Rigi

13 September 2011
When the Coopers left, they gave me tickets for the Lucerne area transportation (bus/boat/train).  I couldn't find anyone on such short notice to go adventuring with me so I decided to take the dog.  We hopped on a train and headed to Lucerne.  Once we were there we decided to head up the Rigi.  Chopper did really great once we were settled on the train and she loved the boat ride we took from the train station to the base of the Rigi.

View of Lucerne from the boat ride to Vitznau.

Lake Lucerne

Summit at Rigi-Kulm (5,896 feet)

It was beautiful for the first 10 minutes I was up there and then the wind really picked up and blew a whole bunch of clouds in.  This is the Zugersee.  Zug is on the left.

Lake Laurez.

We stopped and had a drink and a snack at the top.  They even brought out a water dish for Chopper.  Only in Switzerland can you be on top of a mountain and they have dog dishes for you to use. 

We didn't take the train all the way back down.  Instead we stopped at Rigi-Kaltbad and did a little exploring and hiking before taing the aerial cable car down to Weggis. 

From Weggis we took a boat back to Lucerne. 

She stayed like this nearly the entire hour boat ride back to the train station.  Then she slept the whole train ride back to Zurich.  What a fun day and adventure!  Thanks Coopers!

Hangin' with Mr. (and Mrs.) Cooper

8-11 September 2011

We love having visitors, and we usually love the people who visit us!  The Coopers (Jed and Kalleen) are no exception.  We were so excited that they had an extended (3 day) layover on their way to Croatia.  We picked them up from the airport Friday morning and took them site seeing in the city. 

Jed loved the fact that all the fountains in the city had clean drinking water.  We walked around and talked about the history of the churches and the city and the politics of Switzerland.  We had lunch at Sprungli and a treat there of course!

Later that evening, we took them to Jucker Farm.  I swear, this is the greatest place to go and hang out.  The food is delish and the atmosphere is just so chill.  What was on the menu?  BBQ brats, pork, chicken and beef, roasted squash, beet salad and fresh apple juice.  (I caught Kalleen with her mouth full.  Sorry!)

Oh to be a kid again...

The next morning we headed to Lauterbrunnen Valley (my favorite place in all of Swissland) to check out some waterfalls. 

Trummelbach Falls:  20,000 liters of water per second. 
20,000 tons of sediment carried out of the mountain per year. 
Only falls inside of a mountain that are reachable by foot. 
10 different "falls" including a cork-screw style one.
= really loud and really wet and cold!

Awww... we are cute! (at least I think so)

That night we dropped the Coopers off in Lucerne and Chris left for Munich.  I picked the Coopers up at the train station on Sunday and we had a wonderful evening catching up.  Jed and Kalleen are welcomed back anytime!

Yodel-lodo-loo?

 After a nice relaxing morning we headed to a chocolate factory in St. Gallen.  Heather was adamant we find some cows so before indulging in chocolate, we headed to the hills in search of some Swiss Browns. 

So the fence is electrified come to find out. 

Heather was a little nervous, but she warmed up to them. 

Maestroni chocolate factory.  The tour wasn't that great, but the sampling was fantastic!

 

 

 

 

 Then we headed to Appenzell for some lunch and shopping.

 

 

 Appenzell was the last canton to give the women the right to vote in 1989. 

We picked Chris ups from work and headed to Jucker Farmart for a tasty dinner that I didn't have to make. 

 

 Yep, a Swiss Army Knife made from pumpkins. 

Fresh pressed apple juice and grilled meats.

We did make it to the Matterhorn!

The next morning Heather and I toured around Zurich.

 

Hauptbahnhoff

We rode the bahn to the Dolder Hotel and walked around a little bit.  We ate at Sternen Grill by the lake and fed the ducks and swans.

Then we headed to Lucerne for a fun filled evening. 

 

Kapelbrüdke or Chapel Bridge

 

 

 

We took Heather to the most touristy place we could find.  We wanted some yodeling, flag throwing, alpenhorn music, spoon and singing saw playing.  Stadtkeller is the place! 
Heather and I ended up in a yodeling competition.  Heather won (of course) and I made the audience laugh. 

We had such a great time with Heather.  Thanks for coming to see us!

In the City of Glass: If you break it, you buy it!

"The Heath" and I caught an early morning flight to Venice from Rome and started our day at Doge's Palace. 



Courtyard of Doge's Palace

 



We love learning!

Heather was nervous for the lady who had to wear this.

Getting cheeky

I think Chris was a little nervous about us being on our own, but how much trouble could we get into?

 





 

  Our room wasn't quite ready when we check in so we went back in the afternoon to have a little rest time.



  The gentleman was kind enough to "drop" our luggage at our room for us.  Okay, so he dropped it out a window to a little courtyard where we picked it up and took it to our room which was in an adjoining building.  Our room happened to be over the theater and the hotel was in the same building as a glass factory. 

 I have to say one of the benefits of two ladies traveling together (especially in Italy) is that you get treated pretty well.  We went to the glass factory and asked if they had any demonstrations that we could watch.  A tour group was late so they invited us in and we had a private demonstration! 

After the demonstration, we headed a little ways off the beaten path and had some lunch.  Since the weather had cleared up a little bit, we decided to take a gondola ride that afternoon.

Our Gondolier was Marco.  Heather also helped him paddle us around as she serenaded us!  What a treat!
Here is the link for Heather singing: Heather singing in Venice. 

After our fantastic gondola ride, we hit the town and went into almost every single shop.  We shopped and shopped and shopped...

Ciao, Bella!

 

Grand Canal from back side of Rialto Bridge.  Gorgeous evening!  This is by my favorite Murano glass jewelery shop (Rialto 79).  Family owned business and we watched while he made earrings for Heather to match her necklace and bracelet she picked out. 

Of course after all that shopping we were starving again.  We walked back to San Marco Square to pick a place for dinner. 

Always in search of the greatest lasagna!

We passed on the free bellinis given to us, but told the kitchen staff they could bring us tiramisu if they wanted to!

After dinner we strolled around San Marco listening to music, laughing ourselves silly and dancing with each other.

The next morning I made us get up super early so we could be at the Basilica when it opened.

We lined up 30 minutes before it opened and we were still about 30th in line.  Check out the line 10 minutes before opening!

 

After the Basilica, we headed up the Campanile for an aerial view of the island.  We knew this day would be crazy busy after counting 5 huge cruise ships in the dock. 

           


They say music soothes the savage beast!



Great lunch at the Florian




We stole some crackers from the restaurant so Heather could feed the pigeons (yuck)



Before the madness...



Dirty animals!

         Link to our video (and a good scream from me): Heather feeding birds in Venice

We concluded our day catching up with each other over some sodas and sitting in the shade on the Grand Canal. 

 

Must be laundry day!

 

 

 

I think Heather was ready for a day of sleeping in, relaxing, and no shopping.  On to Swissland!