Switzerland

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Well on Thursday afternoon we arrived in Pisa and found a place to stay, no problem (unlike Siena). So we just wandered around the town for a while and hung out by the leaning tower since there was nothing else there that we needed to see. The leaning tower was so cool, I guess it looked exactly how I pictured it, but it was just awesome to see it in person and to see that it really does lean as much as the pictures show. Anyways, it was great that Emily and I had no plans there because we just laid in the grass by the tower for a couple hours and then ate dinner (and of course gelato) near the tower. The next morning we wandered around town again for a while and saw the tower again before we had to get on a train to Zurich. That was a long train ride. Almost 9 hours and the train was full so we barely had any room, but oh well, what can you do... We arrived in Zurich about 9pm and went to the apartment of some of my parents friends who live near Zurich. Their apartment is amazing! It overlooks Lake Zurich and the view is gorgeous. So then yesterday we took a couple trains to the top of Rigi mountain and walked around there for a while. The view was incredible. To one direction, it was snow covered alps, and to the other, it was a green valley. And there was a lot of snow up there, so it felt just like home 😊 Then in the afternoon we went to Lucern and there was some kids race going on, so there were tons of people there. But it was still fun just to walk around town. But yea, so Switzerland is absolutely amazing! Not only are the views amazing, but everything is clean, which is way different than Greece and Italy. There is hardly any litter anywhere (except cigarettes because a lot of people smoke) and everything just looks so nice. But everything is so expensive, especially with the dollar being so weak. It is now almost 1:1 with Swiss Franks and dollars, so even a brat off the side of the street is about 7SF, which is ridiculous, and for a little bar of chocolate is about 4SF. So I'm really glad we have a place to stay here, otherwise I think we would go broke. Anyways, today is another gorgeous day, so I think we are going to go into Zurich and wander around and look at some of the famous churches and then maybe head up into the mountains for a little hiking. And then on Monday we leave for Paris! I don't know what my internet will be like after this, but I'll try and post something else soon!

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Photos

Me with the leaning tower
Of course I had to be just like every other tourist and take a picture like this ;)

Comments

[Aunt Pam]

clean swiss
it has been 30 years since i did the same circuit of greece, italy and then switzerland and i too was taken with how clean everything was then, and how, my personal space was respected at the perimeter i expect. the swiss, then, anyway, didn't like being crowded anymore than i did. those trains in italy were so tightly packed! interesting that is still the impression.