A Few Last Memories

Back Home in VA - Some Final Thoughts

10 Best Things About the Trip (or maybe 13 - apparently it's mostly about the food)

13. Smooth on-time flights & no lost bags
12. Small Alpine hotels, innkeepers & staff
11. Eating like a hog & not gaining weight
10. Hiking every day - much more fun than Nordic Tracking
9. Salad bars
8. Breakfast buffets - especially Birchermuesli, fresh bread, & soft/hard boiled eggs - but not raw eggs
7. Chocolate
6. Swiss cuisine, especially raclette, rosti, & kaseschnitte
5. "Light" hikes with the Ladies
4. Snacks & lunches @ mountain huttes - except chicken noodle soup
3. Swiss trains, boats, buses, funiculars, cog railways, cable cars, chair lifts, etc.
2. Alpine vistas & wild flower meadows
1. The guides & fellow hikers of the "Three Cultures Tour"


10 Best Things About Being Home Again

13. Not living out of a backpack & duffel bag
12. Driving
11. Air Conditioning
10. Everything in English
9. Smoke-free air
8. Seeing the Valley turned green again
7. My favorite pillow
6. Not having to slather on sun screen every morning
5. Soft tissues & toilet paper
4. Washer & dryer
3. Prices
2. Pictures & memories
1. Together with Jude again

Back in Zurich - Brat research Continues

Easy on-time trip to Zurich. Sat in a "Quiet Car" from Bern to Z. Louise & Katie had to move to another car.

Grey & warm to start. Changed to grey, cool, gusty & drizzle ~ 3:30. Had another, quite different brat @ nice waterside, open-air spot @ the mouth of the river by the tour boat docks. Good potato salad - similar to Jude's & almost as good.

Huge flea market in the square. Peoples old junk looks pretty much the same here as @ home.

Took the short boat tour - really a water taxi. Pretty boring, especially when it turned cold & drizzly. Saw the windows @ Fraumunster (awesome!) walked through the fancy shopping district, bought a beer & chips @ COOP by the train station (unbelievable) & climbed back to my room to get warmed up - can you believe it?

Hope everyone's travels are smooth & homecoming is sweet. Thanks for the memories.

VaYank Wins Coveted "Ladies' Man" Award

A fast pace and steep trails
he does not desire

For him a nice stroll
with good views will inspire

Handle the rigorous
we think he can

But we also know
He likes being the Ladies' Man



First I'd like to thank the Academy...........................

The Last Supper

9 For 9

Perfect weather again for our last day of hiking, making it 9 days out of 9.

And I finally got my first Swiss Brat - with Rosti (Swiss version of home fries) & onion sauce, on another hike up another glacier-fed valley. This one began as a steep slot canyon with the runoff roaring so loudly we could hardly hear each other. Then the valley broadened into meadows with small isolated farms & tiny villages.

Tomorrow - back to Zurich for some more sightseeing & brot research. Then the long ride home on Sunday. Can't wait to see Jude & curl up with my favorite pillow.

Another day, another Alpine Valley

Thought today was going to end our streak of perfect weather. Woke up to overcast @ ~ 300' & light drizzle. Took the train through a long tunnel to the next valley. Started hiking up the valley; patches of blue sky began to appear, & the sunshine continued all day with cooler temps.

Not as dramatic as yesterday, but a beautiful, less developed glacier-fed Eden of waterfalls, roaring streams, meadows of wildflowers, & grazing cattle clanging their Swiss cow bells.

Last day of hiking tomorrow. Then back to Zurich for a day, & home on Sunday. Its been great, the time has flown, but I'm ready for some quiet time in Churchville.