Carnival in Lucerne!

Multicolored confetti in the gutters tipped us off that Saturday would be no ordinary day in Lucerne, Switzerland. Soon we saw an entire troop of people in elaborate costumes, pushing a buggy, walking determinedly. Eloise would not allow me to chase them and ask what they were doing. We soon figured it out by following the banging of drums. Bands in carefully crafted regalia of all sorts were blasting away at their brass instruments and drums, raising a wonderful ruckus in squares all across the old quarter. They sounded fantastic, but even better was focused levity of it. Putin facing off with NATO and the US? Covid Safe Pass expired because no one can correctly load your booster shot? Big crowds of people? I think we need some Carnival! The kids’ school just made masks optional at outdoor recess. They are such troopers–so resilient and flexible–but the rules they follow in an American school abroad are usually more strict than either local rules or American rules. Switzerland dropped its masking requirements and covid safe pass checks the week before. It felt so weird to go into a store without checking everyone for PPF2 masks (like outside on the ski lifts in Germany). Let’s CARNIVAL, baby!

Lucerne has a lot of interesting history and medieval walls and stuff probably? Everywhere we went, the Carnival, of Fasnacht, groups (maybe… Guggenmusik?? the joyful cacophony or the players…?) accompanied our sightseeing with hits like “Living on a prayer,” “Fat bottomed girls,” and loads of other songs people our age enjoy.

We crisscrossed the old town’s bridges, stopping to listen to bands and admire costumes around every corner. We later read that Carnival is when the Swiss let loose and celebrate not only Carnival, but the end of winter and generally driving demons out of the city. That explains both the totally bizarre costumes AND the brilliant weather. It was sunny, nearly 50 degrees, not windy at all. Purple and yellow crocuses bloomed cheerfully near the city walls. Then lizard zombies, creepy dolls, skeleton aliens etc etc marched past.

Individual people’s costumes generally weren’t as elaborate or scary. My favorite costumes were the Swiss goat herders and mountain men. There were also lots of American pilots, pirates, cowboys, Vikings, forest/fur people, bumblebees, and everything else you can imagine.

Chris and I thought the kids would like the Glacier Garden of Lucerne near the Lion Monument honoring Swiss guards killed in the French Revolution (where another band was playing). We stopped for a light lunch at the Alpineum Kaffeehaus for the tastiest focaccia flatbreads I’ve ever had. I ordered the two named after mountains in the area for us all to split. Everyone downed theirs except Eloise, who nibbled around the edge like a cartoon spraying crumbs everywhere but not consuming everything. I’d about had it. We’ve eaten nothing but American food and pizza for the entire week and they’d all agreed to eat some freakin Swiss food Saturday. So I told Eloise she had to finish her sandwich (her objection was that it was too cheesy. She likes cheese. Unless she doesn’t want to eat something). It wasn’t until after we left the garden—a full 2.5 hours after starting lunch—that she finally finished her half sandwich. She survived.

Anyway, this glacier garden was set up a long time ago for people to come stare at holes in the ground with old rocks in them. I guess they were formed by glaciers, but the kids and I really enjoyed this because of all the old holes and old rocks Chris took pictures of in Italy and Greece last summer.

“Dad! Look! It’s a hole! And it’s OLD!” the kids giggled wildly to each other. Chris dutifully took a picture of the holes.

Our favorite part of the garden was a mirror maze that came here after a world fair nearby. Isaac ran into the wall a few times—it was very well done! Eloise would jump toward me, disappear, and reappear on the opposite side of the hallway at the same time (again…just like a cartoon). You’d be standing there, talking to Isaac, take a step toward each other, then BAM! mirror in your face! It was great.

From there we walked over to the Hofkirche St. Leodegar, where another band was playing, then over to the waterfront promenade for some strolling. Eloise was losing her mind about all the kids in costumes with confetti. She did not want to wear a costume; she REALLY wanted to throw some confetti. I told her if we found any, I’d buy her some. She talked about it all day. Finally, we checked the grocery store for carnival supplies. First we loaded up on Swiss chocolate (my dad always brought us chocolate when he’d have business trips to Europe), then I found some Swiss mountain herb tea and Chris found the kids the carnival section and some confetti! At first, Chris cautioned them to ration it—“when it’s gone, it’s gone.”

An hour later it became evident that these never-ending bags of confetti would last forever. The kids started throwing it at random. Some people cheered as confetti rained down on their group of revelers. Some people gave stink eyes. I wondered whether there was some confetiquette rules we were breaking. But by then, the bag finally ran out, dumped unceremoniously on Eloise’s head. Time to head for dinner.

We tried out Restaurant Weisses Schloss for some Swiss cuisine. Everything we had was delicious. We started with beet butter on rye bread. I ordered Swiss salmon with leeks and rice; Chris had a perfect steak; the kids had an apple-parsnip soup, salad and bread. We had the local Lucerne beer. It was a nicer place than we would normally take the kids to, but they had lovely manners, especially considering we were seated in the middle of everything. It was the perfect ending to a crazy day, and our trip!