Back in the USA with photos from Italy

We got back to Atlanta this past weekend, after concluding our three months in Europe with a week vacation through Italy. Although we really enjoyed our time in Europe, we are happy to be back in the US where we can relax a bit and have some of our old comforts back. Italy was great, but very hot and an action-packed itinerary that had us pretty worn out by the end. We look forward to seeing some of you soon. Below are links to the pictures from Italy - a separate link for each destination. Some day I'll get motivated to finish writing about all the adventures I haven't gotten to yet. Until then, enjoy the pictures and the brief descriptions on Italy......

July 25-26: Capri
Despite the fact that we spent 2 days and one night without Gary's luggage, as the airline tracked it down and delivered it to our next destination, this was definitely the highlight of our trip. The island is not very big, it consists of two towns: Capri and Anacapri. We stayed in Anacapri, which was less crowded and less expensive, and we loved it. The island was beautiful and we enjoyed the relaxed island life for a couple of days. We ate some great food, had an incredible sunset, wandered around the towns, visited the famous Blue Grotto, and rode a chairlift up to the top of Monte Solaro to get great views of the island and other parts of the Bay of Naples.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.3frlqfm2&x=0&y=rhd4l2&localeid=en_US

July 26 - 27: Sorrento & Amalfi Coast
After Capri, we took a ferry back to the mainland and stayed in Sorrento. Here we enjoyed the coastal beauty on the Mediterranean, as we explored the Amalfi Coast towns of Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi. We rode a bus on a frightening road along the cliffside to get between the towns, and we both agreed that Positano was a great place that we wished we had spent more time in.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.5brsrdfu&x=0&y=v3f1yx&localeid=en_US

July 28: Pompeii
On the way to Rome, we stopped off in Pompeii for a few hours (it is only a 30 minute train ride from Sorrento). Although very hot and dusty, it was interesting to see the ruins of this former important Roman city, which was covered in ashes after the devastating volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2000 years ago. We were amazed by how large the city was, which has since been dug up by archaeologists.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.2h09zwbu&x=0&y=-ihoyy4&localeid=en_US

July 28-29: Rome
Although both of us had already been to Rome, we had to travel through there so we thought it was worth stopping off to see for one night. The afternoon we got in, we walked around the Colosseo, the Roman Forum, Piazza Venezia, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. The one thing Laura did not see when she was in Rome several years ago was the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel - so this was another reason for the stop in Rome, and we visited the Vatican the next morning before heading off to Florence.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.2atsff3e&x=0&y=sif9tj&localeid=en_US

July 29-30: Florence & Tuscany
In Florence, we visited the Accademia museum to see the famous David sculpture by Michaelangelo, walked around the Piazza di Duomo/main Cathedral, the famous Ponte Vechio bridge, and to the Piazza di Michaelangelo for a sunset/panoramic view of the city. We also did a full day bike ride out in the Tuscan countryside. The ride was more of a challenge than we expected (very steep hills), but the scenery was great and we stopped off at a winery and olive oil production place to have a picnic and sample the wine and olive oil. Although Florence was not our favorite city on the trip and we wished we could have had an additional night on the coast, we stayed there two nights so we could see my friend Brad, who recently moved there for work - we spent one evening with him and it was great to see him.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.1m1py0q2&x=0&y=-67gjnx&localeid=en_US

July 31-August 1: Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre was awesome, but almost too hot to really enjoy it. The area consists of 5 coastal villages separated by a cliffside trail you can hike to get from one to another. Although similar in beauty to the Amalfi Coast, it seemed a bit quieter and more laid back. Unfortunately, we only had one night here - but I guess it's better to say you wished you had more time than less!














http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.91ieqvu2&x=0&y=-gx6svn&localeid=en_US



August 1-2: Milan
Really, the only reason we stopped in Milan is because that's where our flight back to the US left from. Milan is a big city, and the financial and fashion capital of Italy. Aside from repacking our bags and getting some rest before our long flight home, we took the subway into the Piazza di Duomo to check out the gothic-style cathedral and have dinner.














http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.bnnldffu&x=0&y=-laciei&localeid=en_US

More Photos and off to Italy.....

