The Show: Lucerne

No holiday visit to Switzerland would be complete without a visit to a town in the Swiss Alps, and we visit as our last stop the town of Lucerne, a side trip from Basel. We see the beautiful background of the snow covered Alps and Lake Lucerne.

We are treated to another chance encounter, this time a parade of men in white farmer's shirts ringing huge cowbells. We learn that this is a tradition of Saint Nicholas Day, the day we have visited Lucerne, to banish darkness and evil. We see the traditional Chapel Bridge and learn some of the history of Lucerne. In the town we see the small Christmas Market, observe a visit by Saint Nicholas and his sidekick Schmutzli, who as legend has it gives out gifts to good children or hits them with a switch if they were bad, and listen to the local school band performing Christmas songs.