MUNICH_Oktoberfest and Mom’s Visit

Hey gang, I know it’s been awhile, but updates are coming, probably too many at once, but here’s this one for now.  At the end of September I went to Oktoberfest with a friend from the office.  It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and since it was the last weekend of the Fest for the year, I went last minute.  It was a crazy experience, so many people who had definitely drank too much, lying about the streets, or singing national hymns at the top of their lungs, arm in arm with friends, and the never ending beer gardens and hordes of people, definitely worth seeing.

Although Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is actually more of a carnival, with rides, food stands, etc., but also the huge beer tents that everyone knows it for.  There were some 10 or 12 huge beer tents, each with hundreds inside, unfortunately, once we got there, entry was denied for the rest of the day, full house til 10:30pm.

Each Brewery had their own tent and rediculously large display.

Here is the Statue of the Bavarian, the protector of this region of Germany.

I climbed the tower of a nearby cathedral and got a real nice arial view of the celebration, look at all the people!

Although it’s for sure Autumn, the streets in the Munich old town were full of beautifully flower-clad buildings like this.

Unfortunately, the Frauenkirche was under construction this time around.

A few weeks after Oktoberfest, my mother made her first European tour.  I decided it was important for her to not only see Switzerland, but also the surrounding areas I’ve come to enjoy.  So our first trip was to Munich, but on her agenda, Mom wanted to see the infamous Dachau Concentration Camp, the camp which served as the model camp for all of the Nazi installments throughout Europe.  It was a sobering experience, with appropriate dreary weather, but I believe it was good for us to see true remnants of the event, and see this memorial which stands to remind the world that this did in fact happen, and should never, ever take place again.

After Dachau, we had a more pleasant traveling experience.  We made a trip to the Olympic Park and were fortunate enough to slip in the doors at the end of the day to see the new BMW World, a huge showcase building for all the new BMW cars and products being produced.

Bye the time mom came to Munich, Oktoberfest was over, but we had a chance to go through the Theresienwiese Park and see the remnants of the party.  Above you can see the inside of just one of many huge beer tents, til festfully clad.

And on this trip it was crucial for mom to see her favorite castle, that she has a huge picture of in the basement, in real life.  So we took a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, the home of the Bavarian King Ludwig II, whose home was a tribute to the works of Wagner, and whose home also inspired the much later Disneyland. 

In the same town is Hohenschwangau, the King’s parents quarters.  We were too late to get an inside tour, but we still got up close and walked around the gardens.  Below are some images from Nymphenberg Palace, just outside of central Munich.  Last year I had a chance to visit here as well, but this year, Mom and I walked the entire, almost neverending gardens, all the way to a huge fountain with yet another amazing view into the countryside.

Well, that about wraps it up for Munich.  Next up will be pics from our trip to Zermatt where we saw the class Swiss Landmark, the Matterhorn.  Until then, hope you enjoy the pics, and feel free to comment.

Jill and Nick in Switzerland

Hey everybody, it’s about time for another update.  These past two weeks, Jill came to visit me for her break from the projects in Africa.  We had a great time, traveling, eating out, cooking adventures, and also had a pretty architecturally significant visit as well.

Our first trip stayed pretty local, and we saw the Rheinfall.  We went with co-worker Christian and his girlfriend Esther, and took a boat out to the middle of the Waterfall where we climbed this slippery rock formation for an amazing view.

Next trip was to Vals, in the south of Switzerland around the base of the Alps.  Here we saw Peter Zumthor’s Thermal Baths, an amazing experience.  We spent the entire day going from bath to bath, each a different experience, either different temperatures, sounds, smells, or a combination.  All were incredible, except for the ice bath, which was 14 degrees Celsius, and if you don’t know how that feels, lets just say no one went all the way in it and i almost went into shock went i jumped in, so cold.

 

During the same trip, we went to Sumvitg, which is actually located more in the Alps, and after hours of hiking uphill, thru fog and rain, not ever able to see the tops of what we were climbing, we finally arrived at St. Benedict Chapel, also by Zumthor.  The chapel was interesting, and actually the views from up by the chapel were the real breathtaking moments, especially as the rain stopped and the fog cleared (only until our hike down, of course, when the rain picked up and it got cold).

 

Our next week in Zurich we visited the final design of famous French architect Le Corbusier, the Heidi Weber House.  I had seen this a few times since I’ve been here, but didn’t pay to get in until Jill came to visit.  It was a really cool place, and the first Corbu experience for either of us. 

