Shoeless in Lucerne

With full hearts, apps, and online planners, Lisa and Tucker strove to convince us that their move to Switzerland really does have a silver lining. Perhaps an overnight stay in a palace in Lucerne would be persuasive? Worth a try. 

After an easy one-hour train ride, we stowed our bags in a locker at the station and hopped a tram to the Museum of Transportation. Paul is a train enthusiast, and after two prior visits, this museum had become his favorite: a must-go, first-stop in Lucerne. For a time, Dave and I joined the kids in wandering among vintage steam engines and passenger cars, admiring massive cogs, beautiful wood paneling, and gleaming brass fittings. My father would have loved this place, but when Tucker said Paul and Lexi could spend hours there, I silently reflected that I, on the other hand, might prefer to do something else. My mind-reader of a son suggested that Dave and I take off and explore the historic sections of the city on our own for a few hours. Brilliant.

Absent apps and lacking comfort with public transportation, we opted to stroll the sidewalk that skirted Vierwaldstättersee, or Lake Lucerne.  Heavy gray skies stained the water pewter, and low-slung clouds swathed the snow-capped mountains on the far side of the lake. As we passed beneath the gnarled limbs of ink-black trees, I became aware of a strange scratching sound that seemed to follow us. 

I turned to survey the scene behind me. Swans sailing along or butt up in the water. Boats shrouded and anchored for winter.  Skeletal branches clawing the sky. Nothing to explain the odd noise. We continued on… and so did the sound, only it had morphed into a thwapping drumbeat.  

What the…?   

At some point, I thought to check my boot  –  formerly, Mom’s boot. 

Packing for the trip to Zurich had required strategy. We needed to bring warm clothes, Christmas presents, and twelve boxes of Annie’s Mac N’ Cheese, beloved by the grandkids and unavailable in Switzerland. Shoes had presented a particular challenge. We knew one of the activities Tucker and Lisa had envisioned entailed an afternoon of sledding during an overnight in the mountains, so winter boots were a must. Given their bulk, they wouldn’t fit in our suitcases, so we’d be wearing those boots on the plane. I love my Lands End snow boots, but not on my feet while wedged in economy seating for eight hours.

Mom passed in 2018, and I had inherited her tall, black, fleece-lined, water-resistant boots. They were good-looking enough for evenings in Zurich, would suffice in snow, and were slim and comfortable enough for the plane ride. Thank you, Mom.

Who knows how old they were, or how often Mom had worn them? They looked to be in perfect condition, but, on this day, with hours of walking ahead, the sole of one boot had detached from the heel.  Earlier, Lisa had mentioned that she thought stores were closed today due to the holidays. Great.

As I clopped along, I wondered if we might find an open hardware store where we could buy twine to bind the sole to the shoe? Or maybe, the front desk of one of these grand, lakeside hotels would have some Gorilla Glue?

Eventually, the sole fell off, the clopping sound now replaced by a satisfying metallic click, like that of a tap shoe. So, we sang “Singin’ in the Rain” as I added a few jaunty dance moves to my lop-sided gait.

Seriously though, what to do? These were the only shoes I ‘d brought to Lucerne, and we were having a special dinner at Château Gütsch, the palace, that night. Already I felt self-conscious and literally out of step as passersby swept along in their chic overcoats and snappy, intact shoes. 

Ultimately, we crossed a bridge and entered an alley we hoped would take us to the historic center of the city, the covered pedestrian bridge, the lion monument… and glue, twine, or shoes.   

A winding cobblestone street led past an ornately painted building, its fairytale façade aswirl in golden vines, urns, and a faux balcony from which gazed portraits of a young family. Across the alley, an elaborate sign in forest green and gold depicted a rampant lion and the dates 1334-1937. Mere steps from these ancient beauties, we spotted a shop window announcing a “Schuhmacher.” We don’t speak German, but there was no mistaking the meaning, the array of soles so cruelly within reach… nor the dark interior of a store clearly closed. 

Discouraged, we tapped on, but were soon enchanted by fountains and squares encircled by gabled buildings magical in color and design, all telling stories if we’d known how to read them. Still distracted by my Cinderella-esque, missing-shoe situation, I wondered what the denouement of my tale would be. 

As the afternoon wore on, lights shown amber from restaurants and cafès and - behold! – in rounding a corner, we spotted a department store. And it was open! 

I tap-limped inside and located the shoe department only to find rack upon rack of sneakers. I found a salesperson, gestured toward my foot, and sheepishly waved the orphan sole. She smiled encouragement and directed us to a store a block away. “Easy! And they’re having a sale!” she said. 

