Switzerland continued...

I left Geneva by train and headed across Switzerland to Zurich. I met up with my friend, Tiffany, and her fiance, Gregg. They showed me all around Switzerland from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. I had several tour options, Gregg wanted to go to an indoor water park and mini golf, but Tiffany and I overruled that one. Here is the tour we settled on...

Zurich

Grossmünster Church (Dated about 1100 - home to the Swiss-German Reformation with Zwingli)

Fraumünster Church (Dated about 850's)

A view of Zurich from a hill outside the city

Bahnhofstrasse (The world's 7th most expensive shopping street)

Zurich Train Station

Museum at Castle Kyburg just outside of Zurich

In the town of Kyburg

A view from the Castle tower

Inside the Castle tower

I found my knight in shining armor!
(For the museum curators reading... I wasn't touching the armor!)

Life in a Castle... I'm guessing that it wasn't nearly as romantic as I imagine it to be.

Bern

Bern is the capital of Switzerland.



Most of the city is surrounded by water.

The story goes that long ago in a battle the fortified city was being overcome by the enemy, when bears came to their rescue and they defeated the enemy. Now there are three bears in this concrete pit to remind everyone of the service they performed for the city.



Tiffany, Gregg, and I having Cokes along one of the main streets in the old city. I started my "typical Michelle moments" here and they continued throughout the day. I went to sit down on one of the chairs and it fell off the curb. Lucky for me I wasn't sitting on it yet, but the cushion and the chair went slamming down into the street making lots of heads turn.

I love these old cobblestone streets.

I know... enough with the goofy photography tricks already.

Lauterbrunnen

As we got closer to the Alps, I was snapping pictures all over the place. There really weren't good picture "pull offs" so I held the camera out the window and snapped the pictures. (Don't worry Crista I held your camera tight!)

Here's where my head didn't stop turning to capture all of the sights and commit them to memory. When you think of Switzerland, these are the type of pictures that usually come to mind.


We stopped and had a picnic here and this was the view from my side of the table. If you make this picture larger you can see the wind sail people (didn't know what to call it) that jumped off the mountain. I really wanted to do it, but my equalibrium was off that day and I didn't think it would be a good combination.

Notice the waterfall in between the mountains (the white line in the middle just above the house).


This is one of my favorite pictures!

Add me and we are back in the Olan Mills studio with the guy saying, "Okay everyone look this way. Maam, could you just step up on the box and turn your feet in opposite directions. Great, now smile!"

Our short hike up the mountain!

Another one of my favorite pics!

Now, imagine seeing all of these sights and hearing the sound of bells in the background. No, not the ones that are just in your head... all of the cows and sheep were wearing bells. It was so "dream world" that my senses were on overload, probably adding to my equalibrium issue.

The sheep being led up the mountain.

The cows are being led to the barn for milking. Notice all of the animals that use this road, important thing to note. I was so mesmerized by the view that I kept looking all around at the mountains, and had my eyes focused on the camera most of the time capturing the perfect picture. Well, I wasn't paying attention to where I was stepping and walked right into (or more like kicked my way through) a fresh pile of manure. It was all over my shoe so I went to the grass to start wiping my shoe clean. I grabbed for a leaf to help dig it out of the "nooks and crannies" and I accidentally touched witch-hazel. My hand started to burn and then swell with little red bumps. Gosh! I had to finish cleaning my shoe in the WC. I don't think my shoe is going to be the same again!

I'm still snapping shots from the car as we are leaving Lauterbrunnen.

Lucerne (Luzern)

As you can imagine, we ran out of daylight when we reached Lucerne. This city is fortified with a wall and there are watch-towers around the entire city.


The water flowed through the city and there were all kinds of shops and restaurants lining the water. It was a gorgeous city.

This is more shops along the river. The light on the right near the top is an expensive hotel that overlooks the city. I think a day trip is in order if I get to Switzerland again!

This was the very last shot that my camera could hold. I had taken 184 hi-res pictures in one day (aren't you glad I didn't post them all)! This was an old wood bridge that went from one side of the water to the other. Part of the bridge was destroyed in a fire and has since been rebuilt.

Switzerland was a beautiful country. I learned a lot about life in Switzerland too. Gregg was a great tour guide, because what he didn't know he would make up a story for me. I think it was part of his religion or something.