LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND

Lucerne is located in the heart of Switzerland, is the 8th largest city within this small country, but yet is one of the most visited city in the world. It is an outdoor lovers paradise...plenty of hiking, skiing and boating to be done.....and it goes without saying, one can find an amazing selection of chocolates, watches and Swiss Army knives (well okay....plenty-o-shopping). It is easily covered by foot, but Lucerne offers superb public transportation (city buses and trains), should you opt to venture out a bit more from Lucerne.

We stayed at the Waldstatter Hof Hotel (www.hotel-waldstaetterhof.ch) and loved it. We found this to be an ideal location, a good price and offered a fantastic breakfast buffet. It is located across the street from the tourist information office and train station. And naturally, when in Switzerland, you HAVE to eat fondue, so we headed off the first night to the Fondue House (www.fondue-house.ch). All I can say is YUM! My stomach hurt, I ate so much. The following night we ate at La Cucina, one of the restaurants within the Hotel Astoria. It was a bit pricey, but one could easily keep the cost low by ordering a pizza and a glass of wine. We opted to splurge (and splurge we did...ouch! But it was good). The wine selection was fantastic and although we are wine fanatics (and my parents own a wine store in Orlando, Florida), we were completely unaware that Switzerland made wine. Expensive wine. Trusting our server, Pietro, and skipping the Tuscan red, we opted for a Swiss red. DANG! It could easily rival a Tuscan and we later learned this particular wine earned a 95 rating in Wine Spectator.

So you see, there are plenty of reasons to visit Switzerland. It's the heart of Europe...Lucerne is the heart of the heart. You have sports, shopping, great food and even great wine. Life is good in Switzerland. Even the cows seem happy!!

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