Luzern, September 2007
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Luzern, September 2007 Lucerne September 2007 LUCERNE'S LION MONUMENT After flying into Zurich and taking the train to Lucerne, we walked to the Lion monument... a very peaceful setting made all the more enjoyable with the knowledge that the return walk would be mostly downhill and followed by wine, cheese and chocolates! The traditionally neutral Swiss supplied mercenaries to foreign governments and enjoyed a reputation for honoring their agreements. In 1792 the Swiss Guards’ ABOVE: Bertel Thorwaldsen's Lõwendenkmal, Lucerne honor was put to the test, when --after trying to escape the French Revolution--King Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and their children were hauled back to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. A mob of working-class Parisians stormed the palace in search of aristocratic blood. More than 700 Swiss officers and soldiers died while defending the palace, without knowing that their royal employers--like Elvis--had left the building. In the early 1800s, the Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen was hired to sculpt a monument to the fallen Swiss Guards. The sculpture was carved in a sandstone cliff above the city center HANS ERNI: Mondays, when many tourist attractions are closed, is a good day to walk the 2 miles from the Center of Lucerne to the Museum of Swiss Transportation which is co-located with an IMAX, a planetarium and a delightful collection of work by local artist Hans Emi. h t t p : / / w w w . h a n s - e r n i . c h / h t m l / l i t h o g r a p h i e n . h t m l JEAN NOUVEL’S KKL: Tuesday was chilly with a drizzle --perfect for visiting museums. First stop was Lucerne’s Museum of Art which is housed on the fourth floor of the “KKL” or Convention and Concert Hall. Designed by architect Jean Nouvel, the KKL is brilliant by night (top photo) if only stark and wonderfully functional by day (bottom). Its terraces offer spectacular views of the old city, a favor not exactly returned when viewed from the other side of the lake, but the structure is so shadowed during the day as to almost melt into the background and it actually camouflages some of the modern structures behind it (like our hotel). The Art Museum had a special exhibit juxtaposing Pablo Picasso and Francis Bacon -- the latter seemed like Picasso on downers – seriously twisted and not at all happy about it. I was happier with the works by another artist, André Thomkins and the free access granted museum visitors to the fifth floor terrace. André Thomkins, Lackskin, 1980/81 Lackfarbe auf Papier 250 x 200 cm Rosengart Collection: The second visual treat for the day came compliments of a father/daughter art dealer team, Siegfried and Angela Rosengart, who made significant donations to their adopted city of Lucerne. The collection includes 125 works by Paul Klee, 50 by Pablo Picasso, and a sampling of work by other classic modernists such as Cézanne, Chagall, Dufy, Kandinsky, Matisse, and Miró. I could have done with a few more Miró's, but I suppose that would have been greedy. PICASSO MIRÓ KLEE Portrait of Angela Rosengart Danseuse II, 1925 Herzdame, 1922 Lithograph 1964 Market Day: First Wednesday of the Month. While the goods seemed to be predominantly from India, I was able to catch a whiff of grilled wurst between gusts of incense. Mittagessen! Lunch! I thought of sharing some of my brotchen with the swans, but sensed there was a local taboo in this regard (probably backed up by a hefty fine as well). Unlike their bees, Lucerne’s swan population is non-aggressive and self-sufficient. They do not chase after handouts—or potential handout-ees. Why should a visitor disrupt the social status quo? Dessert was a chocolate covered banana. I suspect there is little the Swiss will not cover with chocolate. The real treat for the day was a visit to the Picasso Museum. (Yes! There really are THREE major collections of his work here.) Works from the last 20 years of his life are housed in one of the city's most beautiful old buildings, the historic Am-Rhyn- House. They are accompanied by an amazing exhibit of nearly 200 David Douglas Duncan photographs of the artist at work and at play with his wife Jaqueline, his children, his dachshund Lump, and his goat Esmeralda. The photographer gave him Lump. I don’t know who got his goat. Left: PABLO PICASSO/ MADOURA Ceramic charger, "Jacqueline Au Chevalet". Above Left: Gary Cooper instructing Picasso on shooting Above Right: Picasso wearing the Indian headdress that Cooper gave him Today’s Unexpected Finds around Lucerne. Before I forget, and this is especially for Gerrit and