hey all,
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| The luggage we arrived in Switzerland with, since Aeroflot lost our checked luggage. |
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| Michi standing on the banks of the Rhine River |
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| Our first view of the Rhine Falls |
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| The Rhine Falls. Check out the people on the big rock in the middle. |
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| Michi and I in front of the Rhine Falls |
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| The Rhine Falls from the bottom. Check out the castle on top of the cliff. |
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| Our first Swiss meal: Marinated pork shank and potato salad |
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| Kalbsgeschnetzeltes: A famous Zurich dish. Pan-fried veal and mushrooms in white whine sauce and Swiss hash browns. |
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| James Joyce's place in Zurich |
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| Michi relaxing on one of our numerous train trips. |
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| The view from our hotel on Lake Luzern. |
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| Unfortunately, the view from Mt. Pilatus's summit was not so great. We'll have to try this one again. |
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| Prisoner's cell in Chillon Castle |
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| Yay for medieval toilets! |
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| Inside Chillon Castle |
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| Several of the mountain trains have these cogwheel tracks because the gradient is quite steep. |
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| At Rochers-de-Naye you can stay in these Mongolian style yurts |
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| The view from Rochers-de-Naye |
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| Aeroflot finally sent our missing luggage to us (four days after we arrived) |
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| A baked snack of Luzern: imagine a foot long, six inch wide fig newton. Delicious |
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| Michi at Mt. Gornergrat |
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| One of the main glaciers you can see in the Zermatt area. |
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| Us and the Matterhorn |
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| A delicious dark hot chocolate with orange flavor |
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| Me holding some chocolate beans at Maison Cailler, a chocolate factory |
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| Michi in the chocolate tasting room in Maison Cailler |
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| Geneva |
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| Our Ethiopian dinner in Geneva. You take the crepe-like wraps and dip them in different sauces and roll them around the vegetables and meat. No knives, forks, or spoons, you just use your hands. Spicy, messy, but really tasty! |
OK. So Switzerland was really great. It was good to see the mountains, valleys, and lakes that I remember from ten years ago. It was great to see new places and to be able to see them with Michi. The only real downer on the whole trip was Aeroflot. The inflight service was lackluster. Our flight from Tokyo to Moscow was delayed by two hours, and as a result our luggage did not arrive with us in Zurich. For our return flights from Geneva to Moscow, and Moscow to Tokyo, the flight from Moscow to Tokyo was again delayed an hour. Worse, even with the delay, and my checking at the information counter about our luggage, our checked bags again did not arrive with us in Tokyo. WTF Aeroflot!
In other news, although I think most of my friends and family know already, I have been out of work for the last two weeks. The owner of my school suddenly died, and her family decided to close the school. The good news is that a new school will almost certainly raise from the ashes. We are looking to start again on September 1st.
Cheers,
