On Lake Lucerne

With our Eurail Pass we were able to ride free on the boats on Lake Lucerne, so we went out on the lake a couple times, once on the return trip from Pilatus on Thursday (descent by cogwheel train to Alpnachstad, then boat from Alpnachstad to Lucerne), and again to go the glass factory and museum at the town of Hergiswil on Saturday. We heard “Hergiswil” so many times on our previous trip to Switzerland (all roads, trains and boats seem to lead to Hergiswil) that I had taken to imitating the automated “next stop, Hergiswil” announcement on the train: approximately sounding “Neshteh halt… Hair-giss-veal”. So with a concert Saturday and no long trips planned, we had to visit the mysterious but obviously important town of Hergiswil. The “glasi” (glass factory, with attached museum and shops, a bar with a few glass sculptures below, and a children’s playfield next door) was very nice. There are some beautiful homes and great scenery on Lake Lucerne so the boat ride is great just by itself, regardless of destination. A few pics here that again don’t do the place justice. One of them is a funny building L. spotted at one of our stops. “Oh no, Mr. Bill…” – that may make sense to some of us from the U.S. and at least 39 years old…