Here are the links for our pictures from the past week. We are now busy packing to go home and getting ready for our trip to Italy. We leave Germany on Friday and we'll be travelling through Italy for 8 days, until we fly home to Atlanta on August 2. We have a great itinerary for Italy, it will be a very nice way to end our time in Europe. I'll try (little by little) to get the blog updated in August, but until then enjoy the pictures, and see you soon!

July 17-19: Vienna, Austria
Vienna is a beautiful city, filled with impressive architecture and famous for its composers (Mozart, Beethoven, etc.), opera, symphony, the Waltz, and of course the Wiener Schnitzel. Laura's friend Karen and her boyfriend, Matt, joined us for the weekend and it was lots of fun to have them along with us. We got in Thursday night and immediately found some Wiener Schnitzel for dinner, and then hung out at a festival by the town hall. After it stopped raining Thursday night, the weather was perfect the rest of the weekend. On Friday, we did a bike tour and then walked around the city. We also saw the famous white Lipizzaner horses, and in the evening went to a very touristy, but fun, Austrian Dinner Show.

Saturday morning, we took a hydrofoil boat 5.5 hours along the Danube River to Budapest, travelling through the Austrian, Slovakian, and Hungarian countryside.















http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.7wgilhwi&x=0&y=ompjum&localeid=en_US

July 19-20: Budapest, Hungary
Budapest is another great city. I don't think it is on the major European travel route, but it should be. It was once part of the Eastern Bloc, so things are still relatively cheap compared to Western Europe, but still has a lot to offer. It also seems like they suffered less damage than some other cities during WWII and the Communist era. After we arrived Saturday, we just wandered around the Pest side (Buda and Pest are separated by the Danube), went up the tower of the Roman Catholic church for a great view of the city, and stumbled upon a festival on the Chain Bridge. Sunday we did another bike tour, which was surprisingly a really good one. Then, after parting ways with Matt and Karen (their flight was earlier than ours), we went out to the Széchenyi Baths - Hungary is known for their hot springs - for a little relaxation before heading back for our last week in Germany.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.acqusq5e&x=0&y=w35lmi&localeid=en_US

July 22: Hiking Tegelberg Mountain in Schwangau, Germany
Ever since I visited the Neuschwanstein Castle in May, I have been wanting to do a hike in this area that I discovered when we were there. I've been postponing it all this time, with the hope that somebody would come to visit and I'd take them. Just when I thought my only choice was to do it alone, Kevin (from Zurich) told me he was very interested. Only problem is that we have been gone every weekend so I had to do it during a weekday morning. It worked out for him and his girlfriend, Carole, to come up this week though. So they stayed with us Monday night, and the three of us did the hike on Tuesday (Laura had to work). Although the weather was not so nice, it was great to have them along and it was a very nice hike. On the way up, we stopped for the castle tour since they had never been, and then continued up to the peak of Tegelberg Mountain. It was beautiful, but because of the cold/rainy conditions we couldn't see nearly as much as we would have been able to on a clear day. Just days before it was sunny and 80 degrees, but we had 40's, wind, and off and on rain all day....in late July! Anyway, it was a nice hike and attached are my pictures as well as theirs.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.bun0ttea&x=0&y=-wmzaf3&localeid=en_US

Backed up on the blog, but here are some pics....

As I'm sure you can tell, keeping up with the blog has been a challenge lately. I've been too busy with work, planning trips, and travelling to do much writing the past month. I knew if I ever got behind, it would be impossible to catch up. I'm sure this is a relief for some of you. Since I probably won't be caught up until well after I'm back home, I figured I would at least send out the pictures. We have had some great trips the past few weeks. Click on the links to see the pictures in our Kodak Gallery:

June 28-30: Berlin, Germany
A very interesting city with so much recent history. Did a bike tour and then wandered around some more of the sites, went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, watched the Euro2008 final match where Spain beat Germany 1-0.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.67c2lqfm&x=0&y=8ygbvn&localeid=en_US















July 3-6: Burgundy, France
We stayed in Beaune, France and did some Burgundy Wine Touring and Tasting - they are known for their Pinot Noir. We also stopped in Dijon for a couple hours to see that town and get a taste of some great Dijon Mustard. Kevin, from Zurich, joined us and then we stopped in Zurich for a night on the way back.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.adb91zde&x=0&y=iuugf1&localeid=en_US















