Zurich, Switzerland

Oh my. Zürich is lovely. The trip here was...interesting. I ended up being given a seat in the smoking car on the train (which is sort of like being trapped in a box with 40 smokers). It was a first class car, but it was a smoking car. It was...uncomfortable. But I made it to Zurich and a flirtatious old man of a cabbie brought me safely to my hotel & didn't rip me off when I gave him 20 Euro for a 17 CHF cab ride but explained that 20 Euro is about 30 CHF. He gave me proper change. I wanted to hug him. After checking in, I promptly went out and got totally lost. I finally figured out the tram system and another kind older gentleman explained exactly where to go & what ticket to purchase to me.

So, I made it to Zurichsee and OH MY - it's gorgeous. They do a lot of their public transit between towns located on the water on big boats, so I got on one and just rode it allllll the way down and alllll the way back. It was about 4 hours. There were wee churches, flowers, snow covered Alpine mountains (yes, there are PICTURES)...I wish I could describe the color of the water. It was not quite green, not quite blue, but just about this perfect aqua color that made me want to dive into it. I was so relaxed I nearly fell asleep.

I picked up some amazing tourist info at the train station - a whole BOOK of cool things to do in Switzerland. I found the way up the mountain to all the hiking trails in Zermatt - it's called the Gornergrat. It's Switzerland's first electric cogwheel railway and takes you up to the Riffelalp - a hiking area. Oh - it's ON. I'm wondering if I should try to make hotel reservations out there. It IS the season for doing this type of thing.

Having fun! Loving everything! Much love!