Lucky loves late leisurely lunches lakeside in Lausanne

September 16 - Yesterday we hopped on a train and headed to Lausanne, which is the second-largest city on Lake Geneva. As you can see from the photos below, it was a glorious day. We walked from the train station down to the lake, stopping along the way to purchase freshly made sandwiches from an Italian deli. After lunch, we walked along the lakeside, stopping at the Olympic Museum, the world’s largest information center about the Olympic games. Lucky wore himself out walking along the promenade, and slept like a rock the entire train-ride back to Zurich. This evening we took a more leisurely stroll down by the Lake of Zurich – once again, the weather was beautiful, and Jesse snapped a few photos along the way. Scroll down to view them, and enjoy!

Lake of Thun, with Eiger, Moench and Jungfrau mountains in the distance

Zermatt, Switzerland with Matterhorn in the background
Which way to the Matterhorn?

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop." - Lewis Carroll, from Alice in Wonderland

September 8, 2007 - The Jungfrau Marathon this year also served as the World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge. http://www.jungfrau-marathon.ch/ws/jm/en/marathon/pictures-galerie/2006/

The weather was beautiful and therefore the views were spectacular. It almost made me forget that we had to ascend about 1900 meters (6200 feet) through the course of the marathon. The total distance covered was 42.1 kilometers (26.2 miles), with most of the elevation gain in the last 17 kilometers.

Susan played the role of photojournalist. There were spectators throughout the course, with large numbers in the villages with train stops. Susan rode the trains up the mountain, along with hundreds of people crammed in like sardines, to watch the progress. The course went along alpine trails, through villages, and mountain trails.

Along the final 10 kilometers there were points where we came to a full stop because the mountain trails were so narrow that we had to go single file. From 38 to 41 kilometers the altitude (2200 meters / 7200 feet), unsteady footing on the trail, and general tiredness made this the toughest part of the course.

The largest crowds were at the start and the finish. Since the only way down the mountain was on trains, we had to cram into them. On the second train we and others squeezed into the baggage car. Susan was almost overcome by the body odor (not her own).

Photos are below.

Jesse

"I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life." - Barbara Bush

Since our last blog update, we welcomed our older daughter Amberly and her husband Nate, who traveled from Chicago to spend some time with us here in Zurich. We crammed a lot of travel into two weeks! In addition to nearby day-trips (to the Rhein Falls and Appenzell), we hit the rails and spent a several nights in Salzburg, Austria; and then journeyed to Zermatt, Switzerland. We enjoyed excellent weather in Salzburg, but Zermatt was a bit cloudy at first. I was worried we would have to return home without viewing the Matterhorn. Thankfully the clouds left on Friday morning and we had a lovely time at Gornergrat, feasting our eyes on all the surrounding mountains, including the famous Matterhorn. Both Jesse and Nate took many wonderful photos (and even I got a few good shots!) so it was hard to narrow the choices for this blog. As a result, there are quite a few to view, if you scroll down. Enjoy!