SWITZERLAND - DAY 2

Had a later start today so we all got to sleep in. After breakfast we headed off on our Cityrama Tour - The Great Tour of Zurich. We were shown a section of Zurich's Old Town. Then it was across the river to the famous Chagall windows. Unfortunately the church that contain the windows was closed so we left and continued through the historical Limmatquai, the commercial centre and the university district. We were informed as we drove along the Hopenstrasse that if you were to purchase a house on each side of the Lake that was exactly the same, on one side it would cost you 4 000 000 Francs, however on the other side it would cost 40 000 000 Francs. This is because the northern side gets two hours more sunlight in Winter. A lot of money for two extra hours.

We continued traveling along the Lake of Zurich until we came to Rapperswil - Jona, otherwise known as 'The City of Roses'. Here we were left to our own devices to wander at our leisure before catching a boat back to Zurich.

We wandered up the main street towards the church and castle on the hill. We walked around the small graveyard attached to the church and headed into the tiny chapel next to the church. On every corner or street there seems to be a church in Europe. We learnt that to tell the difference between a Catholic and Protestant is that you look to the tower. Catholic churches nine times out of ten have crosses at the top where as Protestant have suns at the top.

We continued along the cobbled path to the castle. The castle was turned into a Polish Museum showing the history of the Polish exiles living in Switzerland. It dates back more than 140 years when Poland lost its sovereignty and freedom. We chose not to enter and sat outside eating lunch while admiring the view.

Down one side of the castle was a deer park. We continued walking down towards the lake going where the wind blew us. We followed the lake around and watched some men play a game with sticks and a large board (pavers of different colours and lines marked). Pasqual has decided he wants to find out how to play and build a large chess board in our deck.

We went into a local cafe and order the cheesecake recommended by the tour guide. It is not a sweet cheesecake, instead it is salty. It is made with four different cheeses. It was very nice, if a little greasy.

We boarded the boat and settled down for the two hour trip back to Zurich. We hoped that we would stay ahead of the storm. Several times it looked bad but we managed to get back to Zurich, have something to eat and get back to the hotel before the heavens opened.