A Brief Stop in Zurich

On our way from Lucerne to Hallstatt, we stopped in Zurich for about eight hours.  We checked out some churches, including one with unique stained glass windows by Marc Chagall (no pictures allowed, of course).

At one point, we found ourselves many sheets to the wind:

And finally, we checked out the very neat Google office in Zurich:

My favorite room was the jungle room, followed closely by the water room (both photos are from this article, if you'd like see more - much more than we saw, actually!).  The Zurich office has a print map with a walking tour for visitors.  Clearly, a popular place to tour if you know a Googler.

It Doesn't Get Much Better than Lake Lucerne

On our first night in Lucerne, we ate at Rathaus Brauerei, a restaurant and brewery recommended by Rick Steves.  Paul enjoyed a delicious beer and pondered the tubes of mustard:

We feasted on sausage and sauerkraut and on a cheesy noodle dish traditional to the region: 

Our second day in Lucerne, we left the city to go for a beautiful hike around Lake Lucerne on part of the Swiss Path (from Sisikon to Brunnen).  Paul said it might just win the award for prettiest place we've been so far on this trip:

Here's a link to the full panorama.   Hopefully it works!

I think I might have to agree.  Toward the end of the walk, we came upon a sight that I thought only existed in US parks - exercise stations.  Apparently I was wrong:

Paul is attempting the exercise, but at this point, our arms and legs were quite sore...

Swans are a common sight in Lucerne.  I think this old guy is glaring at me to stop taking his picture (it probably didn't help that I wasn't the only one snapping photos):

Some of the buildings are decorated in a pretty interesting manner...

In the course of two days in Lucerne, we went for three two-hour boat rides (covered by our Eurail pass!).  We rode a steamboat and enjoyed watching the crankshaft and piston rods (at least, that's what Paul tells me they are called):

The final boat ride was a sunset cruise:

Wenger in Wengen!

There are only two things you need to know about Wengen.

1. I tried to pretend my name was everywhere (the sign actually says "Wengernalp"):

The sign says Wengernalp AND Wengen.  :)

and 2:

That folks, is more cowbell.

Okay, fine, a third thing = even more beautiful mountain views!  (This one isn't actually in Wengen, but is a not-terribly-long train ride away):

The Glacier Field of Chilchbalm

Welcome to Gimmelwald!

On our first day in Gimmelwald, we went for a hike to something Rick Steves described as a glacier field.  It's called Chilchbalm, as you can see in the photo below:

Paul poked the snow:

And I stuck my fingers in the icy cold water:

On the way back, we checked out the wildlife and beautiful wildflowers:

Also, speaking of glaciers, the hotel at which we stayed had an interesting shower experience, which I dubbed the Alpine Freeze.  You had to pay 1 franc for five minutes of shower time, the machine to add another franc was no where near the shower, and when you got near the end of your 5 minutes, your only warning signal was that the water became absolutely freezing cold (like, top of the mountain water cold).  It also did that occasionally during the shower, presumably when someone flushed a toilet or similar.  Not an experience you'd want right before bed, I'd say.

The hotel itself was run by an 89 year old gentleman, Walter (his photo is on the website linked above - check it out!), and his assistant, Tim, who has been working there on a somewhat informal basis for something like 14 years.  They have an amusing relationship.  Tim tries to get guests to eat elsewhere so Walter doesn't have to cook dinners by saying that Walter isn't feeling well.  When we arrived, Paul said to Walter that he hoped he was feeling better, and Walter was like "who told you I wasn't feeling well?"  And then he proceeded to joke about Tim making things up and telling us how Tim sticks around because he wants a room so he can paraglide in the area and see his girlfriend.  Pretty funny.

In many ways it was a great place to stay - we had some great conversations with people over breakfast and dinner (including the mother of Paul's best friend in second grade!), and Tim and Walter were both very friendly and super helpful.  However, the number of spider webs was amusing - in doorways, in the corners of rooms, everywhere.