La Bonne Cave and Landmarks in Lucerne (Switzerland, Lucerne)

After touring the old Chapel Bridge and the Old Town of Lucerne (also known as Luzern), Switzerland, we went about looking for a place for dinner. There did not seemed to be many places around that offered food, more for shopping. Part of the reason could be because it was Winter; some of the shops may have closed early. As the weather was freezing cold for us (slightly below 0 Degree Celsius), we were in a rush to look for a place for a quick dinner - in fact anyplace will do.

So long as it fitted the 3 criteria;
- quick (as we were hungry)
- indoors (to escape from the cold)
- serves food 

As such, we found ourselves in La Bonne Cave which is a restaurant located directly besides River Reuss. There were two other reasons why we came here. It was because the menu had English translation and it was less pricey compared to the other restaurants. 

As you may have noticed from the decoration and environment, La Bonne Cave looks more like a wine place. In fact it is. The name of this place is actually called Weinwirtschaft Weinladen La Bonne Cave. The word 'Weinwirtschaft Weinladen' means 'Wine Shop' in English. Nevertheless, we went ahead and ordered our dinner.

Hausgemachte Tagessuppe (Klein) 6.50 CHF (S$8.50)

We ordered the Hausgemachte Tagessuppe (Klein) 6.50 CHF (S$8.50) which when translated to English means Homemade Soup of the Day (Small). The soup of the day was Tomato Soup! It was quite a small bowl of soup and was very sour. 

Bread

Bread which was served together with the soup. Nothing great about the bread, it was average. 

Gambas 'All' Aglio E Peperoncini (Klein) 17.50 CHF (S$22.87)

The partner ordered the Gambas 'All' Aglio E Peperoncini (Klein) which cost 17.50 CHF (S$22.87). It was essentially an Aglio Olio style spaghetti served with roasted black tiger shrimps with garlic and hot pepper. This Aglio Olio style spaghetti was decently executed. Many tiger shrimp was given and they were fresh and succulent.

Feuerspaghetti 17.50 CHF  (S$22.87)

I ordered the Feuerspaghetti (Klein) 17.50 CHF (S$22.87); Spaghetti with hot curry, sliced chicken and china vegetable. This was a unique dish and unlike any curry I have tried before. The curry was not spicy, similar to a thick, starchy peanut sauce with a slight hint of curry.  The china vegetable in this case consisted of mainly slices of carrots and cabbage. To be frank, I did not like the taste of this dish and wished that I had ordered something else.

Overall, the ambience at La Bonne Cave was quiet, cozy and homely. It looked like the perfect place for a quiet date and chill out. In fact to me, it seemed more of a place for wine rather than food. Food wise, it was not impressive.

There are several landmarks to visit in Lucerne.

Old Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke)

The Old Chapel Bridge also known as Kapellbrücke built in 1333 to protect Lucerne is the oldest wooden covered wooden bridge in Europe. The Watch Tower (Wasserturm) which you see in the photo is an eight sided citadel made of bricks. It was used as a watch tower, torture chamber, and prison. Both the bridge and Watch Tower are a key tourist attraction of Switzerland. The Old Chapel Bridge is just outside La Bonne Cave.

Old Town of Lucerne

The Old Town with its well preserved 14th century town walls, cobbled squares and buildings. There were murals on most of the buildings walls.

Lion Monument (Lion of Lucerne)

Since were were at Lucerne, we visited the Lion Monument (Lion of Lucerne) which was nearby. The Lion Monument carved out of stone depicts a dying lion in memory of the Swiss mercenaries who lost their lives during the French Revolution at the Tuileries Palace in Paris. The lake at the bottom of the monument was frozen.

Postillon Hotel Lucerne

Postillon Hotel, our Hotel for the night. ~Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!~ 

 The view from our room.

Lake Lucerne

Postillon Hotel is located next to Lake Lucerne.

That's all for this post. Stay tuned for more.

La Bonne Cave (Switzerland, Lucerne) 
Rathausquai 1
6004 Luzern
Lucerne, Switzerland
Tel: +41 41 410 45 16
Website
Location

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Yesterdae Ice Cream: 6 Scoops of Heaven Promotion (till 30 Jun 2013)

Source: Yesterdae 

Yesterdae Ice Cream: 6 Scoops of Heaven Promotion at $9.90 nett (u.p $24.90) (till 30 Jun 2013)
Choice of 3 premium & 3 regular ice cream flavours:
1 freshly made belgium waffle
1 wet topping (chocolate sauce/ maple syrup)
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Top up $0.70 for each change of regular to premium flavour

- Valid till 30 June 2013
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Pork Knuckle Lunch and Lake Titisee (Germany, Titisee)

After leaving Nancy (France), we opted to visit Titisee (Germany). All I can say is that we made the right decision as the view there was magnificent and it was snowing! 

The breath-taking scenery while we were on the way to Titisee. It was quite cool that when we left France for Germany, we did not even need to step down and show our passport.

Titisee

When we arrived at Titisee, it was not snowing. The wind (as seen on the right) was howling furiously and it was just so freezing cold. If we thought that the temperature was cold at France.. this was another test for us and also a preparation of what was to come in Switzerland.

At Titisee, we first visited the Drubba which is a Cuckoo Clock maker and seller. Besides that the shop also sells a variety of branded watches, jewelries, wallets and accessories.

Drubba Cuckoo Clocks

The Cuckoo Clocks are made from scratch. Beautiful handicrafts! After that we headed for a Pork Knuckle lunch at the restaurant above Drubba. The restaurant name is called Hochfirst. It is a new restaurant in the existing Zur Mühle Restaurant. Hochfirst is located at the first floor while Zur Mühle is located at the ground floor. I believe that both restaurants are run by the same management. 

The view at the restaurant was amazing. They offer a panoramic view of the backdrop of the adjacent Black Forest. As the snow fell from the sky, it enhanced the beauty of the scenery. The restaurant was less than half full at the time of visit. A possible reason could be because it was already 2pm. 

A tip to share with everyone. This restaurant provides free wifi! You can approach the waitress and ask her for the password. Awesome right? 

Soup

We were first served a small bowl of vegetable soup which was quite salty. 

Fries

Fries for sharing. 

Rice

Rice for sharing too. We hardly touched it as there was too much carbo and meat. 

Pork Knuckle

Huge Pork Knuckle. It was memorable for the wrong reasons. Dry, hard, tough and it still had lots of (visible) hair.. I just zoom straight in for the meat and did not eat the exterior. Pretty tasteless. Mixing the sauce with the meat did help to enhance the taste.

Black Forest Cake

Black Forest Cake was quite good. But would be better if there was less cream. 

Ice Wine

Lastly, Ice Wine before we headed out to play in the snow (sounds like we are children!). It starting snowing after our meal. Perfect timing!

You can click on all photos to enlarge.

Lake Titisee

Lake Titisee which looks misty as it was snowing. The lake takes a long time to freeze as the wind is strong. You can notice the water surface moving.

Snowflakes

I have heard of the term snowflake before. But this was the first time I noticed that the snow that landed onto us was literally shaped like a snowflake. Cool! The previous few occasions where I experience snowing, the snow was just circular or round in shape. In the above picture, you can spot two similar shape snowflakes. We saw several other types of snowflakes that day. It was the only occasion we witness snowflakes throughout our stay in Europe although it was snowing in Switzerland.

Pork Knuckle Lunch and Lake Titisee (Germany, Titisee) 

Seestraße 37 - 41 

79822 Titisee-Neustadt, Germany

Tel: +49 7651 981200

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