Hiking in Switzerland – Gabrielle and Urs: December 2023

Saturday December 30, 2023 -- Our final hike of the year and the ninth one this December! (Considering the weather was quite bad, we still managed to find places for good walks, anywhere from six to 11 kilometers!)

This day we also didn't want to travel far.... in an hour and 45 minutes we were in the Luzern Back Country for our pleasant and fairly easy walk along another section of the St.James Trail, this time an 11-km stretch from Hüswil to Willisau. (Back in October of 2015 we walked a stretch of the St.James Trail to the west of Hüswil, and that's why we chose to start here, where we ended last time, and continue eastward. Those photos are HERE).

We passed through some pleasant agricultural landscape, all lovely and green in winter, and even had a very nice view of the Central Alps in the second half of the hike. Before heading to the train station in Willisau, we walked around the old town for a bit (the only other time I was here was back in 1988, in summer, when there were flowers on the town fountain).

An interesting note about this town: A well-loved baked specialty was invented here in 1850, it is called "Willisauer Ringli", a very hard candy-like cookie made with honey and orange/lemon peel, best enjoyed in small pieces melted in the mouth. (They taste lovely, but I'm afraid I'll break my teeth on them!). There is a type of patent on the recipe, and by law, this confection is only allowed to be produced in this village. There are three production sites in Willisau, one of them still in the original bakery where it was created.

Our walk this day started at the tiny train station of Hüswil, where we ended our other hike in 2015. This was at 10:10

Heading south along the Luthern river toward the St. James Trail. On this stretch we had some shadow from the hill on the east.

The Luthern River where it crossed the St. James Trail

We're heading off to Willisau now, along the St.James Trail. no.4

20 minutes to rejoin the St.James Trail (no.4) from Hüswil, about 2¼ hours to walk to Willisau, a bit of a walk around the old town and 10 minutes to the train station, makes this an almost 3-hour walk! We started at 10:10 in Hüswil, and caught the 14:30 train back home.

One of many lovely farm buildings we passed along the way

In this house, there must have been a baby born recently, because that's what those funny tall trees celebrate. What caught my eye though was the goat chewing on what can only have been the discarded Christmas Tree! A good way to recycle....

I was waiting to catch the goat in the act of eating what might have been a discarded Christmas tree, but she was just observing Urs walk down the road.

A lot of the trail was on paved roads, but the lovely landscape makes it pleasant to walk. And no vehicle traffic at all.

Nice to see the sheep out in the pastures still!

The sheep are observing us walk past.

As best we can tell, this breed of sheep is called "Braunköpfiges Fleischschaf" (Black-headed meat sheep?), one of the heaviest breeds of sheep in Switzerland.

We found a place on a rise with a picnic table and benches, and took this self-timed photo with the lovely landscape to our west.

A zoomed view to the west even shows the summit of Mount Chasseral in the Jura mountains!

Also a zoomed view to the west of the village of Ufhusen, which we passed when we did the other section of the St.James Trail from further west.

Such a lovely landscape

Our first glimpse of the Alps southeast of Luzern, and of Mount Pilatus in the forefront, a profile that is not so familiar from this direction. As it was now noon, we figured that bench was in an ideal location for our picnic lunch!

Enjoying sunshine, views of the mountains, and sandwiches on this bench....

Heading on eastward again along agricultural roads. Our trail took us past the farmhouse behind me and into the forested section.

We can just get a glimpse of the outskirts of the town of Willisau below, which we descended into after passing through the forest on the left.

A series of farmsteads called Olisrüti which we passed through on our way to the forest.

I'd never seen a farmhouse like this, with a small roof extenstion over each storey!

Further on we came across another house where a baby was recently born! This one has a lot of friends, as it is friends of the family who "plant" these trees with well-wishes for the baby! The tradition is, when the trees are taken down, the friends have to be invited for a dinner.

A little guy named Joel, born about two months earlier, is celebrated here by many friends!

Now a short section in the forest among some very tall trees before we emerge above the town of Willisau.

Looking past the roofs of Willisau to the Alps. In spring of this year, we actually started another walk from the Willisau train statioin, and headed up the hill behind me, walking south along this valley. Those photos are HERE.

Down below is the old town of Willisau with the very large Catholic church (the largest in the Luzern region) in the center, a smaller one to the right, and a castle behind it. There are two tower gates; we entered from the west (on the right), and exited through the east one.

There was a deer farm here, and the terrain was on a slope, with built-in wooden steps of terraces along this fence. I thought it was so cute how the deer are relaxing, one on each step!

Each deer on one step on this sloped hillside!

This is the west gate of the old town of Willisau. It is called the "Obertor", or "Upper Gate", and was burned partially for the third time in 1471, then rebuilt in 1550. But first we popped into the smaller church on the left, the "Chapel of the Holy Blood" (Heilig Blut Kapelle), built in 1674.

Inside of the "Heilig Blut Kapelle". In particular, it was the beautiful ceilings which impressed me.

The ceiling above the altar

Individually-painted wooden panels form the ceiling. It is hard to get a grasp of how lovely the ceiling was in its entirety, so I made a video.

VIDEO:

Trying to get a better look at the beautiful wood-panel ceiling!

Entering the old town through the "Obertor". We headed to the right to the main church and then up to the castle, before returning into the village. As cute as this old town is, it is not vehicle-free and makes it annoying to just saunter down the main street.

The houses near the "Obertor"

Details of the parish church of St.Peter and St.Paul. Originally a parish from 13th-Century, the early 19th-Century building dominates the old town and is visible from far off. Based on its outside measurements, it is the largest church in the Luzern region. It was largely renovated in the 1920's.

The beautiful organ in the large parish church.

Behind the church is the castle of the "High Sheriff", built at the end of the 17th Century, and is considered one of the most magnificent Baroque buildings of Central Switzerland.

Landvogteischloss Willisau.

From the castle grounds you can look down at the church. One of the main features of the renovations in the 1920's is that weird new bell-tower, which was, at the time, a pioneer in iron-concrete architecture. Even though the locals call it the "Copper-Wart" and it is an object of contention, it is under monument protection.

From the castle grounds, a look over the roofs of Willisau to the eastern gate.

Back down in the village now, we look back to the western gate, the Obertor

The writing on this building: "Ursprungshaus der Willisauer-Ringli", announces that the specialty was first created at this location! (And still produced in this building since 1850!)

This building across the street is a "factory store" which sells the specialty. The cookies are also produced here in this bakery.

Details of the "Willisau Ringli" cookies! View into the shop window where they are sold, and there are even decorations shaped like the cookies in the tree in front of the city hall building!

VIDEO:

This is a YouTube video of an item done by a local news channel in 2008, when they visited the shop where the original cookies were created. There is even footage of the early hand-made production.