Photo Essay: Mike & Glynda in Zurich

We'd also like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Glynda!

Hope you have a restful birthday after all of the fun travels.
xo - C & B

Up next: The Stuttgart TV Tower

Nick & Elli: Zurich

After we arrived back at the hotel from the airport, Nick and Elli showed the jet-lag who was boss and decided to hit the streets for some sight-seeing. Naturally, our first stop was at Sprungli for some delectable Swiss chocolates...

...as you can see, they were a hit!
From there we wandered around the sun-drenched streets for a few hours taking in some of the gorgeous local scenery:

Eventually we made our way back to the hotel for a little quiet time before going to dinner. Reservations were for 2000, so after a little rest we got all dolled up...

...and then hit the streets again for some fantastic food and good times. We went to the same restaurant Brian and I dined at the last time we were in Zurich, Zeughauskeller, and again it did not disappoint. Both couples opted for the traditional Swiss entree of Kalbsgeschnetzeltes nach Zürcher Art which is basically a veal stroganoff served with thickly sliced hash browns. Swooooon. On pure chance, we were seated next to a very sweet and interesting trio of people: a husband, his wife, and her long-time friend, all probably in their early 70's. The women were American and the man Swiss; after chatting for almost the entire meal we asked for our check to find out that our new friends had picked up our tab. It was such a generous and thoughtful gesture, one that we hope to reciprocate someday. With round, full bellies we wobbled back to the hotel for a good night's rest before another fun day in Zurich.

The next morning, after some much needed zzzzz's for our visitors, we hit the pavement with energetic and excited feet. Our first stop was at Grossmünster which is a beautiful cathedral in the heart of Zurich. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed inside Grossmünster so we were unable to capture the magnificent stained glass that decorated the windows. This stained glass was unlike anything we had ever seen. Follow this link to get a glimpse of it. Luckily, there was photography allowed in the tower. Here's a shot of Nick and Elli on their way up to the top of the tower:



Climbing to the top consisted of tons of wooden stairs, curving staircases, and steep steps.
The view from the top was well worth it:



After we drank in the intoxicating views of Zurich we slowly made our way back down the tower and off on another sight-seeing adventure. Our next stop, Kunsthaus Zurich. The ladies outside of the Kunsthaus (Art Musuem):

The Kunsthaus was marvelous. We were all extremely impressed with not only the size of the collection, but the scope of the collection as well. We saw works by Picasso, Magritte, Monet, Van Gogh, Rothko, Warhol, Pollock, Miró, Dalí, Giacometti, Manet, Gauguin to name a few.

With the Kunsthaus under our belt, we walked over to the dock to hop on a boat for a tour of the lake. Here's a snippet from our boat ride:

Once we arrived back on dry land, we meandered back to the hotel and relaxed before heading down to the Executive Lounge for a fun night of drinking, snacking, and laughing. A wonderful ending to a wonderful time in Zurich.

Nick & Elli: Arrival

On Friday, May 28th we hit the road to Zurich to pick-up Nick and Elli from the airport. We were SO excited for to see our visitors! On the short ride down from Stuttgart we noticed that there were beautifully bright yellow flowers in bloom along the autobahn:

We're not sure if they are wildflowers or are grown for commercial purposes, but we loved them either way. Every 1/2 kilometer or so, we'd see another huge square field of these lovely yellow ladies. Once we entered Switzerland the yellow flower fields disappeared and we geared our attention towards our main goal: getting Nick and Elli!

We pulled up to the Zurich Airport, I hopped out and walked in to find:



Woo hoo! Their flight from Chicago was in and their bags were on their way to baggage claim. In the Zurich Airport there are large floor to ceiling windows that let family and friends scan the baggage claim area. I kept my eyes peeled and then...

Success! Right after the flash on my camera went off they looked over and we shared some very excited waves. Once their bags were in hand we found each other on the other side of the glass. Brian pulled the car up and we were all off to start our adventure in Zurich with our visitors!

We Leave...

....today for HERE to pick up this fabulous couple:

We are SO excited for Nick and Elli's visit!

Zurich

We headed out for Zurich on Friday morning around 1000. The weather was a little dicey, but luckily the Autobahn roads were nice and clear. The drive took just about 2 1/2 hours. With our trusty GPS we easily found our hotel, the Zurich Marriott. Since we've been earning Marriott points like crazy, we were able to cash some points in for a free stay. On top of that, we were upgraded at check-in! Our fantastic room was on the 28th floor with a nice view of the river and downtown. After we settled into our room we headed out on foot to explore Zurich. The city center was an easy 10 minute walk from the hotel. We walked down the main pedestrian-only street, Bahnhofstrasse. There were jewelry stores (with 10 carat rings displayed!), upscale shops, quaint storefronts, and so much more. Here's a peek at a cute narrow street off of Bahnhofstrasse and an adorable florist display:

We had read that one of the most famous chocolate shops in Zurich is Sprungli. We knew we had to find one while we were in town. Luckily, Sprungli stores are ALL over the place. We could actually smell the chocolate before we even entered the store. Once we did enter, it was sensory overload. Have a look:

Beautiful sweet treats galore! We decided on truffles. We bought 6 and then I started to snap some photos of the gorgeous display cases. Not too long after I took these 3 photos I got busted. Apparently there's "No Photography Allowed" in Sprungli. We ducked out the door, gobbled up our first Swiss chocolates and immediately had our world rocked by the remarkably delicious truffles. Melt in your mouth goodness!

