Paisano European Tour 2010 - Day 9

 
Day 9 is September 15

Today we were able to sleep in a touch and relax.  This is our first day since we arrived in Zurich that we are spending more than one night in the same place.  That was pretty nice.

Did you know that Lausanne is the home of the International Olympic Committee & Museum?  Lausanne, Switzerland - Olympic Museum,  Me either.  Pretty cool stuff, especially since the US Olympic Training Center is in my town of Colorado Springs, Colorado.            


  Once we were up and (nearly) ready for the day, we had a pretty good breakfast upstairs on/in the roof garden.  As you can see, Momma was enjoying herself and laffing at her son.  That's OK we are here for Her 80th birthday!

  While up there, we got some pictures from the garden.  What a great view & the weather was wonderful.  As we were finishing our caffe, we spent some time with a nice young lady and took a tourism survey.  That was a kind of fun way to start and we learned a few things as well.

 
Our hotel is just off the square that is right in front of the University.  On the other side and my point of reference as I found myself geographically challenged through our stay, was the cathedral.  Just amazing buildings and scenery everywhere we turned.  We spent the day relaxing and walking around the city. 





We did a pretty fair amount of window shopping as well.  Momma did buy a little bit, but I decided to hold off.  So far, I just haven't really found anything that I just couldn't live without, except, of course, the awesome pictures I've been taking . 

As we were walking around, we found the Giraffe Bar.  I guess even the animals need to have an adult beverage from time to time.  Of course, this bar is strategically situated midway between the University and the Cathedral.  Coincidence??  Maybe...but then again.  Anyway, it was still early at this point, so we didn't check it our, but I'm guessing there were some really High table, you know, for the Gi Rafs.




As I'm sure you all have guessed, I, of course, got us lost, again...it's a rare talent I have, I guess.  I should look into the GPS, EPS or whatever you call that stuff.  The one redeeming thing throughout all the "getting lost" stuff was that I did, nearly always, have the opportunity to take more cool pictures. 
   This time out,  I found a really cool outdoor music venue.  You see, I seldom do just one thing at a time, so pretty much the entire time we've been in Europe, I've been looking for good possible venues for our musically talented friends in the bands In The Machine and Channel 27.  I think I found at least one possible place.  I SO need to spend more time around these parts.



 After our outing, we decided to head back to our room for a bit to let Momma relax a bit.  She's always so awesome about walking around everywhere and even better about dragging luggage around.  After a little rest up, it was time to head back out again.  Our first stop was the Bahnhoff so that we had our train tickets ready for us so that we could head out in the morning.

We got some good news, it turns out that the pass I bought did have a benefit.  Our trip from Lausanne to Bern was pretty inexpensive and it seems like our trip from Bern back to Zurich should be free.  Free is nearly Always good, even in another country.


Dinner tonight was pretty good.  We ate at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant.  The food was pretty good, but I think my brain is just on overload.  I'm really struggling with trying to think & speak in French while we're here.  By the end of the day, I'm exhausted.  I have Absolutely Loved our time in Switzerland, but so far, I've tried my hand at Swiss German, German, Italian and French.  I SO wish I would have taken a (several) languages when I was in school.  Oh well, it's all part of the adventure.  I do also have to say, that most people we interacted with were very great about speaking English to us.  Thanks for that, but I'm still a bit embarrassed that I can't speak other languages better.

As I said, we were out and near the university, so I was able to shoot some pretty cool "twilight" pictures.  Oh yes, these were Not the Twilight vampire type pictures.  These were much more fun & well, realistic.

We're just about to turn in because we need to be rested and ready to head to the banhoff around 9am.  Tomorrow, we are on our way to Bern.  It will be another Great day because we get to meet Mona's parents; Eva & Michael.

Another wonderful day has come to an end.
bonne nuit