Monday, June 16th

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We took it easy on Saturday (6/14) after our previous long day in Luzern.  I am grateful for the opportunity to sleep in while staying in Zurich—none of us has a pressing agenda.  We spent the morning fixing Seth’s freezer.  The freezer door did not close because of a huge ice buildup (due to the door not being fully closed).  It was a vicious cycle of freezer ice.  It took almost an hour to vanquish the solid ice blocks, and now the freezer looks great.  We then took a trip to the grocery store to gather supplies for dinner including some fresh produce.  We made turkey-and-vegetable curry.  The turkey had been in the freezer for months (it was mistaken for chicken when purchased) so it was good to use it up.  The curry was really good and full of vegetables.  It was also nice to throw some fresh produce into my Swiss diet 90% composed of bread, dairy, meat, cereal, and chocolate.

On Sunday (6/15) we woke up early for a hike.  We took the train to Fitzbach in eastern Switzerland then took a ski lift halfway up our mountain.  We hiked up the final 700 meters of vertical and had lunch at the summit.  Unfortunately it was somewhat cloudy at the top of the mountains.  The clouds cleared in the afternoon and our lift ride down the mountain was beautiful.  We had just enough time to return to Seth’s apartment and take a quick rest before it was time for the Swiss world cup match.  We headed downtown for the Zurich public viewing, only to find hundreds of people being turned away from the entrance because it was full.  The venue’s capacity was approximately 1000, a rare instance of poor planning by the Swiss.  We instead watched the game in the common room of a friend of Seth’s apartment near downtown.  There were about 15 watching the game (including us), though oddly none of us were Swiss.  After the Swiss beat Ecuador 2-1 with a last-minute goal, we headed back downtown for kebabs and people-watching.  There were tons of people in red celebrating in the streets.  I hope I get to witness another city’s reaction when its team wins a world cup match sometime during my travels.

Today (6/16), we again slept in and took it easy.  The morning was spent planning for our upcoming trip to Munich and beyond.  Greg and I accompanied Seth on a walk to the post office.  It was a very pleasant temperature today, around 21 or 22 degrees Celsius.  We spent the evening packing and cooking.  We had fried rice and leftover curry after our appetizer of bread and cheese.  Dessert was chocolate cookies rather than straight chocolate. 


We leave for Munich tomorrow afternoon!  Unfortunately, it is unlikely that I will post during the next few weeks.  I will update you as I can, but it will be tricky to get internet access outside the big cities!  Here are some pictures from Switzerland:

Hiking in Appenzell


Mountain village of Meglisalp

The Aare River in Bern

Hiking in Glarus

Luzern



Greg and me in Luzern



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