 

 

 

 

Because of the house visit, I believe we were inspired to go to France to see one of Corbu’s most famous projects, the Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamp, only a few hours away by train.

The visit to Ronchamp was one of the nicest weekends I’ve had over here, especially since it was finally warm, clear, and sunny summer weather for a change.  There were no issues with the language, and only one inconvenience during the whole trip, which was being harassed for money by some drunken bike rider.  All in all, it was a wonderful two weeks, and now sadly, Jill has returned to Uganda, and I must return to the grind.  I am still working on the housing competion project for Altwil, St. Gallen, the neighboring Canton, and the deadline for that is August 17.  Hopefully we will fare well in the competition, so that my work over here starts off on the right foot.  Hope you enjoy the pics, and I’ll be sure to get at least one more post up before the summer is over.  Bye for now.

Zürich, Switzerland

Welcome to my new beginnings as an architect intern here in Zürich, Switzerland!  I am working for the office Kämpfen für Architektur, a firm specializing in zero-energy, sustainable design.  I am mostly working on residential projects for rich clients, which is amazing, but the firm also works on smaller office buildings.  I will be here for at least one year and am expected to start speaking German as quickly as possible, which is proving quite difficult.

The meeting room

The meeting room is full of models and pics of completed projects.

Here are some sample wall constructions.

Master Beat’s (Pronounced Bay-Ott) office, where the magic happens.

The room for the long term employees, the intern room is behind.

Here is the site model for the most recent project I am working on, a housing development about 1 hour away from Zurich for several shared apartments, building codes are very intense and confusing here.

My first view of the office.  We are on the third floor, and share the building with Turbinen Brewery.  The beer garden is right by the loading dock on the lower left, how convenient, and the staff comes here about once a week after work for afew drinks.

FRAUMUNSTER_with stained glass by Marc Chagal

The town is super beautiful, built around a lake and with mountains so close you can see them on a clear day.  The weather is similar to Seattle in that it rains quite often, and I am told the winters get pretty serious here.  So far I have no complaints other than dealing with the difficulty of finding a place to stay in this town.  Beautitful locations, such a grand mix of cultures (Swiss, German, Italian, and French), and a dream job with amazing co-workers.  Thanks to everyone who has supported me and helped me along this journey to get to where I am now.  Enjoy the pics!

GROSSMUNSTER_most famous cathedral in Zurich (Some connection with Charlemagne or “Charles the Great”)

CALATRAVA IN SWITZERLAND

The University of Zurich has a library built by famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, here are some pics.  He also has a train station nearby which I found super amazing.

STADELHOFEN BAHNHOF

Here is Calatrava’s train station.  It is so cool because it brilliantly brings together so many levels.  There is an underground shopping area, above that the train tracks, above that a pedestrian walkway, and even further up is a student picnic area and a road connecting to another neighborhood.

MORE PICS OF ZURICH PLEASE . . .

You can see the Swiss Alps from right here in Zurich on the lake, so beautiful!

BUILDING TOUR_MARCHE INTERNATIONAL

This is the building that got my firm famous.  It is made of natural materials, clad with a solar panel roof which allows it to produce more energy than it needs per year, and serves as an excellent model of energy efficient design, solar orientation, natural ventilation, etc.

The ‘Green Wall’ serves to humidify the entire office workspace daily.

MY NEW HOME_Finally, after 3 weeks of expensive hotels and hostels, I have myself an apartment.  It is right near the river and the downtown in a beautiful neighborhood.  It is a shared apartment with 3 other students on my floor.  They are all studying at Zurich University and non-architecture students, which is a change of pace.  It is nice to be finally unpacked.  Sorry that its taken so long for the update.  Hope you enjoy what you see, and until next time, enjoy your summer!

All Things Must Pass – Cesky Krumlov – My Final Trip

CESKY KRUMLOV – it may be small but it’s second most visited city in the Czech Republic.  I saved this city for the end of the trip, because it was the Czech city I was most excited about while studying Czech Republic, and I didn’t want to have a spoiled trip in the cold of Winter or during the rainy season, and I ended up picking the perfect time of year to go.  I went in the early heat of summer, 2 weeks after my last final, and I actually got to go with my Czech buddy, Honza, with made the trip so much more meaningful and ‘native’.  We went to the castle, climbed to tower, toured the city, and floated the Vltava, summing it all up with a drink or two at the local Eggenberger Brewery before our trip back to Praha for the final farewell party.  This was a very good day, and a great week, and I’ll be home before you know it.  I hope everyone has enjoyed what I’ve shared of my experiences, and I’ll have plenty of stories to share once I return, and I’m looking forward to seeing each and every one of you once again.  Farewell until June 28th!

