Day 8: More Swiss Fun
It’s been great fun being back in Switzerland for the past week…
Last weekend I joined some of my rugby mates at one of our traditional summer tournaments – the St. Gallen "Bishop’s Cup" 10’s tournament in eastern Switzerland. Sure enough I couldn’t avoid pulling on the boots again and I played a handful of games, including the final in which we defeated a Hungarian side comfortably to win the cup! We camped out and had perfect weather the whole weekend, and the party on Saturday night was just as wild as I remember from past years.
Flags are out in the Baden Altstadt in preparation for Swiss National Day.
Earlier in the week I spent my days preparing for my travels through Eastern Europe, did some research on the Silk Road (my destination once I leave Europe at the end of summer), watched a fair bit of the World Cup (including Australia’s 3:1 victory over Japan!), and had a ball catching up with lots of people I haven’t seen in a year or two. Everyone’s just the same albeit a little bit older, married, with kids etc.
Zurich and the Limmat River.
The Zurich Altstadt at sunset.
Andy, Ian and I took advantage of a public holiday on Thursday and headed into the Alps for the day. It was too hot and too hazy to make a hike worthwhile, so we instead drove up to a small mountain pass near Schwyz for a lazy outdoor and very Swiss lunch. We then drove down to Brunnen on Vierwaldstaettersee (Lake Luzern) and caught a 100-year-old paddle steamer around Urnersee, the most dramatic and beautiful part of the lake. It was fantastic to chill out and enjoy the views – I used to spend many of my weekends in the Alps snowboarding and hiking, and I’ve missed having such a great outdoor asset just outside my doorstep.
A vintage paddle steamer on Urnersee, part of the Vierwaldstaettersee in Central Switzerland.
A lakeside church near Fluelen. Andy and Ian.