Irv, we had a very nice red wine at a Greek restaurant last night: Katogi Averoff/Metsovo. I started the day with a visit to the Jesuit Church of St. Francis Xavier, after whom my father was named. It is Baroque light with the delightful colors of alpine flowers. Two of Lucerne’s lesser know museums yielded some unexpected treasures. The history museum was, shall we say, eclectic. Amid the artifacts I would expect in such a beautiful old city were displays of kitchen appliances your grandmother had the good sense to throw out and a selection of undergarments, which for completeness included a pair of silky orange bikinis from the Seventies. However, perhaps as a reward for including a church on today’s itinerary, I was surprised to find the family crests of the Sforze’s of San Severino, a town near where my father was born (Sopravia di Nola) and which he mentioned in essays he wrote in college. Also of interest was the Palm Pilot like device visitors receive and which reads the bar codes beneath the displays and delivers a description of the items on the device’s screen in the language of your choice (provided its German, French, Italian, or English). And a final technical note, this rather dusty museum with its old display cases is wired so that lights are motion activated—as are our hotel hallways…a nice environmental touch. There was snow on the mountains this morning! The Natural History museum at first seemed as though it would be a bust—the first two floors were decidedly designed for K-2 students, although one of the displays solved the question of the identity of a bird I had noticed on the lake. It’s the fulica atra, aka a coot, whose rather formal attire fits in quite nicely with the tuxedoed musicians who hang out on the terrace of the concert hall drinking wine. The third floor proved to be a charm hosting a photographic exhibit of winners of the 2006 European Nature Photo awards. As luck would have it, the only two photos from the exhibit that I was able to find on the internet were: - the one I wanted Kate to see of a hooded crow trying to open a bottle (or so the photographer claimed) and - the one for our favorite otter researcher, Debbie Boege-Tobin, of a Giant Otter eating a Piranha. Markus Varesvuo Hooded Crow The fourth floor stood in sharp contrast to the lower levels revealing a modern security vault for a prized insect collection. Each safety deposit box was whooshed open by placing your museum entrance card into a slot above the doors – and what a collection it was! The arrangement of the iridescent beetles looked like earrings on display in a jewelry store. I must admit I left there Manuel Presti Brazil feeling rather bug eyed. Today was a bear of a day: good for me, bad for Wall Street. I took the train to Bern, the Swiss capital which bears the name of its mascots. Here is a picture of the three bears especially for Francesca and Marisa who are interested in the animals I am encountering here. Bears have been kept in the Bern Bear Pit for more than 600 years. Their habitat includes rocks and caves, a fir tree for climbing, and a deep water basin for swimming. My bus passed by them on the way to the Paul Klee Zentrum, an undulating art center designed by Renzo Piano. You can see how it seems to grow out of the landscape. Over time more of it will likely be overgrown as wild flowers and grasses slowly creep over the structure. You might want to check out more photos of this wonderful building at this web site. http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/paulkleecenter/index.html Here are a few of my favorites from the collection and a website where you can see all of them: Klee Collection Today’s chocolate was filled with Remy Martin; we will have much to repent upon our return. Lake Boat Cog Train Gondola Tunnel vision and crow’s feet take on whole new meanings here. Engineering feats literally are of monumental proportions with trains burrowing through mountains with apparent ease, though the Swiss seem just as happy to go up as well as through the steep inclines. Today’s journey to Mt. Pilatus (2132 meters high) started by boat and continued on a 4600-meter stretch of railway. This is the world's steepest cogwheel railway (maximum 48% gradient). At the summit we were greeted by Alpenhorn players and Alpendohlen, both of which are extremely tame and well-fed, but the latter captivated us when they graciously accompanied us on our hike and then joined us for lunch. It wouldn't be far from the truth to say that, if you have seen one Alp, you have seen them all for on a sunny day there are many peaks visible; the Jungfrau and Eiger were just two that were visible today from Pilatus.