lucerne, switzerland: detoxing in paradise

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switzerland was beautiful. a picture perfect sight every time you turned your head. there wasn't a ton of ancient things to see (as opposed to rome), but we did see the most beautiful church in europe (in A & T's opinion). It was the first Jesuit church in Switzerland (go Jesuits!) and it was not as 'grand' as the churches we saw in Italy. It had an altar (picture coming soon) that was made of pink and rose marble accented with gold. It was amazing. Check it out if you have time:

Jesuit Lucerne

we also went shopping and found a quaint little "Mutter und Vater Geschäft" ("Mom and Pop Shop"... damn I'm so cultured) that sold everything from chocolates to watches to swiss army knives. i noticed that the prices were a little high. i (A) asked the lady (L) about the chocolates:

A: "hmm.. back in america at a store called 'walmart' (using Dr. Evil finger quotations), i can buy lindt chocolate for half your price."
L: "well our chocolates are made right here, and do not have preservatives like the chocolates we export to america. they're more natural"
A: "well what about your swiss army knives. i can buy those for half price on a little online shop called 'ebay' (using Dr. Evil finger quotations)
L: "well... umm...."
A: ".... your knives aren't made with preservatives either?"
L: [cold stare]

regardless, i bought myself a cool swiss army knife.

then we went to see the Le Lion monument... very cool. it was carved into the side of a cliff as a memorial to the swiss troops that were attacked by the french. check it out: http://www.unil.ch/acvs/F/x28...html

well, we had the most interesting accomodations in lucerne - the country JAIL. yes, i'm not kidding. they converted a historic jail into a hotel and kept 90% of it in its original form. this was pretty neat/freaky/strange/cool/frightening place we've ever stayed in. it was used in the middle ages, and over 1000 people were executed there. they even had the guillotine and electric chair downstairs! our door was solid metal and our windows were barred. (pix coming soon). when we hit the lights, i wanted to whisper "i see dead people" to teresa, but i think she would have reverted back to her alameda gangster days and beat my ass.

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