Swiss Alps

Driving through the alps was beautiful. All of the villages on the hillside were so quaint.

See the sheep on the hillside? They and the cows have bells around their neck. The Christmas ornament we chose to take back was one with a cow bell.....mainly because Mark loved it so much.

The alps:

Lucerne, Switzerland

Lucerne is a gorgeous place to visit as well. Of course it was an extremely short visit there and most of our pictures are out of the van window. But, oh well.

This is one of the most photographed places in the world (per our tour guide).

Lucerne is famous for this photo.

Zug, Switzerland

We chose to take a private tour to Zug, Switzerland, then through the alps and on to northern Italy, right outside of Milan.

According to our tour guide, Zug is one of the nicest places in Switzerland to live. It is quite beautiful.

The photos really just don't do it any justice. The leaves had just reached their peak about a week earlier, so we missed the height of their color. But it was still very lovely.

Random pics

This is the vernicular, or elevator type thing that takes people from the lower part of the city to the top of the hill....the more residential area.

We decided to take a tour of the area. So, we walked down behind the train station to see what all they had to offer.

So, we got a brochure and headed over to Starbucks and were trying to decide which one we wanted to go on.

Looking thrilled, hahaha.

A night on the town (Zurich)

Mark and I headed out around 5:30 p.m. in search of somewhere to eat dinner. Preferably a place that was NOT McDonald's but did not require a second mortgage on our home to dine there.

We found an Italian restaurant that seemed to fit the bill. For two plates of spaghetti and two bottles of coke light (they do not have diet coke here, it is called coke light per my photo) the bill was around $50. Seriously. But we did get out coke light served in wine glasses. LOL

Thought this was pretty funny: one spaghetti dish was called "Tennessee" no idea what all that stuff listed underneath it was.

And of course we found an enormous chocolate store. $7 for a candy bar. Yes, my friends. Imagine your little ones running in and begging, crying throwing a fit for one of those. And that's the cheaper stuff!!! I think we were most amused by the prices on everything, hence my listing them.

Expensive

By the time we arrived in Zurich, it was time for lunch. So we set out to find something. Their money is the swiss franc. It's about a 1:1 ratio with the US dollar. So it something was 10 swiss francs that meant that it was about 10 US dollars. Easy enough. Well, everything--the restaurants--seemed rather high so we wandered upon a McDonalds. We paid no attention to the prices because really, we're at McDonalds and when do you need to worry about something being expensive there? Well, imagine our surprise when we ordered a kid's meal for me (I was also shocked that it came with no toy, not that I wanted one) and a "Royale with cheese" aka a quarter pounder value meal, that the total came to over $19 US. Yeah. I ate every single french fry on my plate.

"Royal with cheese" Mark has wanted to order. ya know, because they did it in Pulp Fiction.

I thought I'd take a picture of the menu for you all. Can you see the prices? A filet of fish is over $9.

Want some Nike shoes? Even for the ugly ones you'll have to cough up over $200. The inflation here is unreal.

Wandering the streets of Zurich

Our hotel was smack in the middle of old town, and a five minute walk from the train station. There was no better location. (A big shout out to Mark for finding this!) So, naturally, we had to wander the streets once we got there. And there was a coffee lover's heaven. A Bodum store. With every kind of coffee press/french press imaginable.

Mark at the river. There were numerous ducks and swans who were wanting to be fed. But at $8 per loaf of bread.....ha.

Starbucks samples! Who can pass that up?!!

Awesome toy/teddy bear store:

Train to Zurich

We got to ride one of those fast trains that run across Europe (and sometimes crash into each other. Ahem....) from Munich to Zurich, Switzerland. We had time to visit one other country and of course we chose Switzerland. Because we love chocolate so much. Not really, but we do think of chocolate when we hear Switzerland.

We had to get up super dooper early to get to the train station. Oh, and we took the lazy man's way of getting around and got a cab. Not cheap, but definitely worth it. And guess what?!! It wasn't an old beat up Caprice Classic like we always seem to get in the U.S. Nuh-uh. We got a fancy schmansy Mercedes! I know that's like a Ford here, but still! Oh, and we had time to grab some breakfast once we got to the train station. So, Mark and I picked out among the forty thousand different pasteries two of the best looking ones. The guy selling them to us didn't speak English so we couldn't ask what they were. But they were pretty! And shouldn't they taste just as good? Well, no. Actually they were kind of gross. I ate it anyway. But mine tasted like pureed black licorice smeared into the shaped of a cinnamon roll. Ick. I was starving and we'd found one of only a handfull of places to sit and I wasn't giving it up. Oh, which brings me to another point: seating. Many many places only have tables that you can stand at to eat. NO CHAIRS!

I was tired. Not much sleep the night before and the train will put you out rather quickly.

A quick view of Austria. We touched over into that country during the train ride.

Goin' Out

Heading out for a celebratory dinner and dessert in Munich. On our way down the elevator to meet the others.

Mmmmm.....chocolate. Almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

Creme brulee. My favorite. Never miss a chance to eat some creme brulee.

Munich Open Air Market

Oh, a love of mine is open air markets. There was a fabulous one we'd visit in Boston back when we lived in New Hampshire. But one thing that I'd see on the travel channel, and never seemed to see in any market was a durian. A fruit popular in Asian countries. It was described to taste like custard but smell like rotting flesh. How do ya like that? Even that guy on the travel channel that eats cockroaches and worms couldn't eat durian. It made him sick. So, imagine my surprise when I couldn't smell this fruit at all! No idea why. Maybe it was frozen as that can sometimes contain the smell. There was a big sign that said "Do Not Touch!!!" in four different languages, so I definitely did not touch it.

This fruit: no idea what it is either. But it drew the attention of many cameras.

The marketplace had easily over 150 vendors:

And numerous meat shops....I thought the sausages on the chain were soooo cool! Now all I needed was a picture of a dog running away with one he stole. LOL

Glockenspiel, Munich, Germany

The Glockenspiel is in the center of Murienplatz (a pedestrian only street) in Munich. It's a zillion years old and like a music box. It plays at certain times of the day. I happened to be there for the 11 a.m. showing. The little figurines dances while the slightly off key music played. Lots of people gathered with their cameras and camcorders. I captured some of the music with my iPhone and will try and upload it.