Category Archives: Europe

Lucerne is a must-see place in Switzerland

April 26, 2018 yuning Leave a comment

Yesterday, we slept overnight in Doring Hotel.

We stand on the balcony, overlooking Lake Thun in the morning, the scenery is very beautiful.

At noon today we will go to Lucerne by the Golden Pass panoramic train. We go shopping in the morning.

Interlaken is the central town in the Bernese Oberland, It is surrounded by the Alps, but it’s not actually in the mountains. The town is situated in between two beautiful lakes. Interlaken is one of foreign cities that have established sister city ties with Huangshan City in China. The city has horse-drawn buggies, gardens, shopping streets, upscale hotels, dining rooms and so on, each with its own characteristics.

There are many expensive Swiss watch stores, upscale fashion shops and featured souvenir shops in Hoheweg street interlaken.

In the souvenir shop, we can see different kinds of cowbells.

The brand-new Golden Pass panoramic train is the most famous scenic train in Switzerland. The train route between Lucerne (Luzern) and Interlaken is one of the loveliest scenic rail trips in Switzerland and shorter than some of the other branded scenic trains, a part of the path of the Golden Pass train route.

We are required to book tickets for the Golden Pass panoramic train in advance, but the travel agency help us make ticket reservations, we don’t worry about that.

The train stations are clean, scenic and masterfully efficient. They all offer basic amenities, vending machines, and occasionally a store at which to stock up on supplies.

This route is very beautiful, Lake Thun, Lake Brienz and Lake Lucerne attracts our eyes. The train is running between mountains and lakes, lakes and mountains add radiance and beauty to each other, I find myself in wonderland.

Lucerne, lying on the Reuss River, used to be the capital of Switzerland, now is the sixth-largest city in Switzerland. As beautiful scenery, Lucerne is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Switzerland.

The Lion of Lucerne was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen, a famous Danish sculptor who lived between the 18th and 19th centuries. The purpose of the Lion of Lucerne was to commemorate the mercenary soldiers from central Switzerland who lost their lives while serving the French king Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

The highlight of the monument, however, is undoubtedly the statue of the lion itself. At first glance, the most noticeable feature of the lion is that it is dying. Upon closer inspection, one may notice the head of a spear sticking out from the side of the lion – the cause of its suffering and its eventual death. In addition, the lion is portrayed partially covering a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis. This is an obvious symbol of the French monarchy, as well as a representation of the cause that the Swiss Guards fought and gave up their lives for.

One of the most well-known descriptions of the Lion of Lucerne comes from Mark Twain’s 1880 travelogue, A Tramp Abroad , in which the American author wrote that the memorial was “the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.”

Chapel Bridge is a wooden pedestrian bridge that spans Reuss River in the city Lucerene in Switzerland. It was built in 1333 and is one of the oldest wooden bridges in Europe.

One of the characteristics of Chapel Bridge is that it has painting hanged bellow its roof. They are triangular and depict events from the history and Legends of Lucerene, from painting that present life and death of Lucerne’s patron saint St. Leger to legends of city’s other patron saint St. Maurice. They were painted in 17th century by a local Catholic painter Hans Heinrich Wägmann.

On August 18th, 1993, shortly after midnight, about two thirds of the wooden Chapel Bridge were destroyed by fire. Only the pillars, the bridgeheads and the Water Tower could be saved. Within a year, Chapel Bridge was completly restored.

However, 85 of the 110 pictures under the roof, dating back to 1611, were destroyed by the 1993 fire, only 25 could be saved or restored. The others have been replaced by pictures from the second part of the bridge that had been safely stored since 1834.

Water Tower is older that the bridge by some 30 years and was used as a prison and also as archive. Although it is a part of bridge complex it is now not opened for public.

Hof Church, main cathedral for the city, as well as the St. Leodegar and St. Maurice religious center. A Benedictine monastery was founded here in the 8th century. In 1633, a fire destroyed the church; it was rebuilt in 1645. It is the most important Renaissance church in Switzerland. Especially noteworthy are the façade, Mary’s alter(with a relief panel dating from 1500), and the souls’ altar.

Schwanenplatz is a major shopping place for tourists visiting lucerne. there are numerous shops here, cafes, restaurants,etc. The shops of ‘bucherer’ and the ‘gubelin’ watchmakers are very famous for swiss watches and mostly high end watches. A rolex watch factory is also present in this area. Other shops around sell local swiss handicrafts, Some shops sell souvenirs such as swiss army knives-victorinox, chocolates, jewellery etc.

