Weekend in Switzerland

On Friday, February 5 my DH learned that he would be traveling to Basel, Switzerland on the following Monday for some work meetings. What a wonderful opportunity for a quick trip to Europe! My parents had been thinking about visiting, so this proved a great opportunity. They came and stayed with the kids while we had our little trip! My DH left Monday night and then I flew over on Wednesday night, arriving Thursday morning to join him. His meetings ended Thursday afternoon so he took the train back from Basel to Zurich. One of the good things about him traveling so much lately is that we had a gazillion Marriott points so our entire stay for the weekend was free! 

Safely arrived and ready to enjoy some wine and cheese!

View from our hotel room in Zurich!

You can see the beautiful Alps from the city.

Thursday night we had dinner at a little local restaurant with 8 other people from the Deloitte Zurich office. We got some great recommendations about places to visit and restaurants to eat during our stay. 

Friday morning we got up and took the train to Lucerne. The train station was just a few blocks from our hotel, so it was the ideal way to travel. Trains in Europe are so much better than ours - so many routes, they are clean, they run on time, and they go just about anywhere! A quick 40 minute trip and we were in Lucerne.

Right after we arrived we caught the ferry boat across Lake Lucerne. It was beautiful to see all the snow-covered mountains.

On the ship we enjoyed some Swiss hot chocolate!

We took a cogwheel train up and a cable car down Mt. Riggi so we could get a great look at the landscape below. 

Mt. Riggi also had some ski slopes so we saw lots of skiers and kids on sleds.  They have special paths just for sleds to go down!

It was cold, windy, and snowy at the top of the mountain.

But much warmer at the bottom!

We spent the rest of the day wandering around Lucerne. This lion monument is carved in the side of a large stone cliff to commemorate some Swiss mercenaries.

We had dinner at the Old Swiss House, which according to some recommendations, has the best schnitzel in the area. 

The schnitzel was cooked table side, and was amazing!

On Friday we took the train again, this time to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. It is a beautiful old city

We were there the weekend after Ash Wednesday, which apparently is when all the cities in Switzerland have their Lenten parades. We enjoyed taking in all the festivities!

We popped into this church with some amazing windows and sculpture.

Why does the swan cross the road?

We spent our final day seeing the sights of Zurich. 

We popped in to the Fraumunster Church, which is famous for its five Chagall windows. 

And, since it was Valentine's Day, I treated my hubby to a European soccer game!

Yeah... so they are allowed to bring flares into the stadium, and then they light them whenever their team scores. Security is pretty much non-existent - a big change from sporting events in the U.S. 

For dinner we headed to a tiny restaurant on the outskirts of the city, which was well known for its fondue. Swiss fondue is very different from the U.S. version - it was served with a basket of baby potatoes, pickles, pearl onions and other vegetables. A little weird but still delicious!

Our final night in Switzerland!

On the way home I got upgraded to first class - woohoo! They gave me pajamas to wear during the flight, and I had a fully flat bed for sleeping. A nice way to travel home! 

We had an amazing, although short, trip. How lucky we were to take advantage of my DH's work trip, and thankful to my parents for watching the kids so we could enjoy ourselves.