The Great Nice North

We’re talking about going to Toronto at the end of the month.

We’ve been twice before, but the last time was in 2009, so I’m sure the city has changed and there will be new things to see and do.

Going Swiss*: Another lesson

* I’ve actually been home from Switzerland for a week, because, unfortunately, vacations are things you have to come back from. However, I had a few more thoughts about the trip, and am finally trying to turn them into words.

One last boat ride, this time in Luzern.

One last time to not just take in the glorious lake and Alps from a distance or inside a train car, or even walking around, but to be among them, surrounded by them.

Going Swiss: This actually happened!

We knew rain was coming, so Suzi and I decided to do our walking in the morning and stay close to the hotel in the afternoon.

After a little bit of shopping between raindrops, we were headed back to our room when we heard a sound in the distance.

We knew there was no choice … we had to investigate.

Going Swiss: Walking around Wengen

I have a fun story to tell, but it’s getting late here in Switzerland, so instead, here are a bunch of photos from trekking around Wengen.

Going Swiss: We have reached the Alps

When I told people we were going to Switzerland, the main question I got was “Are you going to the Alps?”

And when people weren’t asking, they were saying, “You’ve got to go to the Alps!”

Well, yes, we were going to the Alps, I would respond, but later in the trip, after we go to Zurich and Lausanne.

Going Swiss: 20 years on

Bolognese, ice cream and gazing upon Lake Geneva and the Alps just across the French border.

The boat trip that morning had been enjoyable, Chillon Castle interesting (if a bit maze-like), the couple-mile walk to Montreux to see the Freddie Mercury statute … fine, but possibly unnecessary as hot and as tired as it made us … but bolognese, ice cream, the lake and the mountains were the ideal way for Suzi and I to wrap up our 20th anniversary.

Going Swiss: Winging it

Suzi and I were in our hotel room, relaxing after our earlier activities, when she had an idea.

She suggested we head over to Geneva. It was only a half-hour train ride away, and our Swiss Travel Pass would cover it, so why not?

We didn’t have any kind of a plan; which is highly unusual for us, but we’d figure it out when we got there.

Going Swiss: A long way from home

On the road out to my parents’ house in New York, arrows on the side of a building point in the direction of and give distances to other Bernes in the world, including Bern, Switzerland.

I’ve never looked to see what the number was, and Google Maps tells me it can’t find a route.

I guess the directions would be “take a right, take another right, maybe one more right, try to find a plane, boat or amphibious car that can take you across the ocean to Europe.”

Going Swiss: More fun for the rest of us

Over there, on the other side of the bridge, that’s where Zurich’s financial district is.

That’s where the would-be Masters of the Universe from the banks congregate, along with the spendy stores where they shop. After all, there are signs advertising a Swarovski flagship store, not that scratch-and-dent outlet stuff.

And it was almost empty. All the woman we saw could do was pose in front of a store for a photo, as if to say, “I’d buy this expensive jewelry/watch/whatever it was, but too bad the store is closed.”

Going Swiss: No particular place to go

I think we can all agree that one of America’s greatest cultural exports is “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey.

I mostly kid, but it is a song that everyone knows, including the group that burst into an impromptu song-and-dance party out on the street when it came on somebody’s speaker.

Where were they from? What were they doing? Where were they going?