July 11-13: Venice, Italy
This was probably our best weekend together of the whole trip. Most of our weekends have been meeting up with other friends which has been so much fun, but we really enjoyed some time with just the two of us, in this amazing city. Our hotel was right on a quiet canal and we had the best time there just wandering around the narrow streets and canals, Piazza San Marco, a gondola ride, a nice dinner, and eating lots of gelato. We also stopped at our favorite restaurant in Innsbruck, Austria on the way back - we had to drive right through, and it was a good way to break up the 6+ hour drive.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7erdewy.2yhf2lpu&x=0&y=-jiughp&localeid=en_US















This weekend, we are off for another long weekend in Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary. Laura's friends, Karen and Matt (from London), are meeting us for the trip. Then next week is our last week here in Germany. We then take an 8 day vacation touring through Italy (Island of Capri, Sorrento/Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, and Milan), before returning to Atlanta on August 2. I may not have a chance to get any more posts done before we get home, but I'll at least try to get the Vienna/Budapest pictures up next week.

Euro2008 Semi-Final: Germany 3 - Turkey 2

The semi-final match between Germany and Turkey on Wednesday night was an exciting game, and afterward the town of Kempten erupted. I knew there would be some excitement regardless of the outcome, since there are so many Turkish people in Germany. With the Turks being the largest minority group in Germany, it is quite a rivalry, and added an extra storyline to the game. Turkey had also been the most dramatic team in the tournament to this point. After almost being knocked out of the tournament during group play, they overcame a 2-0 deficit against Czech Republic last week by scoring three goals in the final 15 minutes to win and advance to the quarterfinals. Then in the quarterfinal, they won in a penalty kick shootout after tying the game in extra time. They nearly pulled off another miraculous comeback against Germany, but their luck eventually had to run out.

This was my last night alone in Kempten, before Laura came back from New York. I didn't want to watch the game by myself in the apartment, but I also didn't know anybody to meet to watch at a bar. I was hoping Kempten would have an outdoor viewing setup, but they didn't have much of one. One of the restaurants in the square downstairs from our apartment did setup a big screen TV outside their restaurant, but nothing huge. I decided to watch the first half in the apartment, and then go downstairs to check it out in the second half. From my apartment, I could hear the cheering for every big play. Turkey actually scored first in the 22nd minute, but then Bastian Schweinsteiger tied it up just minutes later.

At halftime, I decided to walk down to the square and check it out. I ended up watching the second half there, standing behind the tables that were lined up in front of the TV. Part way through the second half, the TV feed went dead, which of course made the Germans rather unhappy. I couldn't figure out why this kept happening, but then later found out that it was due to a big storm that went through Vienna, Austria, taking out some TV equipment. Although the game was being played in Basel, Switzerland, the worldwide TV feed was coming from Vienna, so every country in the world except for Switzerland lost signal. I spoke to some people in the US who never even saw the last 30 minutes of the game. I'm not sure what would have happened if that was also the case in Germany, but luckily after losing signal a few times, we were able to see the last 20 minutes of the game and didn't miss any of the goals.

In the 79th minute, Miroslav Klose scored to give Germany a 2-1 advantage. Only needing to kill 11 minutes and they would advance to the finals, I figured that would be it. But the Turks, as in every game in this tournament, just wouldn't go away, and they equalized it in the 86th minute with a goal of their own. However, in the 90th minute, Philip Lahm, a defender not known for his scoring, put one past the Turkish goalie and the Germans were victorious. With 3 goals in the final 11 minutes, this was one of the more exciting finishes in the tournament, and I couldn't imagine the game not being shown in some places because of the TV signal.

The real reason I wrote an entire entry about this game is because of the reaction in Kempten afterward. I was wondering when this little town would finally wake up. Up to this point, I had never seen more than about 75-100 people in the main town square by our apartment. It's usually just some quiet cafes and restaurants, but a big win like this brought out some emotion from the Kempteners.