Coffee shops can be seen everywhere, on the streets of Lucerne, lakeside. If fatigue overtakes you, it is nice to sit down, relax, and have some coffee.

Swiss chocolate is famous aross the world, with good reason. The nation has a long history of excellence in the field, and many of today’s chocolatiers still use traditional recipes and make every sweet treat by hand. We visit here and do not ignore it. Hey, and ice cream too.

Lake Lucerne is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country. There are many high mountains by the lake, such as Pilatus Mountain, Rigi Mountain etc. Swan swims on the surface of Lake Lucerne. Beautiful lakes and mountains are the typical Swiss landscapes, beautiful.

Dozens of tourist boats are tied up alongside the lakeshore, they are symbols of wealth.

Lucerne, transportation convenient, easy and comfortable life, picturesque mountains and lakes, is a well-deserved livable city.

The Grand Hotel Europe in suburban Lucerne in which we live is near the lake.

Germany

The Porsche museum

September 10, 2014 yuning Leave a comment

In this modern society, many people dream of owning a his own favorite car. The Porsche museum is a place where you gallop on dreamy road.

The Porsche museum, located in Stuttgart, Germany, is one of the most spectacular car museums. When seen from afar, theme colored in white, the main architecture of the museum shows irregular polygons, filled with sense of modern times and dynamic fashion. As if Porsche company business card, this museum reveals the unique characteristics of Porsche and great self-confidence in the future. Just above the doorway that leads to the Porsche museum, the glass ceiling refracts dreamlike light and shadow, has a unique charm, and sends people endless imagination.

Interior of the Porsche museum, its 5600-square-meter exhibition hall is designed to be spiral ramps like strips of expressways and flyovers, and displays numerous Porsche classic cars. Sports cars and cars are just like the exquisite sculptures, the style of Porsche automobiles can divide into fashionable style, restore ancient ways, traditional style, and so on, all without exception are crafted and put on ambilight. This type of exhibition not only demonstrates Porsche’s history, but also shows Porsche brand’s charm and diversity, these cars are often in dazzling at the same time, stimulates the audiences’ interests and hobby.

Germany

Visit the best-selling dark beer breweries in Germany

September 1, 2014 yuning Leave a comment

The Germans claimed to be a lying on beer kegs nation, beer is a part of their lives, and is the Germans favorite leisure activity. They not only can drink beer during meals but also may drink beer anytime and anywhere.

There is no doubt that Germany is a world famous beer country, Germany has a history of producing wines going back to Roman times, and is the oldest wine-production region of the global, It is on this land that Germany has long history and rich beer cultural traditions.

The more beer we drink, the more stories about beer we listen, we want to find out more about it, so we make a special trip to a brewery located between Berlin and Dresden.

The brewery belongs to Kostritzer company, main production dark beer and light beer, among them, Kostritzer dark beer has become the best-selling dark beer in Germany.

Probably very few persons like us visit the brewery so that the President of the brewery himself come out and warmly greet us. He recounts the story of beer for us as he shows us around the brewery.

German dark beer, its origin can be traced back to Mingham beer which made from using less hops has been blended with a blend of three malts and hard water. Compared to the ordinary beer, these characteristics made Mingham beer more excellent both in color and flavour, giving Mingham beer a mild malt fragrance. Mingham beer was the originator of German dark beer.

About 460 years ago, Kostritzer company began to brew dark beer, the special flavor dark beer was made from fine malts and a light smell hops. Throughout the past several generations, Kostritzer dark beer stood out from numerous beer brands, and became the best selling dark beer in Germany.

Kostritzer company now has first-class production line, they make strict checks to every aspect of production, to this day, Kostritzer beer is made in the spirit of the German beer Purity Laws, it not only has a chocolate smell of malt and hops but also has soft taste and long aftertaste with appealing aroma.

Because of adopting the automated operation there were so few workers in the brewery, the huge brewery is empty, the beer crates piled high are a splendid sight.

Compared with our common light beer, dark beer has more abundant nutrition components, besides containing a certain amount of low molecular sugar and amino acid, also contains vitamin C, vitamin H, vitamin G and so on. The amino acid concentration in Kostritzer dark beer are also 3 to 4 times higher than other beers, it is high in calories, so Kostritzer dark beer has a reputation for dark milk. The newly manufactured beer has the richest, most satisfying taste.

The series of drawings on the walls shows us the most primitive and traditional beer brewing methods, now the brewing technology has also been improved a lot, but the key steps basically follow the original techniques.

We just come from a tour of the brewery, it is already very late, we eat in the company canteen, because workers are fewer, so the company canteen is relatively small.