When we started out in Edinburgh we had just over three weeks to get to Rome so we could catch a flight to Budapest (where we are now as I write this). Three weeks isn't a lot of time but we somehow managed to hit a bunch of national parks in England, squeeze in a side trip to visit our fabulous friend Brenda in Amsterdam, and travel the width of France like maniacs. We had heard Switzerland and it's Alps are beautiful but we just didn't think we would have time. Change of plans; tales of the scenic train through the alps and the Gotthard Pass made us reconsider skipping Switzerland so we ended up in Zurich for two nights.
We arrived by train from Lyon around 4pm and spent a few hours relaxing and soaking up the sun in a park near the train station. A good college friend of my brother, Morgan, lives in Zurich with his wife Marina, and they were gracious enough to host us for a couple of days. Around 7:30 we met up with Marina, headed to the store and had some pasta with a delicious tomato and cucumber salad (made by Marina). After dinner Morgan got home and we spent some time catching up and settling in.
Never fear, our second day in Zurich was much more touristy. We took the tram from Morgan and Marina's back to the train station and started our slightly improvised walking tour of the old city. Wandering around we passed a lot of "cute little shops" (as Katie would say) and generally marveling at all of the old buildings. Zurich seems to have plenty of green space and we ended up in a park on a hill with really nice views of the rest of Zurich and the surrounding area. As you'll see from the pictures it wasn't a terribly clear day but we made the most of it.
My contract states that I am now obligated to tell you that for lunch we had pb&j and potato chips on a bench under a tree to shield us from the light rain. The previous day we had purchased a 24 hour public transit pass which included Zurich's river boat so in the afternoon we embarked on the voyage of a lifetime with what appeared to be an elementary school group. I can't say the first half of the trip was terribly enthralling, but I did wake up about halfway through as the boat was turning around in Lake Zurich to head back the way we came.
The highlight of the day was dinner back at Morgan and Marina's. Morgan threw together a really nice chicken and vegetable soup that we complemented with some leftover olive bread from Morgan's school orientation (another story entirely). We sat around enjoying the food and company, talking about where we have all been, where we wanted to go and how there's just too many places to see.
Colossal thanks to Morgan and Marina for their hospitality, their food and most off all their company.
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