Hahaha... A great way to start my day. Thanks!
Count me in on eating Japanese food/men..i'm in! Heheh..;o) Any cravings for local food dear?
arrr Gracey wants to join the "Lemongrass Loves Japanese (Men)" Club (LLJMC) too!!
And Argus, Bald Eagle doesn't mind wan. He reads ALL my posts and ALL my comments and thinks we are ALL mad. I married such a cool man. :-)
Sshhhh.... I cook Japanese "food" here. Hey, what are u thinking? I mean improvised Japanese food.
Graceful Spiff, good, good, come n join us in chasing/catching/eating Japanese. The more the merrier, as Santa Claus once said (did he?!).
Lyrical, you're a cool woman, so of course you married a cool man. ^_^
So does he want to watch while we eat? Heh heh.
Wonda, you cook Japanese men - remember how you turned your friend into food? Tsk, tsk, forgotten already ke? (Or did u use him as sashimi?)
Pity we're not in Tokyo, or else we'd eat our way across the city, with you as our guide, cook & leader.
Ooh, Wonda's a pioneer, is she? And sashimi too! A trip to Tokyo sounds excellent, girls. So many men, so little wasabe!
Ha ha ha ha ha! Not to mention so many octopuses (octopi?) and shishamo, but so little moolah.
(Ah, Lyrical, you like your men hot and sweet - like your coffee?)
You're so lucky having all those beautiful towns so close to you! Europe is your oyster. Talking about food, that duck is just asking to be made into siew garp!
BTW I have a new FAVOURITE TALES COMPETITION going at my blog. There's lots of books to be won. Hope you don't mind me publicising it here! :)
Yes, TH, it's my oyster and I'm eating it up raw, sometimes with a squeeze of lemon. ^_^
The plump duck says, "Beg your pardon, I'm a ngap, not garp, and please don't 'siew' me." It must be your Tasmanian accent, TH. ;-)
(Now I understand better John Irving's hilarious 'The World According to Garp'.)
You're most welcome to 'publicise' your competition here (only 5 or 6 people read this though). Hope everyone who knows about it checks it out. All the best!
Argus - no wonder man at Chinese BBQ restaurant look at me funny one!
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