 Approaching the castle.

‘Bear Pit’ mote in front of the castle, yup, real life bears protecting the castle to this day, crazy.

Views from atop the Castle Tower.

Looking back towards the castle.

Cesky Krumlov’s Sv. VITUS

Castle bridge connecting the castle to the theatre to the gardens.

Heading back to the Old Town from the castle gardens.

Castle Tower from within the old city.

There’s that castle bridge again.  Check out all the stone!

Lots of Czech kids (and tourists) do 4-5 day float trips down the Vltava from Prague thru Cesky Krumlov, unfortunately, Honza and I only had a few hours here, so we did an abbreviated version, but still fun.

The tiny step in the river, but we actually saw 2 or 3 people capsize or fill up with water, too good.

Alright, back to Prague, party Wednesday night, party Thursday night, pack and leave Friday early morning, and I”ll be back in the states on Friday night, until then, Nashledanou!

HAMBURG!!! (Germany Tour Part V-Conclusion)

Hamburg – A city in perfect tune with the sea.  I only wish I would have spent more time here than in little old Hannover.  Hamburg is one of Germany’s largest cities (after Berlin and Munich) and was such a perfect mix of city and sea (like Germany’s Venice) and had, I thought, the nicest blend of old and new architecture, especially with all the inventine brick buildings that lined the canals.  I had a really nice time here, weather was good for the most part, and this was a great conclusion to my German tour (although I did make short stops in both Berlin and Dresden afterwards).  However, by the time this was all over, I was ready to get back to Prague, have a few more get-togethers and parties, say way too many good-byes, and get my life in order to come back home.  So here it is, the conclusion of my amazing 2 weeks in Germany and German-speaking lands.

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof

St. Georgkirche, the only church I saw that wasn’t one of the 5 famous Hauptkirche (visible from all of town and great at locating yourself in certain districts of town.) 

Hamburg Rathaus – with amazing shop lined and tree lined waterways to the rear.

 

 See, Venice of Germany, what’d I tell ya.

Such a beautiful outlook.  If I had more time and fundage, I would have taken a small cruise.

Fountain in the Rathaus courtyard (The Hapsburgs had their own room with balcony overlooking this court.

This must have been the window from the court kitchen, I loved the motif.

St. Jakobikirche – the only Hauptkirche that I wasn’t able to enter.

St. Petrikirche

St. Nikolaikirch – My third and final destroyed church of WWII, still powerful, but this one now has a lift to the top of the steeple, and at the top are views of the destroyed city from the steeple just one day after the bombings.  I will show you what I saw.

Check out the harbor with all the fishing boats and rigs in the distance.

Tons of canals and waterways like this.

Sweet housing overhanging the canals.

But wait, there’s more . . .

More harbor pics . . .

St. Michaeliskirche

St. Michaeliskirche Interior – so beautiful.  This church is the perfect setup for a concert and actually, I came in here right as it started to pour, and there was an Irish Voices choir performance right as I came in, so I stayed out of the rain and sat and listened for a good half hour, so perfect, and in the perfect cathedral.

St. Katharinien – the last of the 5 Hauptkirche, with a beautiful maiden statue on the roof.

Interior of St. Katharinien

Chilehaus – in yet another impressive brick district.  Perfect mix of new and old buildings.

Well, aufwiedersehen Deutschland, perhaps I will return someday.  Now back to the Czech Republic for my last week in Europe.  It’s been fun, but I’m finally starting to get a bit homesick, and it’s time to say my final goodbye’s.

BREMEN! So small but so beautiful! (Germany Tour – Part IV)

BREMEN

Bremen Hauptbahnhof

Beautiful flowers and windmill over the stream on the way to old downtown, so perfekt!

Altstadt, here at last.  This was such a beautiful city, but a city so simple and perfect it’s more like a fairy-tale place that you would like to settle down and have kids at.  So small and ideal, with that tiny and well-aged town feel.  Also, I was here on the weekend, so it was a very light-hearted, fun, and festive time to be here.

