Lucerne

Hello again!

As you can see from above, I didn't write yesterday...thought I'd save my franks for today.

Say hi to Norma for me & tell her I'm thinking of her. I'm glad you got the post cards...I was worried that birdie's post card would get there before yours, mom, and thought that would go over well!

Two days ago we went to the Trümmelbach Waterfalls. It was very pretty, but you had to go up an elevator in the mountain and then hike up a bunch of stairs inside the mountain to see them. I made it to waterfall number 8 (out of ten) before I turned around and headed down.

Then we travelled to Lucerne. Darrin & his mom (along with more members of our group) went up Mount Pilatus, but I just went to the teeny tiny hotel room instead. Then we had our folklore dinner...more alphorn blowing and a variety of other instruments and, of course, yodelling. I never saw any slap dancing, though. I don't know if I mentioned the giant cow bells, though. Imagine very large, very loud cow bells. Then imagine 50 people walking with them, clanging them with every step! That was in the parade. They only had two (thank goodness) in the restaurant.

Yesterday we did a morning tour of Lucerne (there really isn't that much here), and then wandered around town. What was good for the minimal franks I had left was that yesterday was a bank holiday in Switzerland, so most stores were closed. I opted to go on a one hour cruise on Lake Lucerne...that was worth it. We saw Sophia Loren's and Audrey Hepburn's summer home and (Brad will like this!) the summer mansion of the Heineken's (I took a picture for you!) And, Brad, of course I've had a beer here! It's as cheap as soft drinks in most places, and it's way better than the water!

Then we had our farewell dinner. It's sad to say goodbye to some of the group...the two sisters (84 and 82 years old) from Ottawa (the oldest reminded us of Aunt Clara from Bewitched), the retired principal and his wife from Pennsylvania, the 56 year old (very funny) guy from Australia, the social worker and his librarian wife from Boston, the retired optometrist and his wife from New Jersey, the two widows from Tennessee and Oklahoma, and even the back-injured construction worker and his wife from Boston. The others...it's a more fond farewell! Overall the group was nice, except for the three that I didn't mention, who were very loud, opinionated, and vied for attention all the time.

We're up early this morning as we have to take a limousine (!) to Zurich airport. It's cheaper than a cab, and we're splitting the cost with the woman from Oklahoma (who has bought out Austria and Switzerland, I'm sure!). Who knows what the internet is going to be like in the Czech Republic and in Hungary! So long for now...

Luv
Trace