Blogs from North-East, Switzerland, Europe - page 46

What a glorious day! Shirt-sleeve weather and sun to soak up. We walked along Lake Zurich and sat watching the swans (and the people) going by. We came across an area where people had stacked rocks seemingly cheating the laws of physics and J decided to try his hand at it. We had not felt this relaxed and free for weeks, we let our guard down and we paid for it, when J's pride and joy Oaklies were stolen from a rock by where we were sitting. With all the tropical weather coming up, the only acceptable solution is to buy another pair. Our two favorite lunch spots in Zurich are the Brat stand in Bellevue and Berner. Berner has excellent sandwiches and many things shaped like a pizza! Although pricey, the Berner girls offer great ... read more

By now, all of you must be wondering when this trip is going to end !!!!! This will probably be the last entry. On Saturday, I did the boat ride to Konstanz and showed the Swiss railroad guy the eMail to get the laptop. He got all confused and, while on the phone with Berne, looked over in the corner to a big fat sealed envelope and guess what.....my laptop!!!!!! Lets give the Swiss a rowzing three cheers for honesty and efficiency!!!!! Walked around Konstanz for a bit, but it wasn't that great a day for sightseeing, so I soon was back on the boat to Meersburg for dinner and packing. The next morning after breakfast, I bade farewell to the hotel staff and rolled my luggage down the sea promenade for the last time to ... read more

Rapperswil, Switzerland Our excursion today was on a boat down Lake Zurich to Rapperswil. It was pretty foggy when we left but the fog cleared as we moved along and it turned into a beautiful sunny Sunday. Despite the fog it was warm enough to sit out on the deck. The ferry makes many stops along both sides of the lake along the way. There is also a tiny ferry to take cars across (it's quite a long drive around). Rapperswil is a lovely little town with the requisite "very old church." Apparently, it was once strong enough to have attached Zurich! We strolled through the streets past shops and cafes and finally settled on one in the square where we had some quiche, sandwiches, and wonderful desserts. I found this legend of the town online ... read more

Today we took the opportunity to sleep in and have a leisurely brunch at home. Then we walked downtown to take in the scenery, grab some snacks, and do a little shopping. Just like last October in Zurich, it is beautiful out with temperatures in the 60s and sunny skies. Lovely. J has been asking me "How many Luxembergerlis are you going to eat when we get to Zurich?" for weeks now. Luxembergerlis are divine little treats - stay tuned for photos of the little delights. They come in many flavors including lemon, chocolate, raspberry, champagne, hazelnut, coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, mandarin, caramel, and fig. They are sold at Sprungli where the ladies behind the counter place them carefully into a box with little silver tongs. Luxembergerlis are very delicate and go stale within a day or ... read more

Had a very leisurely morning today. Didn't have a lot of time because I need to connect with my tour group this afternoon for the get to the know the group stuff this evening. Spent most of the morning touring the Swiss National Museum. So incredible! Room after room of things to see. It's not a typical "museum". It has many, many small rooms full of items or actual banquet rooms from during the knight days which had been donated to the museum, etc. etc. Saw items going back to 1100-1200 AD. So incredible for a gal like me from the States where we just don't have those centuries of history. Saw a HUGE globe worth over 2 million francs. Wish I had more time to spend here. Was a little rushed because I wanted to ... read more