Aug 27, 2017 - Luzern Day 1 & 2

After a hardy 16 Swiss Franc each breakfast at our hotel,we hop the shuttle to the banhalf- train station. The travel time to Lucerne is just over 1 hour. All goes well,we disembark and after a short walk with our luggage in tow, we arrive at Hotel Des Alps and our 5th floor room. We have a great view from our small balcony. Our 12 day tour begins tomorrow with an orientation walk of Luzern at 5pm and dinner. We already met several other tour members at hotel check in. Feels like a fun group. The next day we take a boat ride to the small...

Aug 25, 2017 - Fly the friendly skys

From our hotel in Sacramento we catch the 4am shuttle. Our flight leaves at 6:50am. About 5 hours in the air we touch down in Dulles DC. A 3 hour lay over and then 8 more hours to Zurich. A short stop at the TI to buy a city card. Then shuttle to our hotel. It's only 9am so we drop our luggage and take a walk for about an hour and our room is ready. A warm shower helps revive us. We plan to take the train to town soon. If we can stay up till early afternoon, we should minimize the jet lag.

Aug 24, 2017 - Planning our Swiss Trip 2017

We decided on Switzerland for our next trip to Europe. We are taking a Rick Steve's tour for the first time. We leave out of Sacramento in about 2 weeks. First stop Dulles in DC, then to Zurich. This is my test Journal email. Hope you will all follow along. I will try not to bore you. I loaded some images of our tour info and maps so you have a better idea where we are going.

Aug 16, 2017 - A few days 'home' in Switzerland

16-18August Back in Switzerland staying with and visiting great friends. Truly my home away from home. Green green green. Flowers blooming everywhere. Blue skies. Beautiful lake. Wonderful Alps. Pauline is happy happy. Lots of last minute final detail planning with Sandra and Terry who are joining Helen and I on the GR10 walk. Fair bit of frustration with my newly purchased prepaidzero travel SIM card. Previously a good brand but so far I'm not greatly happy. Stay tuned to see what support I get!! Reunited with my bike Max. Washed it,...

Jul 11, 2017 - trip preparation in Switzerland

Still working, Paul & Amelie to spend their last 3 weeks in child care - saying good bye to Little Mouse House & Big Bear House. Moving house to Germany is planned for 2nd half of Aug. whilst Kids will have Holidays with their Grand parents in Allgäu. Currently managing all the things related to cancelling our swiss residence. pleaseant anticipation is increasing day by day

Jun 13, 2017 - Lucerne

Hi all, IT APPEARS WE AGAIN HAVE AN ISSUE WITH PHOTOS. IF YOU DO NOT SEE THEM ALL ON THE 1ST RUN JUST CLICK ON THE NEXT ONE YOU DID NOT SEE AND MORE SHOULD SHOW UP. NOT SURE OF THE ISSUE BUT MAY BE THE USE OF THE IPAD........SORRY. So Italy is now in the visited list, wow what a country, the tour director said it was going to be a lot of fun and it was. We stayed at Venice, Rome, Florence and Baverno on Lake Maggiore in the lakes district. We had 2 nights in Venice and visited the usuals, the canals, St Marks square, got lost in back...

Apr 22, 2017 - Zurich

A great night sleep up a bit late but oh well I am on vacation HAHA, down for a nice breakfast before heading out to due the city walk, a very nice day sunshine and warm, a stop at atm for some Swiss money. A nice walk down to the lake stopping to ride a ferris wheel getting a good view of the lake area, then on to the other side of river, stopping at the Grossmunster church with its two towers, and up the 187 narrow steps to the top, a great view of the city, as I was walking along the street I was attacked by this large gelato cone so had...

Apr 21, 2017 - In Zurich

Morning everyone it is 8:00 clock here and midnight for all of the people in CO. My adventure has started, it took a bit longer to get here then planned but I made LOL, It start off great with a on time flight from Durango to Denver, then a 2 1/2 hour delay from Denver to Toronto due to weather in Toronto, and a extra hour circling the airport there before we could land, causing me to miss my flight to Zurich, so had to get a flight to London, then on to Zurich from there, so was about 8 hours later of getting to Zurich but here I am great....

Apr 8, 2017 - Switzerland - An Obsession with Time

Guten Tag! As a graduate student I spent a semester in a seminar entitled "Time". I am still confused. When you think of Switzerland you may think of - Chocolate - the world's number 1 chocolateur. Is it Sprungli or Tauscher? Cheese - hundreds of artisan varieties, none of them manufactured by Kraft. The Alps - Julie Andrews musically cavorting through fields of edelweiss. How many Swiss Army Knives do you own? You may not know - There are over 60,000 kilometers of hiking paths in Switzerland. A man's life expectancy here is 81.3 years, #1...

Dec 11, 2016 - Basel to river cruise

Sleep in - YES! Time for a walk into the old city. Lunch - Spinachstrudel watching a Jazz band. Stroll time then tram back to the hotel, collect suitcases and then onto find the docking point for my next adventure. River cruise on the Amadeus Silver Basel to Cologne. Warm on boat - YES Dinner & snooze time. Cya tomorrow.

Dec 10, 2016 - Lucerne sightsee then off to Basel

Making up for yesterday. Lion monument - very moving Glacier Gardens - interesting Bourbaki Panorama Back to the Rosengart collection to check out the Chagalls and some great photos of Picasso. Few churches Walk along the lake weaving over & back along the many bridges incl the Chapel bridge. Then grab a train to Basel. Basel - Couldn't resist the Cartoon Museum - YES, laughing out loud. Then followed the locals to the Xmas markets - I think the biggest yet. Rosti and mulled wine for tea. Navigate the trams in the dark - Thank goodness...

Dec 9, 2016 - Lucerne hick up

Problem with the lower legs - 2.5hrs at the doctors - 5hrs at the hospital - blood tests, a drip and a bit of prodding . Medication and released - but day gone. Just made the show tonight - Harry Potter with the music played by a 90 strong symphony orchestra. One word - brilliant