Luzern, Switzerland.

I think I took the most photos here. It was all just so beautiful and new to me. It also isn't that big of a city so we could walk around and take a lot of it in. We arrived at night (and the first thing I saw was a huge white swan in the river!) so had no idea what was in store for us when we awoke - which was the most beautiful, majestic snow covered mountains surrounding us. We walked everywhere here, just seeing what we could discover and stumble upon next. Again, freezing out, but we did have a little break as one day the sun came out a little (which, aside from London - ironically - was the only time we saw sun on the whole trip!)

(click on any photo to view it larger)

Quick train switch in Basel, before heading to Luzern.

Yep, shoes in Basel.

The most interestingly designed money, the Swiss Franc. I wanted to keep it but…. well, girlfriend gotta eat!

Speaking of… waffeln!

Yes, please!

Our accommodations were a bit…. 'rustic'. (do I need to clarify that this is meant to be a joke?!)

The Lion Monument: Designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen, it commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France. (Thanks Wikipedia! Just trying to be a little informative here too..)

Some beautiful stuff.

More bread…

Museum of Art, such a cool building.

Fun with architecture.

Slabs of chocolate, a dream come true!

Making friends with the locals. Actually they were gearing up for the yearly Mardi Gras type carnival which incorporates all of these crazy masks. So many shop windows were decorated - some quite elaborately and creatively.

The bull is real. And it was in a very random place, so much so we actually thought he was fake.. until he turned his head to look at us (there was a fence!)

Where is the fourth finger?

Vintage Mini on a cobblestone street - yes! (I love Minis by the way.)

OK, so we got a little bird obsessed, but they were so much fun to watch and were not afraid of us at all. Cool little dudes! All so beautiful, but I was really loving the little black ducks with the white bill and the little mohawk. We were sort of tripping out at all of the swans too. I was also marveling at the water - crystal clear. Blew me away, but to put in perspective, I grew up just south of Cleveland, Ohio…. the same Cleveland where the Cuyahoga River once caught fire. Yeah. So water in its original, untainted form is (sadly) a marvel to me.

Clear water!