I knew that people like to gather near the square after the games to make some noise, having witnessed it in the previous few games we were in town for. But previously, it was just a small group of people, they'd honk horns, blow whistles, beat drums, and cheer. Immediately after the game, I went to see what might happen this time. I figured things would be a little bigger this time - not just because they won a bigger game, but another signal was that for the first time I actually saw a police force getting prepared for it and closing down the streets. It started out with a few hundred people cheering and doing the normal noise making. I walked up to the balcony of the Rathaus to get a look. After about 20 minutes, people started coming in by the hundreds. I guess they were all walking over from the "Big Box," a theater on the other side of town that played the game on a large screen. Soon, there were thousands of people, filling ever bit of the square and the side streets around it. This was the enthusiasm I was looking for, I think every kid in Kempten was here to share the excitement. Since I was by myself and I didn't really have as much to cheer about as the locals, I just kind of walked around, took some pictures, and enjoyed watching the craziness. I love the passion that soccer brings out of people in Europe. It's been a great experience being here for the tournament, and very cool that the country we're living in has made it to the finals. Even cooler is that we'll be in Germany's capital, Berlin, Sunday night when the final game takes place. I'm sure that will be a site to see!

Here are some of the pictures I took while walking around, as well as a video clip of one of the cheers I saw while I was on the Rathaus balcony looking down:

IBM Switzerland Headquarters - Zürich

Rather than driving home Sunday night, I decided to stick around for another night, with the hopes of visiting a teammate of mine, Cecilia, and working at the IBM Zurich office Monday morning. I had mentioned to Cecilia the week before that I might try to do that, but I didn't actually confirm this until exchanging some voice and text messages with her Sunday night. So Monday morning, I got up and figured out how I would get to the IBM building. It would have been easier to take the train there, but I figured I better drive so I can leave town directly from there. Of course, like with most big cities, parking was the next problem. So I talked to Cecilia and figured out a nearby public parking place to leave the car at. Then I packed up my stuff, said my goodbye's to Kevin and Shannon, and was on my way.

I didn't have too much of a problem finding the IBM building, although it's on the other side of the city from Kevin's places so it took me awhile to get over there. When I got there, I checked in at the desk to get a temporary badge, and called Cecilia down to come meet me in the lobby. As you can see from the pictures here, this building is much nicer and newer (it's about two years old) than the one I visited last week in Stuttgart. It is not only the IBM Switzerland headquarters, but some major IBM Europe operations were moved to Zurich a couple years ago from Paris, so this is one of the more important IBM facilities in Europe.

After Cecilia came down to meet me, she brought me up to the 2nd floor, where she had reserved me some desk space near her for the day. After getting my computer setup and checking a couple notes, Cecilia came by and asked if I wanted to go down to the cafeteria and get a coffee (I'm surprised it took that long, coffee breaks seem to be the first thing you do when you enter work in Europe). So she gave me a little tour of the building and then we sat and had a cappuccino while I asked her several questions about her situation in Switzerland and working for IBM Switzerland. Cecilia actually grew up in Mexico, but then went to high school in Wisconsin. She moved to Switzerland about 15 years ago, after marrying a Swiss man. Now she is divorced, though, and all of her family and closest friends are either in Mexico or the US, so I'm not sure how much longer she will be in Switzerland. She lives in the Kanton of Zug, one of the 26 "Cantons" (the equivalent of our states) in Switzerland. It takes her about an hour to commute to work each day, a car/train combo, so she only comes into the office a couple days a week and works from home the others. None of her teammates work in Switzerland, and her boss is actually out of IBM Germany, so it doesn't make sense for her to go into the office any more than that.

After having fallen in love with the city of Zurich over the weekend, and thinking about potential future opportunities to work abroad, I was really grilling her about working there. I guess I wasn't too subtle about it, because she did ask me, "are you trying to find a job here?" If the right opportunity ever presented itself to me, I would seriously consider it. I love Switzerland, the mountains and lakes, and I think Zurich is now my favorite city I've ever been to. Not so much of a tourist city, I just really think it would be a great place to live for a couple years. I wasn't shocked to learn that Zurich was named the city with the "best quality of life" in the world in several surveys from 2006 to 2008. With that, comes a price though - it also consistently shows up in the top ten of the most expensive cities in the world, well ahead of cities we consider expensive the US like New York and San Francisco. Nonetheless, I was still curious to know more about jobs at IBM in this area - you never know!