Unsere Liebe Fraukirche, Our Dear Lady Church, right in the center of everything, along with all the other historical buildings.

Rathaus from  Unsere Liebe Fraukirche.

Bremen’s famous Stadtmusiker, the ‘city musicians’, depicted everywhere as these stacked characters, this being the most famous and original representation.

Such a beautiful city.

One of the largest statues of ROLAND, a very famous German trader.

Altes Rathaus . . .

Right next to St. Petridom.

St. Petri Dom from across the square.

Interior of St. Petri.

View from one St. Petri tower, down on the Saturday market and festival.  I was so glad to be here on the weekend, it was so lively.  It wouldn’t have been nearly the same experience on a Monday or Tuesday.

Entrance to Schnoorviertel, the famed shopping alleyway.

View of the Saturday Flea Market on the Rhein.

Now off to Hamburg, Leo’s favorite German city, and now -since my travels are over- the city I wish i could have spent one more day in (perhaps not so long in Hannover would have made it work, oh well, that’s what this trip thru Germany was about, seeing as much as possible and finding the places I like the most and really want to return to later in life.)  Tata til then.

HANNOVER!!! “The Perfekt Sprache”(Germany Tour Part III)

 

Hannover, where I finally slowed down a bit, let my feet heal up, and watched 2 of the most intense football games so far!  I was in Hannover for nearly 3 days.  Every evening I went to an outdoor restaurant and watched the day’s football game, night 1:  Germany vs. Portugal (3-2), so there was much celebrating, and night 2:  Turkei vs. Netherlands, in a Turkish restaurant (there is a very large Turkish population in Germany) so again, much celebrating.  In Hannover, the language was more crystal clear like everyone said it would be, but i was still so exhausted that most of my transactions were in English.  On my second night, I actually met a girl from Singapore who was studying German and music in school in Dusseldorf, (she only studied German for 4 months and was way better than me, that’s encouraging, right?), and she was in Hannover to try out for Music School.  I did actually practice some German with her, mostly because it’s less embarassing messing up in front of a non-native, and I got to know my roomate from Stuttgart pretty well also, he was in Hannover for the photo festival, which I hear was quite the impressive but also way outside of town.  All in all, this place was very nice, but I kind of wish I would have saved my second day for another city, more on that later.  So, enjoy!

Hannover Hauptbahnhof

Marktkirche – right in the center of Old Town, visible from nearly every street in town.

Martin Luther, preaching in front of Marktkirche

Altes Rathaus, right across the square from Marktkirche.

Altes Rathaus from the front.

View down the Altstadt shopping lane.

 

Hannover’s famed Leibnizhaus, known for its completely restored Renaissance facade.

View down the street of some classic German timber houses, this is what I thought all of Germany would look like.

More beautiful facades.

 

HANNOVER NEUES RATHAUS – so beautiful, with such a beautiful plaza and also a great pond behind.

HANNOVER (Model of the City in 1939)

Hannover (1939, three years before the war)

Memorial to mark the Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon’s forces were held back.

Kreuzkirche – another church whose steeple was clearly visible from everywhere.

The second most powerful church i’ve seen,  St. Aegidienkirche.  Only the bell tower survived the WWII bombings, and also the perimeter walls.  An artist had installed hanging pieces of “stained glass” to show what once had stood here and the damage this church, this town, and this country suffered during the war.  Quite powerful, but the church in Berlin will always be my first and most awe striking.

Christuskirche - found on the way to Herrenhauser Garten.

HERRENHAUSER GARTEN – Some beautiful gardens down the lane from the University at the Northwest end of town.

Some crazy mosaic/tileness in the Grotto near the entrance.

 On the stage of the outdoor theatre.

Some smug babies in the audience seating, yuck.

At the rear of the stage, towards the remaining MILES of garden.

The prestigious and nearly impossible to get into (I mean this as in for students to be accepted, I didn’t actually try to get into campus), HANNOVER UNIVERSITAT.

View inside St. Clemenskirche,  very beautiful domed church near my hostel.

 

Next stop is the small but precious city of Bremen, which I will visit

 on the way to legendary Hamburg.  Hamburg will be my last ‘new city’ to visit, then I will return to Berlin to re-see what I saw so many many weeks ago in a blur of jet lag and newness, then Dresden to reunite with my ISC friends, and then back to good ole Prague for one last week of hoorahs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany Tour Part II – Koln, Bonn, and Dusseldorf

In the early morning light, as the sun pokes out from behind the clouds, I stumbled across the Kolner Dom in the distance, Germany’s largest Cathedral, and nearly the only thing left unscathed after the complete destruction of the city after the bombings in WWII.

