Baker European Tour: Switzerland, Part One

Our month of August was packed full of visitors!  With so much that happened, I won't be able to cover every day in detail, so several days will be grouped together in one post.  This means I can't show all the amazing pictures that I want to, but it will have to do.  These posts will already be long enough as it is.

In the beginning of August, we had two of our good friends stop in Zurich to see us while they were on their own European tour!  I gave them my tour of Zurich and, after Darren got off work, we all went to Zeughauskeller for an excellent dinner.  The last three times we have seen them have been in foreign countries, so now we have a running joke that we can only meet on non-US soil.  Where are we going to next guys? :)

Our good friends from the US in front of Grossmunster

Then two days later, the first of Darren's family arrived.  Three of Darren's siblings and his parents came to visit us.  With everyone having different summer commitments, members of his family arrived at different times.  Darren's sister, Brittany, arrived first and we had a great first day hiking from Uetliberg to Felsenegg.  She was a trooper walking so much on her first day of jetlag.

The next day, another sister, Rachelle arrived.  Again, we still had a full day of activities to keep everyone awake, so off we went to the Zurich Zoo!  Our main reason for going to the Zurich Zoo was to see baby tigers!  Thanks to my most favorite blog ever, ZooBorns, I had found out that three Siberian Tiger cubs had been born in May at the Zurich Zoo!  Luckily, Darren's sisters were interested in seeing them, too. :)  When we first went to the tiger enclosure, the baby tigers weren't there and we were really sad we didn't see them.  However, we returned just a bit later and they were out playing!  I tried to get some good pictures and video, but they were running all over the place so these are the best shots I got.  I've also included some other highlights from our trip to the zoo.

Baby tigers!!

Baby tigers playing together

Brittany and Rachelle with a sleepy snow leopard in the background

No giant pandas at this zoo, but at least there was a playful red panda!

Baby monkey

Drama queen orangutan

On Saturday, no new visitors arrived so we did a day trip out to a place called Braunwald, which is a resort town above the Linthal Valley, in the area of Lake Luzern.  To get up to the resort town, you have to take one of the steepest railways in the world, which is a 64% incline!  It was amazing!

The view from the train to get to Braunwald

In Braunwald, which looks over the Linthal Valley

We didn't stay in Braunwald, but instead took a ski lift up to the top and hiked back down to Braunwald.  The landscape at the top was more rocky and dry, with large clouds hanging over the mountain peaks.  As we hiked back down, more green and more sun appeared.  The scenery the whole time was beautiful.

Taking the chair lift up to Gumen

Our picnic lunch at the top before starting our hike down

Brittany conquers the large rock while Rachelle and I stay on safer ground

Making contact with the locals

Our "Sound of Music" photo shoot, which is a must with every trip

After we finished with our hike, we took the long way home through the Klausen Pass and marveled at all the beauty along the way.  As we got closer to the top and the day was getting later, we ran into some interesting "traffic" on the road!

The Klausen Pass had some gorgeous views, we all loved it

Cow traffic!  What a fun and unexpected treat to see my favorite cows up close!

This little mini cooper was smaller than the cow, I'm sure the driver was a bit nervous

After our fun adventure on the road, we were close to Luzern, so we made a short stop there so Brittany and Rachelle could see it.  I never get tired of going to Luzern because it is so beautiful.

Me, Brittany, and Rachelle on the bridge

A fantastic shot by Darren of the bridge and Mt. Pilatus in the background

The four partners in crime

On Sunday, Darren's brother and his parents arrived and we gave the whole family a tour of his office and of downtown Zurich.

The siblings in a Swiss gondola, which is now used as a phone room

The family in downtown Zurich

Having others around means we can get some decent pictures of us

It was a great start to the trip and every one did a great job handling the jet lag.  The next day, we headed out to see more Switzerland sites, which I will cover in the next post.