Cecilia does the same job function as me, but for the team in Europe. In Europe, it's just her and Stephanie (the person I met with in Stuttgart last week) that do this job, so I wondered what their workload was like, covering so many countries, and if they would ever have a need for an extra person. I also wondered if Cecilia would be trying to move back to the US, and perhaps we could just switch jobs with each other. These were just a couple thoughts running through my head. Soon, I have to start thinking about my next move with IBM, as I'm nearing my "2 year commitment" with this job after I get back. Again, just something to think about and maybe worth having a conversation with management about when it's the right time.

Another thing I was curious about was communication in the Zurich office. Cecilia, like most people in the area, speaks several languages. It can certainly help you to speak German, but I don't think it's a necessity here. The universal IBM language is English, so pretty much everyone speaks English and I heard a lot of it being spoken in the hallways and overhearing phone conversations while I was in the office for the day - actually, I heard more English than German. Also, since this is a European hub for IBM, many of the executives are from all over Europe and English is the language they come together with. Switzerland alone speaks several different languages - mainly French, German, and Italian - depending on the region. But I also learned that the German spoken in Switzerland (Swiss German) is not the same as the language spoken in Germany (High German). It is a different dialect, but then once inside the Swiss German region the dialects spoken in the different cantons are even different from each other - and there is no written language for the Swiss German dialects. This could make things very confusing if you go to Switzerland with the idea that you will learn German, so pretty much everybody in German-speaking Switzerland speaks their local dialect and High German, among other languages. It is very impressive how many languages the people in this area are able to speak.

After our long "coffee break" and catching up for a bit, we headed back upstairs to work for a bit before lunch time came around. I didn't get a lot of "work" done in the short time I was there, but the main point behind the visit was to spend time with Cecilia, a teammate who I generally would only see once a year at our worldwide team meeting. It was a nice visit with her, certainly worth the trip. I was right in Zurich, so I had to stop and see her while I had the opportunity - and Laura was still in New York, so I wasn't in a rush to get back to Kempten.

Cecilia had lunch plans with somebody from another department named Andy. He is trying to learn Spanish, so they meet for lunch sometimes so he can practice with her. Since I also know some Spanish, I joined them and Cecilia decided to put me to the test. So Spanish was the language of our lunch conversation. The cafeteria food was pretty good, and not too expensive when you factor in the half price for showing an IBM badge. I also ran into John in the cafeteria, the guy I went on the hike with the day before. After lunch, it was back upstairs to check a couple notes, and then I decided to hit the road. A half day was good enough to fulfill my purpose of being in the office, and I thought I better get back during the day to avoid traffic. It took me a little over 2.5 hours to get back to Kempten, where I would finish the rest of my workday.

Hike in the Swiss Alps: Glarus to Klöntalersee

Sunday was a great day for a hike in the Swiss Alps. The weather was perfect, and the scenery in the Alps does not get any better. On Saturday, we contemplated the departure time from Zurich. The hike would take about 5 or 6 hours, and Kevin wanted to get an early start to get on the mountain before it got too hot. Shannon and I thought a 7:00am departure from the main station was a little aggressive after a long day Saturday and a late return from Basel that night, so we pushed it back to about 8:00am.

After little sleep, the 6:30am wake-up call came real early. We got most of our stuff together the night before, so it wasn't much more than putting our shoes on, gathering some food, and heading for the train to take us to the main station. When we got to the main train station, Kevin, Shannon, and I met up with John, who had been helping Kevin plan the trip. Paul also joined us. I nearly got stuck in Zurich when my credit card got jammed in the ticket machine, but after a couple minutes Kevin was able to force it out. As always seems to be the case in Switzerland, the train ticket to Glarus, where we would start our hike, was a little pricey. The round-trip ticket out to Glarus, about an hour away, was around $50. Oh well, it was worth it for this great day.

