Lucerne, Winterthur and Zurich

Inn near Lucerne, Switzerland.
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First stop in Switzerland was Winterthur, just outside Zurich, where Mark & Alla´s awesome friends, Martin & Barbara, gave us a mighty welcome.  Despite our blunder in missing dinner, for which blame lies with none other than me (this entry is by Tole, by the way), they welcomed us into their beautiful home for the evening.  Next morning, Barbara gave us the grand tour of her beautiful, beautiful, and tasty!, garden.  Wonderful food, a beautiful place, and warm and very cool folks.  Thanks, Martin & Barbara!

View from the beginning of the trail up Mt. Rigi.
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Next, we continued to Lucerne.  I absolutely loved Lucerne, and I think Mark & Alla agree, though I think Tole´s feelings weren´t as strong.  For me, though, the combination of an old world town, a crystal clear lake, and the snow-capped Alps was a heart stealer.  The city was charming, but what did it for me was driving around the lake to Mt. Rigi.  We spent about 4 hours on a STEEP climb up that puppy, in the hot, hot sun.  But the views and the environment were sublime.  From the top, you can see about 100 other Alp peaks and two beautiful lakes just below, and basically just feel on top of the world.  I do have to toot our horns, though, since we actually hiked all the way up while the annoying hordes at the top took the train.  The train did seem like a good idea for the way down, though.  Drawing from our experience on other mountains, where they charge only for the upward journey, we assumed going down was cheap if not free.  Imagine our surprise, then, when the conductor came by to charge us 25 euros, or about $32 per person!  Switzerland is stunning, but cheap it ain´t.

stunning, but cheap it ain´t

Almost to the very top of Rigi.
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Zurich was too nearby to miss, so we decided to spend a few days there.  It´s another beautiful and old city on a lake, though lacking the dramatic Alps that grace much of Switzerland.  We enjoyed the lively nightlife, cathedral, and fine museum before heading off to the Black Forest, for one last hurrah with Mark & Alla before breaking off to do some biking on the Danube.