We have consumed 38 days of our 77-day journey. Already we are uneasy about this undertaking evaporating far too quickly. We have seen so much, done so many things we never dreamed we might ever be able to do and we have been blessed to meet so many wonderful people along the way. We have endured cold and harsh weather. We have had to carry two bags each up and down stairs far too many times to look forward to the next time. We have tried exotic foods, reindeer and all kinds of sausages made of stuff we don't even want to hear about. We have dined-in our with simple fares of boiled eggs, cheese and bread - and it was delicious! We have tasted fine wines and not so fine wines and sampled sumptuous chocolates and pastries and breads. We think we have become very proficient at maneuvering our way around cities and the local areas and we certainly have gotten the hang of reading city transportation maps. We are not hesitant to ask questions or seek help when we need it. And most people are more than willing to help. Many can recognize right away that we are traveling -- it could be our luggage and the bags hanging on our shoulders that give it away - but many see us as travelers and simply volunteer to help. Yes, we are almost halfway through our trip but we are not ready for it to end, not by a long shot.

We toured two exhibits at the Landesmuseum Zurich, The National Museum of Zurich. Yes, it was raining again today so we sought indoor activities. Both exhibits are temporary and very special. The first we saw was a unique depiction of Switzerland's history and cultural development. A couple of interesting notes --- one,all men must serve in the military; those who cannot perform military duties serve in another cpacity. . and since they are a militia state, conscript and volunteer soldiers keep their equipment and firearms at their personal home. The second interesting point is that they say a Swiss is not a Swiss until they are in the country. For example, someone from Zurich is not a true Swiss until they are in the mountains. The country is the only authentic Switzerland. The other exhibit was a detailed exhibit called 1917 Revolution Russia and Switzerland. It marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and tells the story of events that tie the two countries from late 1800's to present. Between reading Ken Folletts', Century Trilogy and things we have learned and relearned on this trip, Stan and I have had a meaningful refresher lesson in history pertaining to World War I and II.

We hopped a tram and then walked to Burkliplatz on the lake where we boarded a very nice boat that serves as a water taxi for locals and a tour boat for tourists. It cruised the coastline of Lake Zurich for an hour and a half. The houses and boat houses and parks along the lake are so Swiss! And so beautiful. People we chatted with confirmed our suspicion that these houses must indeed be high priced real estate. It was a pleasant, peaceful ride and it was nice to be inside, out of the light rain and in a warm comfy environment, plus we had a glass of wine as we sailed along.

Still yearning for authentic Swizz cuisine, we walked to Old Town and selected a place that, lo and behold, turned out to be one of the oldest, best, and most famous restaurants in Zurich. It is called the Kronenhale (Crown Hall) and has been in business since 1924. It is said to be a favorite of families, business partners, artists, writers, designers and architects over the years, and has hosted guest famous folk such as James Joyce, Marc Chagall, Hollywood stars, politicians and musicians. It seems we chose a class place. We were a bit early for the eclectic crowd - we were starving and it was only 4:30 pm. We were the only patrons in the place for a while but our server treated us like royalty. She was a delight. We had a beautiful salad of fresh greens and water cress. Then Stan had veal sausage dish and I had sliced veal, both very traditional Swiss dishes and both were served with rosti (a big serving of deeply browned hashbrown potatoes) . And the bread!!!! My dad, having grown up on cornbread and biscuits, would have tried to tear off a piece of that bread and probably would have said, "that bread is not fit to eat". But indeed it is!!!! Coupled with a bit of Swiss butter and mmmmmm!

The Swiss seem to be very nice folk. We see many young professional-looking people here in Zurich, and we think the city is in the midst of a population explosion. We see young moms with strollers and carriages everywhere. This seems to be a fairly wealthy place too. There are many, many restaurants, take-out shops and kiosks selling food, and they all seem to do well. There are streets after streets of shops and boutiques many of which are high-end designer stores. But the strangest thing of all is that everyone smokes! Actually any time people must congregate as at a tram stop or street corner the air is disgusting! It is hard to take in a breath without taking in someone's smoke. Cigarettes are expensive too, but they don't seem to care. The people look so cool, so smart and so cosmopolitan - yet they smoke like chimneys - old people, poor people, affluent young people, they all smoke! We saw that too in Copenhagen and Berlin, but nothing compares to Zurich. Cough-cough!!!

Aside from the smoking, we really like Zurich. We could live here and dearly love it, that is if we could only afford it.