Now, with a springy step to my tapping, I strode ahead of Dave to Dosenbach with its bountiful selection of shoes. In noticing my plight, another customer laughed and said, “The same thing happened to me in New York!” And there it is: while world events would have us think otherwise, kindness and common experience grace so many chance encounters.

Once I’d settled on not one, but two new pairs, a saleswoman scooped up Mom’s boots and said, “Should I dispose of them?” 

Why would I lug those traitors around?  I was done with them and waved them away without a thought.

Until later. That night as I lay awake, I thought about the ease of repair and the connection to Mom, and wished I’d not been so hasty. 

                       *                                 *                                 *

Comfortably shod and gleeful having successfully navigated our way back to the station after our solo excursion, Dave and I met up with the kids and retrieved our bags from the locker. We boarded a tram, and Lisa checked her phone for the location of the cable car up to our palace.

Lisa’s parents have lived in Germany for years and with that, and a number of trips to Switzerland prior to their move, Paul and Lexi have evolved from the screaming babies on the plane that everyone dreads to the seasoned travelers they are now. When we descended from the tram and ran to the cable car, the kids cheerfully trotted to keep up, the backpacks carrying stuffed animals, pillows, and books bobbing on their backs.

We squeezed into the tiny cable car and ascended via an ever-so-steep track to the gleaming white turrets and spires of Château Gütsch. Enthroned high above Lucerne, the hotel welcomed us with heraldic lions, winged angels, and banners flying. 

What would be the décor of a 19^th century palace? I had pictured ponderous rough-hewn doors and wrought-iron torches, and there were a few, tokens perhaps from the earliest structure, but overall, the interior was bright, sleek, and elegant.  As we waited to check in at the reception desk, Lexi twirled with the excitement we all felt, and I wondered who had thought it wise to place a large porcelain vase on a delicate pedestal table so close by. Blessedly, there were no mishaps before we received our keys and headed through a ballroom, outside along a balcony overlooking a courtyard and the city below, back inside, down a hall, and into our rooms. 

Paul would be sleeping with Dave and me, and his cot was made up at the bottom of a twisting wooden stairway to our bedroom loft. After he freed Winnie the Pooh from his backpack and set him on his pillow, he scampered up to check things out and noted, as the stairs creaked with every step, “It sounds like your house!”   

After we settled in, it was time to dress for dinner. New shoes or not, I was pretty sure my black sweater and herringbone slacks would be inadequate in such a setting. But so it would be. As it happened, there was only one other party in the spacious dining room when we were seated, and they did not seem bothered by what I was wearing. 

With an eye to creating a garden ambience, the room was pale green, rose, and white lighted by ornate chandeliers - bouquets, really -  of crystal flowers in pastel hues. Airy as it was, the room might have seemed cold but for a blazing fire in the massive fireplace. That proved irresistible, and Dave took the kids over to snuggle in front of that warmth for some stories while we waited for dinner to be served.

In the interim, a large group entered the dining room. They were in great spirits, happy to be together and relishing, as we were, the treat of staying at Château Gütsch. And they were comfortably at ease in their well-worn sweatshirts, jeans, and sneakers. 

Why had I worried? Times have changed. Mom is no longer looking me over and asking, “are you really going to wear that?” but old lessons die hard.  

And I wish I’d not discarded her boots.    

 

 

Joy, but for the Apps

In July, my son Tucker, his wife Lisa, 8- year-old Paul, and 5-year-old Lexi moved to Switzerland. Dave and I had known this wrenching change was coming – Tucker had warned us years ago – still, it has created a sad void only partly eased by Facetime calls and wistful viewings of Google “This Time Last Year” slideshows. For all our efforts to treasure the  moments because “it goes so fast,” I’ve realized, it’s not just that it goes fast; the little kid years are short. Babies change from week to week, and then, well, kids are only willing to be “little” until what, age 9? My kids are in their forties and frankly, it seems a fiction that they were once the children pictured in our photo albums. 

We yearned to see Tucker and family, but waited six months and flew to Zurich in the end of December.  

It was the morning after a sleepless overnight flight, and Dave and I were still in bed. Dimly, I registered a whispered exchange, but dozing still seemed a good idea. I knew my grandchildren were just outside the door, and I smiled knowing they were close.

It was impossible to miss Lexi’s stage whisper, “I just want to hug LeaLea!” 

“No, you just want to wake her!” Paul insisted, conscious of parental instructions to let us sleep.

What kind of grandmother am I that I did not leap up and hug those kids? But I was enjoying the repartee, and curious to see what came next.

“Lexi! No! Lexi!” Would she heed her brother’s commanding sotto voce? 

Apparently not, for, while I did not hear her tiptoe across the room, I felt her cheek laid gently on my hand. So soft, so precious. 

