After two days in Switzerland it finally cleared enough to see the mountains in Lucerne. You see Mt. Pilatus in the distance, Samantha called me and told me to get to her office as she had a pass to the mountain

As you can see I climbed all 7000 feet myself

Don't I look exhausted, it was a bit cool up here, about 10F.

When I got my ticket there was this tour group from Global, this tour guide insisted all of her 33 people take the 4 seater cars up the mountain FIRST. I had quite an argument with her. Finally when all 33 got up, it was just me and her, so we had to ride alone, together all the way up. We actually had quite a nice chat about the self involved Americans (she is British).

After you go up a mountain, you have to come down. I took the tram down to 6000 feet and got out and saw a lot of people sledding. There was a nice scenic trail I thought I could walk down, so I questioned a couple about it and they said free sleds were provided. So I took one even though I never tried a sled. The picture on the left is me sitting on the sled. I did not realize how fast they could go and how to stop, but after several spills I figured it out. At least I was not as dumb as Samantha who just after I left went sledding at midnight. She lost her own sled as it went off a cliff. Luckily she was not on it.

As I was sledding down the mountain I came upon this sign. I needed to go to Kriens. Notice the arrow points both to the left and right. I asked for help and the answer I got was, "you can choose."

I traveled to Bern, Switzerland. It took an hour and cost about $60. It was nice to see the sun. This was my first snowman that I saw, I do not think it was real.

This is the Bank of Switzerland in the capital Bern. This is where all the secret Swiss Bank accounts are.

Certainly no American influence in Bern

Samantha's commentary on Switzerland:

So I am painfully adjusting to life without a car by having to walk nearly 5 miles every day. My walk to and from work generally consists of praying it wont rain in that 25 min period (as it does nearly every day), passing 14 pastry shops, trying to “accidentally” get in as many asian tourist photos as possible for pure amusement, and trying to avoid various fecal matter on the street. Now Switzerland is a clean country. I don’t think it is possible to have a cleaner country. Every bathroom – even in train stations and gas stations – is FREE, perfectly clean, and fully stocked with toilet paper, soap, and towels. I have seen a bum get up from where he was sitting, walk over to a trash can, spit in it, and walk back, just so he would not litter the sidewalk with his spit. One thing that Switzerland cannot control, however, is the giant swans and ducks that populate the beautiful lake I live on. Apparently the diet of pure cheese and bread agrees about as much with them as with a certain asian I know, because they make the sidewalk into an obstacle course. But, at least it rains here every day. Only in Switzerland does shi* clean itself up naturally.

Switzerland is so planned that nearly every pregnant woman here has a C-section to have her baby. Why? Because she can plan the appointment. How horrific to have a baby at anytime whatsoever! Its unplanned! Crazy!

Not only can you set your watch by the trains here in Switzerland, but you can also set your watch by the buses. That amazes me. No matter what the traffic is like, if the sign says the bus is coming at 11.14, it comes at 11.14. not at 11.15, not at 11.13, but at 11.14. Crazy.

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