Koln Hauptbahnhof

A city gate very near my hostel.

Kolner Dom_ largest cathedral in Deutschland

View of the Kolner Dom from Hauptbahnhof

View across the Rhein

An old city tower, whose original building dates back to Roman times.  Actually, thats one thing that makes Koln really interesting;  this city dates back to Roman times, and even after WWII, there are tons of chunks of city wall and the old old churches and guard towers everywhere, and these Roman remains and the Kolner Dom are pretty much the only old things left in the city since the war.

St. Pantaleon, 1 of 12 of the famous Romanesque Churches in Koln, and the last one I found on my long day in Koln.

St. Pantaleon interior

City Museum, looks like they’re ripping off Hard Rock, check out the car up top

Before and after, in the same pic, check out the building process.

Coolest knife set in the world, if you ever see this, you should buy it right away and celebrate

My last view of Koln, now time for a day trip to Bonn, city of Beethoven!

 

BONN

 

There he is, the Beethoven Denkmal (memorial) in the Munsterplatz (View of Munster Basilica below)

Beethoven looking over the platz.

Munster Basilica

Interior

A large set of statues in front of Munster Basilica, cleverly hidden by Mrs. Hot-dog stand.

Bonn is the city of Beethoven, as well as the former seat of government before everything got moved in Berlin.  I saw Beethoven’s birthhouse, the church in which he played organ for many years, and actually saw the original organ, one of his first piano’s as a child, and the last piano he played in public.  There were also many many art and histroy museums to the south of town.

Beethoven Geburtshaus

Altes Rathaus at the Old Town Square.  The church that Beethoven played organ at for so many years was near here, but it was closed and the facade was under construction, so here’s a very poor pic for you all.

 

Bonn Universitat, a very beautiful campus/building, and a very famous university as well.

The famous gate passing thru the University.

Schloss Poppelsdorf, way south of town, and housing some university classes.

Kunst Museum Bonn

The spitze interior of Kunst Museum Bonn, I didn’t see a single person actually pay to go in past the lobby and see the ‘actual’ museum, so sad.

The Metro takes you to a small town of Bad Godesburg, where I climbed a large hill and found the Bad Godesburg Turm, which had great views of both towns.

Check out the view from the tower.  Next stop, Dusseldorf, on the way to Hannover!

 

DUSSELDORF

 

In Dusseldorf, I had no map, and it was not possible to do the ‘Wow, that looks cool’ and walk towards it process that I usually did when I had short stays in cities, so I was only here for a few hours and didn’t see so much (also, the main reason I always wanted to come to this city was because of its name).  I also got to see the third largest GOETHE musuem/collection in the world, and that was quite the nice.

I walked thru the main park, and it was the time of season that all the native trees were dropping all their floating seed things, and it was so beautiful and I found this sculpture with the floating things all around, and it was a perfect moment.

Konigsallee, close to the water front, and going on almost the whole length of the city.

Dusseldorf has one of the longest riverfront’s full of markets and restaurants and all sorts of plazas, all ending in an amazing Music Quarter with some crazy and actually decent Gehry apartment complex.  All of this along the lovely Rhein  of course. 

More lovely (but rainy) waterfront.

A cool church from the 70s north of downtown Dusseldorf.

More of that cool retro church.

 GOETHE Musuem, full of the famous writer’s drafts, sketches, and things from his era, including maps of towns and the state they were in when he visited them, etc.

 My last church on the way out of Dusseldorf, next stop, and yes, a real stop (not just a 6 hour visit like here in Dusseldorf) HANNOVER! -Home of the most perfekt german language in the country.

MUNCHEN, DEUTSCHLAND!!! I’m finally here! (Germany Tour Part I)

Alrighty everyone, I’ve made it to Munich on the fourth day of my German-speaking adventure.  I’ve spoken little to no english so far, let’s see how far I can get until I’m back in Prag.  Munich was beautiful, great views of the Alps just like in Salzburg and Zurich, but a more understandable speech and so many biergartens, goodness gracious!  I had a really good time here and stayed at The Tent, and 100 person tent-hostel for only 10 Euros a night, and watched the Euro games there and met so many cool Canadians and Americans.  Actually, my time here was very festive because Munich was celebrating its 850th Anniversary as a city, so Bavarian folk tunes and dances were happening at all hours downtown.  Also, after my time in Munich, I made a side trip here in BAVARIA down to Hohenschwangau, where King Ludwig II’s famous Neuschwanstein Castle is located.  Well, here it goes:

Schloss Nymphenburg – the palace located only 5 minutes away from The Tent, where I stayed.  Not as impressive as Schonbrunn in Vienna, but still worth a gander.