When we got on the train, I met John, a very nice guy and a good person to know. He is from Oklahoma but has lived and worked in Europe for the past 13 years. He was in France and London for most of that time, before moving to Zurich about a year ago for a job with IBM. Knowing that he worked for IBM, we instantly had something to talk about, and throughout the day I was able to pick his brain about working in Europe and how to find a job abroad within IBM if/when I become interested some day.

The train ride was very nice. Although we could have driven more cheaply (since I had a car there that we could have used), it was nice to just be able to kick back, relax, and enjoy the beauty on the way. The hike we were doing was just on the other side of the Zürichsee , so the ride out to Glarus was along the lake until we got close to the mountains. When we arrived in Glarus, we put on some sun screen (much needed on this hot/sunny day), tried to orient ourselves with the area, and headed off. It was really cool to hop off the train in a little town and start the hike from there.

Glarus was a nice little village in a valley surrounded by some impressive mountains. Thanks to the research Kevin and John did, we were able to navigate ourselves through the town, past the big church, and through a farm where the trail began. Hiking trails in Switzerland are typically well-marked, but that wasn't quite the case for this one. Nonetheless, we found our way through some of the most beautiful terrain I have ever seen. After a couple months, I finally got to do the nice hike in the Alps that I was craving, and I couldn't have asked for anything better - the weather, the beauty of the mountains, good company - it was all amazing. Doing hikes like this makes me wish I lived closer to some real mountains, not the little ones in north Georgia.

The hike wasn't too challenging, only about 5-6 hours round-trip, but it was a nice workout. We were hiking through the Glärnisch range, the mountains that are visible from Zurich on a clear day. We began in Glarus at an elevation of 470 meters (about 1,550 feet), and our highest point would be around 1,100 meters (about 3,600 feet), climbing about 2,100 vertical feet. The mountains actually look much taller, but I guess that's because the elevation we started at in the valley below was not all that high to begin with. Every new opening we came to, the scenery just got more and more spectacular. The mountains were impressive, some with patches of snow and ice, the sky was so blue, and the fields were so green - a nice combination for the many photographs I took.

After a couple hours, we reached a little village called Schmwammhöchi. We came across a little house and a soccer field, and then continued a bit further until we reached the highest point of our hike. This was the real treat of the trip. As we came over the ridge, it opened up to the most amazing view of the Klöntalersee, a turquoise-colored lake below, surrounded by massive peaks. It's views like this that re-confirm to me that Switzerland is the most beautiful country in the world, and we sat for a minute to take it all in.

I'm not usually the biggest fan of seeing a road to the top when I do a hike, but this was a bit of an exception for me. There was a restaurant overlooking the view of the lake, which some people hiked up to, some people biked up to, and some lazy people drove their cars up to, so they could enjoy a nice lunch with an even better view on this Sunday afternoon. The reason I was okay with it is because we decided to stay for awhile and have lunch there as well. The food just looked more appetizing than the granola bars and peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches I had packed, and I had no problem sitting there and having lunch with this view in the background. So we found an open table, and re-fueled with some good pasta, as we took in more of the views.

After lunch, we descended down toward the Klöntalersee. We thought the water would feel refreshing after hiking in the heat and sweating for a few hours. It was nice to dip the feet in the water, but it was definitely a little chilly. Kevin and I finally built up the courage to jump in for a quick dip and cool off. Then we sat and relaxed for a bit and skipped some rocks before beginning the trek back to Glarus.

On the way back, we decided to take a different route, so it was a big loop back to Glarus and we could walk through some different scenery. We did find this very well-marked sign to help us find our way back from the lake, and we considered trekking up one of the large peaks and across the ridge, but we just didn't have time for it, so we made a faster loop back to Glarus. While not quite as open and pretty, we walked along a little river for awhile. It was flatter and more shaded, until we came back to the open fields and farmland we started in. We then walked through the fields and back to the train station in Glarus.
































When we got back to Glarus, John looked at the train schedule and we thought we had time to sit and have a beer to unwind after a long and amazing day of hiking. But then a train showed up headed for Zurich, so I took mine to go and we boarded the train. After the hour train ride back to Zurich, we stopped in a grocery store (at the train stations they are open on Sundays) and picked up some food to make for dinner. We were pretty exhausted after a big weekend, but after filling up on food we decided to head downtown to watch the Italy-Spain game.