The whole reason we went to Lucerne was because Johnny wanted a Victorinox Swiss Army knife. So, into the travel itinerary Switzerland went. Lucerne was my pick, because the other Swiss cities I'd visited weren't much chop.

One of the things I've missed with not having a kitchenette of any type after we left London, was eggs. I've eaten copious amounts of salad and ham out of a takeaway container, but in lots of cases, an egg would have been a great addition. Luxurious even! So the moment I spied the little kitchen in our apartment, I knew that breakfast for dinner last night was going to be my thing! And also breakfast for breakfast this morning.

But what topped the breakfast off (apart from a very mild hangover), was the most spectacular view of the Swiss Alps out of our kitchen window! Any photos I took never did it justice. Ironically, I took a zillion of them, but I spent most of my day trying to tattoo the view onto the back of my eyelids.

After a leisurely start to the day, and my delicious breakfast, off we went in a continued search of this knife.

The city of Lucerne showed us a beautiful day, with the temperature being 26-ish, and still very warm late into the night.

We stayed on the south side of the river, just up the road from the little covered bridge, and at the base of the Gutsh hotel. So, our wandering was immediately interesting from just at the end of our street! Sometimes it was interesting from the great cloud of second hand pot emanating from the men's bar on the corner.

Onto the main shopping area, and returning to the Victorinox shop again.

I knew this was going to be a long process, of tossing up which accessories were best, against the budget available. So the girls & I went off and did some exploring while the boys did their research (for the second time, after a briefer, but still long, rekkie the previous day. I guess it must have been an hour the day before, additional knife shops visited (+ 1 more hour), lots of talking, debating and research overnight (let's say another conservative 4 hours), and another hour yesterday for the actual purchase, the decision was made, and the transaction was being processed). So, I guess it was 3 hours at the Victorinox shop, plus the 4-ish hrs. Anyways, it was a LOT!

The Trailmaster was purchased, and engraved. Sadly for me, he didn't get a corkscrew for Mummy accessory. Sorry K4's toothbrush! You still have work to do! With your minty goodness!

The blade was engraved - "John Inglis", and the casing was engraved - "DA NACK" (a nod to Johnny's favourite movie, Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Happiness all round!! From us girls for our patience, and from the boys for their retail therapy experience! Surprisingly, Jonny had budgeted for a top end of $300-ish - birthday money, lawn mowing money & a generous donation from Nanny Rainbow - but he ended up spending less than half of that! No matter how hard he tried!

Out of the shop we went, to marvel at the new purchase and how shiny it is, and to discuss our next move. To make a long story short, we decided against going up Mt Pilatus, as even on the cheap, it was going to be over $500. Shame really, but no regrets, because I'd rather live up large in Barcelona.

About 4 minutes later, we turn around and Johnny's giggling sheepishly. No sooner had he left the shop with his knife, he'd cut himself. He didn't even feel it, and it was bleeding not too badly, but for quite a few minutes. <insert rolled eyes here>. But still, funny.

A wander around the lake ensued, and across the other covered bridge, to the less touristy side of town. It's beautiful and old, and seems to be a few more locals there.

After Hangry started to rear it's ugly head, we plonked down in a pizza shop, for a fabulous late lunch. At a guess, the bill would have been approx $50-sh Swiss francs, which is approx $90AUD. For 2 x 30cm pizzas, 3 soft drinks & a small chips. Happily spent considering we'd just saved $500. AND it was the most economical place we'd found. Lol.

Then back to the apartment to drop Jess off, while K4, Johnny, Syd & I kept exploring. It was late afternoon by this stage. We left Jess with strict instructions that we wanted ALL of her fingers intact by the time we returned, so No Playing with Johnny's Knife.

The 4 of us shot back across the river and up the watch towers, for a fabulous view over the lake & city. Let me tell you, that was a LOT of very steep steps. Scary going up, and scary coming back down. I held on with both hands, and let K4, Johnny & Syd go ahead of me, so I'd have a soft landing if I slipped. Lucky for them, I'm deft of step, like an All Black, and they lived to see another day.

Back we went, with gnocchi pesto for dinner, we then swapped big kids and took the girls out to look at the city by night! Again, it was beautiful, but we had ulterior motives, and "accidentally" found a pub with the Italy v NZ rugby game on. Mr Pickwicks allowed us to sneak the girls in, and we had a jolly good shout at the TV, a few bevvies, and a very enjoyable night was had.

Back home to pack, and sleep before heading out early the next day.

17,000 steps.