Traditional dances and music for the 850th Anniverisary Festival downtown.

The main square in Munich, with St. Michaelskirch on the left (sadly the facade under construction) and Frauenkirche (tower) in the background.

Inside St. Michael’s

Almost to Frauenkirche

Pool in front of Frauenkirche with traditionally-dressed lady of the night and potential customer.

Inside Frauenkirche

The tribute to the new pope?  (He is from Germany)  Sorry, didn’t do my research on this one, so I don’t know, but here it is.

Altes Rathaus – the Glockenspiel is on the facade around the corner

My view (nearly at eye level) of the clock from the ‘Glockenspiel Cafe’.  My grandparents were here when they came to Germany years ago, so I had to come here, and it was a very nice experience, seated right across from the great clock tower.

Munich Schauspeilhaus

Maximillaneum, a large palace down the road, at sunset, perfekt!

THEATINER KIRCHE – very similar to Michaelskirche on the interior, but different in little ways.  This was located in the ‘Florence’ area of Munich, don’t worry, you’ll see (I’ll show you)

 

Right by the Theatinerkirche is this loggia, identical to the one next to Palazzo UFFIZZI in Florence, Italy.  But wait, there’s more . . .

There he is!  Remember that sculpture from the Plaza in Kansas City, whose original is in Florence,  well here he is again.  I don’t know why this lil guy is so popular, but he sure is everywhere I go.

Former City Gate

 

Johannkirche

 

MUNICH OLYMPIC GARDENS

 

Chinesisch Turm in the vast Englisher Garten, more traditional song and dance from second level.

Another famous Beer House near the world famous Hofbrauhaus, where I had a wonderful and festive dinner for my last night in Munchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yes, the legendary Hofbrauhaus, time for my liter!

Alright, I made it in, time for some Hofbrau and Weisswurstel mit Bretzel!

Who needs food?

Cool little house / contractor trailer on the bus ride to the train out to Neuschwanstein!

 

NEUSCHWANSTEIN in Hohenschwangau!!!

 

 

Hohenschwangau – Ludwig II’s parents’ castle just across the way

 

 

Farewell Neuschwanstein, farewell Bavaria, now off to Koln (Cologne) !

Zurich, Switzerland!!!

Hey everybody, I actually made it down into Switzerland.  I met a fellow K-Stater earlier in the year in Prague and he is a mutual friend and is studying in Zurich, so I went down there for 2 days and saw the sites.  I saw the two famous cathedrals, Grossmunster and Fraumunster (with stained-glass by Marc Chagall), saw the Rheinfall, and watched yet another great soccer game, Switzerland vs. Portugal, and once again was with all the natives when they won!!!  Switzerland was very interesting, because it has a German, French, and Italian region, in addition to a community of a few thousand in the mountains with their own native-Swiss language.  It was very expensive but very beautiful with a German dialect I found very confusing but worth discovering.  Enjoy!

The large Euro 2008 installation, which we saw on every advertisement for the Euro Cup in all of Europe!

GROSSMUNSTER - the cathedral built by Charlemagne on the site of two beheaded martyrs who later became saints.

Codi and I in the crypt, where we found the original Charlemage statue which used to reside on the church tower.

Views from GROSSMUNSTER towers.  Above is a view of Lake Zuruck (Zurichsee)

 

FRAUMUNSTER – The church with the famous stained-glass (sorry, no pics allowed, and I actually listened this time)

RHEINFALL – the waterfall of the Rhein, south of town.  Yes, I did get on that bit of rock in the middle, and it was so worth it.

Fanzone ZURICH – Switzerland 2-Portugal 1!!!    (This was also the same night that Czech Republic lost to Turkey and was out of the running, sad.   But Austria and Germany are still in and play the next night!)

Look at all those Swiss!!! I believe the actual game was in Basel, only an hour away.

 

That’s right, a big screen on the lake!  Next stop, MUNICH!!!