We walked around a while longer and scoped out our restaurant for later that night. After some more traipsing around we made our way back to the hotel for a quick cat nap before we got ready for dinner. We headed back out around 1730 for our 2000 reservation at Zeughauskeller. Zeughauskeller was an awesome restaurant. The dining room was a huge open hall with large wooden tables. As soon as we sat down we saw that they offered a flaming beer. Brian was sold. I present to you the flaming beer:

Don't you love how HUGE the glass is?! After enjoying some tasty Swiss beer we moved on to the main event. The Mayor's Sword. Beef steaks pounded thin, wrapped around the blade of a sword, and then cooked. I kid you not. It was just too wild NOT to order. Here's a shot of the three of us:

A darling couple from South Africa sat next to us and graciously took our picture with our sword of meat. The Mayor's Sword was served with a to-die-for curry garlic mustard sauce. Needless to say, we ate up everything in sight!

Bellies seriously full, we wobbled back to the hotel. The next day we had a lazy morning then headed out for a sushi lunch. We then hopped on a 1 1/2 hour boat tour of the lake. The weather was a little gloomy, but it was still so nice to be out on the water. We had packed a few snacks and mini bottles of wine for a mid-lake "Cheers".

After our boat ride we walked around town a little bit more then hit the hotel for some rest before dinner. That night we dined on thai food at one of the Marriott's restaurants. It was lovely!

Our trip to Zurich was full of wonderful food, lots of walking, and plenty of laughs. We both really enjoyed the Swiss people; they all seemed very friendly and jovial. Since the weather was a little gray while we were there, a repeat visit this summer is a must!


If you'd like to view the rest of our photos from Zurich , please click on this link:

Zurich Photos

On the Road Again

The Wagon Queen Family Truckster ("You didn't order the Metallic Pea?" "NO. Antarctic Blue!") is all loaded up and ready for our trek to Zurich. The drive should only take about an hour and a half. Fingers crossed the weather holds out. We'll see you on Valentine's Day when we're back in town!

Since we'll be out of town this weekend, here's a warm Happy Birthday wish to Todd-0!

This goofball's birthday is on February 13th! Have a fabulous day, T-Bird!
We love you - C & B

Lucerne

Our USO trip to Lucerne started off bright and early at 0500 on Saturday morning. We drove to base, hopped on the USO bus and we were off! A few hours later we had arrived in Lucerne and started our guided walking tour of the city. Our first stop along the walking tour was at the Lion Monument:

This really cool monument commemorates the Swiss Guard that protected the French King and ultimately died defending him in 1792. We both really loved this monument. It was carved right out of the stone wall in the 1800's and was such a unique memorial.

Next up on the walking tour was the Abby Court Church:

This was a really pretty and reasonably sized Catholic church. The interior was very light (white stone, white arches, etc.) creating a nice heavenly glow. After peeking around the church for a little while we started off towards the center of the city. To get there we had to cross Lucerne's famous Chapel Bridge:

This bridge was built in the Middle Ages and it was very cool to walk across. From the bridge there were some great views of the town! As you can see from the bridge photo the weather was a little foggy, but even through the fog we could tell that this is a gorgeous little city hidden in the Alps. Once we crossed the bridge we visited Lucerne's Jesuit Church, a great example of the "sugary" Rococo style:

Sugary or not, I LOVED the beautiful crystal chandeliers that were hanging in the church! After about two hours the walking tour was complete. We were finally able to go explore and check out the Fasnachts Markt (Mardi Gras Festival)! (We had until 1845, which was when we had to meet up on the bus to head home). Our first need after the walking tour was sustenance. We found this cute little pub right along the river called Mr. Pickwick's. We were sold. Finding a cozy table in the corner, we indulged in Boddingtons, Guinness, and some delicious pub fare. Cheers!

Once our bellies were full we decided to explore the festival. We quickly learned that live music was a major proponent of the festival, marching band style. There wasn't so much "marching" as there was just some really awesome live music. All the bands had their own coordinating costumes and would march over the bridge and up onto a large set of steps. Once in place they would play 4-5 songs for the happy crowd then they'd march out and a new band will take their place. Here's a shot of Brian standing where the bands were playing:

The bands were all SO good! They all played recognizable tunes. We heard: Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Guns 'n Roses, and more. Here's a sample of the great music:



Between the music, the drinks (beer, spiked tea and coffee), and the food, the festival had a wonderfully fun and jolly ambiance. We stood and listened to the bands for quite some time. Before we knew it, the sun was beginning to set. The dimming light cast a lovely glow over the town:



As it drew closer and closer to 1845 we walked around, stopped in at Mr. Pickwick's for a final beverage and then walked back to the bus. On our walk back to the bus, the Chapel Bridge looked so pretty with all the lights reflecting off of the river:

We reached the bus a few minutes early, got settled in our seats and then played a little travel Scrabble on our ride home. The bus pulled back onto base around 2230. Although a long day, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in charming Lucerne.


If you'd like to view the rest of our photos from Lucerne, please click on this link:
Lucerne Photos