Poor Cows?!

Quite a weekend.
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and hit the road. Since Switzerland is so close, for this weekend trip we took the car, rather than taking a train.
We entered Switzerland and bought our sticker for driving on the road. The road tolls are very expensive (supposedly... though we never actually came upon one) but if you buy a sticker, you pass through the tolls without paying. According to everything my parents had looked at before we left, this was best way to go. Only now does it seem ridiculous to have paid $40 for a sticker we never used. Oh well!
The plan for Saturday was to drive to Mount Pilatus, and take either a cogwheel railway or a cable-car to the top of the peak. However, once we got to the ticket booth, and discovered it cost $65 a person, we scratched that plan. Hiking to the top was also out... due to the fact it would take 4 hours. So, from there we moved on to our next adventure.
My dad had mapped out a driving loop that would take us to the Swiss Alps. There was only one problem with this plan... the "driving" part. Not on my dad's end, he has done a phenomenal job of navigating the insane traffic in Europe. No, the problem came from my end. Something about the swaying of a car, and the scenery passing by quickly just lulls me right to sleep. Especially when I'm only running on 1 1/2 rounds of REM sleep. So, pretty much any time I say "we drove..." it generally means I passed out in the car.

But I was awake for a bit of the Alps at least! Which were gorgeous. It was amazing to go from village to village tucked in the footfalls of these massive mountains. It had been a slightly hazy day, so we could fully see to the top of the peaks, but we got the gist of how high those suckers go!
The neatest part to see was the random spattering of houses up the side of the mountains! It was remarkable that they didn't just slip right off the side. There were also cows grazing in pastures everywhere you looked! My mom made a comment at one point, saying, "Those poor cows! They have to stand on a hill all day! That has to be really hard!" At which my dad responded with, "Poor cows?! Look at their view! These are the luckiest cows!" And through the whole conversation I couldn't help thinking... you two are talking about a bunch of animals that are being raised to slaughter and then eaten, how lovely to give them emotions now, and not think twice about them when they are sitting between two hamburger buns. But, hey, that's just my vegetarian side showing.

After awhile of car traveling, it was time for some food. But the problem was that we were going from tiny village to tiny village, places that really don't have restaurants. We did find a cute country restaurant to eat at though.
After that, we moved on and stopped in a small shopping village. So we got out and wandered around, looking in some shops. After that, it was time to start heading to Basel to check in to our hotel for the night.

This turned into quite an adventure. We found the way to our hotel just fine... at least we found our way to the street our hotel was on just fine. Getting to the hotel was an issue. There was a festival going on, and because of it, the road was blocked off. In the end, we parked in the city parking and walked to our hotel. The man at reception told us that that was good, because he would have told us to park there anyways!
So we got all checked in, and then wandered down to the festival. There was live music in the center, and food booths set up all around it.
Now, in case you were unaware, in Switzerland... they don't speak French, or even German, they speak Swiss. So neither I nor my dad could understand anything. Granted, Swiss is a bit of a mix, and together we could understand a few things here and there, but it was very disorienting to not understand anything.
But we were able to find something for dinner just fine. I got a crêpe with chocolate (yummy) and my dad got a typical german/swiss sausage meal. It's essentially a very large bratwurst, and they give you a slice of bread, or sometimes a roll to eat with it.
Then it was time for bed, so we went back to the hotel room. Did I mention that the hotel only had one room available... and it only had one bed? Luckily, it was a large bed, so the three of us fit comfortably.  At least until my dad's snoring started...

Sunday we got up and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the hotel dining area. Then we set out for the Rhine Falls. This was really cool. It is the largest waterfall in Europe! Although... to those familiar with Niagara Falls, it can't compare. It is actually more along the lines of really intense rapids. But cool just the same. You can actually walk out onto a platform, and part of the rapids is rushing right underneath you. Kinda freaky to put all your trust in a single pole that is slowly being worn away from the powerful water 24/7...

After this, we drove to Zurich and visited Lake Promenade. Which is a really neat area around a lake with grassy areas and benches and things. There were tons of people milling about, having a relaxing Sunday afternoon in the beautiful weather.
My parents got lunch, my dad getting a bratwurst again, and my mom getting really delicious potato salad, with french fries on the side. I got a really yummy pretzel.
Then we decided to drive back to the Alps, to see them one last time. After that, it was time to head back home. Not of course, without stopping somewhere to attempt to find an open restaurant before 7:00 (19:00) on a sunday... ummm... hello mom and dad! What are you not understanding about restaurants not doing this? Someday they will remember that we are not in Kansas U.S. anymore.
And for those of you wondering whether Grandma Wonka ever got Swiss chocolate... have no fear. It was a very close call, but on our way out, she ran into a gas station and grabbed a pill of bars. Probably not the proper way to have gone about it, but when do the Zillmer's do anything properly?

While we were sitting, having lunch on Saturday, a bunch of people with a herd of cows, all dressed up fancy came down the street! It was quite a sight. Notice the giant cowbells around their necks? This was when I said, "Poor cows."

This was the first car of a wedding parade that went by while we were wandering through the small village on Saturday. There was probably a dozen cars (the rest were normal, this one decorated for the newlyweds), and they all threw candy out the windows!

The sun setting on the Alps (at least the baby alps) as we drove home Sunday night