Last weekend a friend from Minnesota (who used to work in my research group) was visiting from Munich, so we had a little Swiss extravaganza. On Saturday we wandered around Zurich and went to a house-warming party in the evening, and then on Sunday, we went for a fantastic hike: the Vier-Seen-Wanderung. There were seven of us on the hike, as all of us had worked together in Minnesota and are now, for one reason or another, in Zürich. It was quite fun to hike with a group; I never expected to hike in the Alps with so many Minnesotans! And, after the slight disappointment of the prior weekend's hike, this hike was absolutely lovely.
We took a gondola up to the start of the hike, enjoying the really interesting rock formations on the way up.
The hike then led us around four lakes (hence, the Vier-Seen). We were up above the tree line for most of it, so we could see for forever. The Alpine grass was a fall gold, and the sky was a clear blue. We took a little nap in the soft, sponge-y grass after our picnic lunch.
From there, we crossed over the Jochpass and hiked down into the next valley to finish the hike.
On our way back to Zurich, we decided to stop for dinner in Luzern at a brewery by the lake. We got a table right by the water, and, as it was a little chilly, I started getting my coat out of my backpack. Apparently, one of my metal water bottles was entangled in my coat, so that came flying out of my backpack, hopped over the railing and went sailing into the lake, hitting a large and surprised swan in the process. The swan proceeded to have a loud hissy fit. And, one of the other hikers decided that I really needed my water bottle, so he also jumped over the railing. Somehow he managed to retrieve my water bottle while hanging onto the railing with one hand, which was quite an impressive feat. I'm quite sure that we provided an entertaining spectacle for the entire restaurant. But we managed to recover and enjoy a nice meal, although the swan hovered nearby for the rest of dinner, hissing every so often.
It was a gorgeous hike and a lovely day.
We took a gondola up to the start of the hike, enjoying the really interesting rock formations on the way up.
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| The rock folding is so interesting. |
The hike then led us around four lakes (hence, the Vier-Seen). We were up above the tree line for most of it, so we could see for forever. The Alpine grass was a fall gold, and the sky was a clear blue. We took a little nap in the soft, sponge-y grass after our picnic lunch.
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| Finding the perfect location for our picnic/nap. |
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| Our lunch view. |
From there, we crossed over the Jochpass and hiked down into the next valley to finish the hike.
On our way back to Zurich, we decided to stop for dinner in Luzern at a brewery by the lake. We got a table right by the water, and, as it was a little chilly, I started getting my coat out of my backpack. Apparently, one of my metal water bottles was entangled in my coat, so that came flying out of my backpack, hopped over the railing and went sailing into the lake, hitting a large and surprised swan in the process. The swan proceeded to have a loud hissy fit. And, one of the other hikers decided that I really needed my water bottle, so he also jumped over the railing. Somehow he managed to retrieve my water bottle while hanging onto the railing with one hand, which was quite an impressive feat. I'm quite sure that we provided an entertaining spectacle for the entire restaurant. But we managed to recover and enjoy a nice meal, although the swan hovered nearby for the rest of dinner, hissing every so often.
It was a gorgeous hike and a lovely day.