And then, I scooped her up. “Good morning, Sweetie! I’m so glad you’re here! Paul! Come snuggle with us!”

Dave – “Tato” to his grandkids – is a tough act to follow. He has charmed nephews, nieces, students, and grandkids with his inexhaustible repertoire of inventive games, goofy jokes, energy, and imagination. I don’t try to compete; I’m not nearly as fun nor funny.  Yet, inexplicably, Lexi has chosen me as her favorite. Dave chuckles in recalling Lexi’s honest, “I love you Tato. But I love LeaLea more.” 

The four of us lay in bed for minutes only – Lexi is not one for lying around. She was up and demonstrating the paper backpack she’d made for us, a wonder embellished with swirling rainbows of Crayola colors. She then took stock of our already comfortable accommodations, and announced, “You need tissues on your bedside table.” That accomplished, she again surveyed the room with the critical eye of an experienced hostess and said, “You need wastebaskets. I’ll get them.”

Over the course of our visit, Tucker and Lisa had planned a range of activities to give us a taste – often literally – of their new life. We went up to Uetliberg for the view and a liberal helping of melted raclette cheese. We went to Sprungli cafe for rich hot chocolate and the hedonistic array of tarts, pastries, and cakes. We went to a pop-up chalet for creamy fondue and crusty bread. And we went to the mountains for snow, but that came later. On this day, we were bound for downtown Zurich.

 

Paul and Lexi are city kids accustomed to traveling by tram, T, and train. The stop is a five- minute walk from their house; the zoo, three minutes in the other direction. Helpful yellow giraffe footprints are painted on the sidewalk, and every kid I saw zig-zagged their way to the tram or zoo, leaping from print to print. 

I am not a city person and would have preferred to hold the kids’ hands, my body between them and the road. I would have liked to maintain a marked distance between the tram tracks and the children, but that is not their way. They know exactly how close they can get – closer than I’d like - and they scampered to the spot where the tram doors would open so they were first in line and could nab the coveted back seat.  

While we waited, Tucker said, “Mom, give me your phone and I’ll set up the app for your train tickets.”

How could he know that the word “app” stills my soul? 

My boy came of age in a computer world and has lived in a city since college. Programming and coding are his interest and his work. Public transportation, routes, stops, and connections are second nature… as they are for Lexi and Paul.

Not so for me. When I handed him my phone, he tapped briskly then said, “What’s your Google password?” How could he know that question near brings me to tears, and invariably whatever I type elicits a curt “Invalid” and inaction in whatever task is attempted on whatever device I use? How could he know my string of failures with apps and passwords, my Pavlovian avoidance as a result? I am not exaggerating when I say my nose prickled at his question, as pathetic as that is.

“I don’t have it with me. It’s written down at home.”

“Never mind, Mom. I’ve got it.” 

Sigh. Next time we come to Europe, I’ll know to bring passwords, although that’s no guarantee of success. 

After a quick, comfortable ride on the tram, we dismounted into a drizzly, then pouring, rain and hurriedly opened our umbrellas. This was not the snowy, alpine Switzerland of calendars. “We told you to come in October!” Tucker said.  

If only it had been dry, much less sunny! For that day, Zurich hosted a food festival, and the scents of curry, cinnamon, fresh donuts, and pizza offered by dispirited vendors wafted from colorful, albeit bedraggled, booths. One could imagine the pleasure of a leisurely stroll along the river past soaring steeples and skeletal trees while sampling such offerings had we not been balancing dripping umbrellas. Still, donuts dipped in sugar and warm chocolate were too tempting to pass up, so we made our purchases and ran to a sheltering portico. 

                                 *                        *                    *     

Come evening, the rain had stopped, and the lights of the city reflected off the river and still-wet streets. Lisa and I ventured forth, brushing off the fatigue that kept Tucker, Dave, and the kids at home. The Swiss celebrate the New Year over a period of days, and that night, Zurich was hosting an art show where different artists projected their work on the facades of iconic buildings.  

Dave and I live in the country, surrounded by the stillness of woods and stone walls. To be out in the vibrancy of the rain-washed night, chattering and striding along with my daughter-in-law, was exhilarating.   

Our pace was brisk as we hoped to visit every site, re-tracing the route of our earlier walk, now festive with color bright against the darkness. The city itself was the artists’ canvas, the blues, yellows, and pinks on the buildings melting into the water and rippling across its surface. Brilliant webs of light stretched across streets illuminated by the glow from shop windows. On a corner, a vendor wrapped roasted chestnuts in paper cones, their smoky scent enveloping passersby. And if this were not joy enough, as we stood beneath a church awash with colors, its bells rang out, a resounding accompaniment to the sensory symphony.