Nicholas & Kathryn go AWOL

Arrived in Lugano, Switzerland on the 11th. We were met by Susan who we met on the Paddywagon tour back in July. For dinner that night she took us back into Italy for a fantastic Italian meal. On Thursday morning we went up Mt Generoso, to get some spectacular views of the area and play in the snow!!! It had been a while... We then headed off in the car for Interlaken. Interlaken is a bit like Queenstown, very adventure based. Next on our trip was Lausanne over a mountain pass stopping at a few mountain villages along the way for some pictures. Lausanne is in the Swiss-French part of the country on the edge of Lake Geneva. Saturday we headed to Bern for the markets, and to check out the capital. We also went to look at the 2 bears, who are in an enclosure under the bridge and are free to visit. We couldn't find accommodation in Bern so headed for a little town called Nidau and caught up with one of Susan's friends who took us to a wine expo. For 5 CHF (approx $5.50 AUD) we got wine tasting (as much as we could handle in an hour!!!). We tried Swiss champagne, red and white wine. We also found one NZ white wine by Villa Maria at the Aussie wine table. Sunday Susan drove us to the region of Emmedal which makes Emmedaler cheese (the original Swiss cheese with the holes!) We saw how it was traditionally made and also how they make it now. Tried soooo much cheese, but it was so tasty! We then headed to Lucern. We looked around the sites then said goodbye to Susan. Lucern is also on the edge of a lake, like most of the cities here are. Our last day was spent in Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland. We hopped on a boat and went for a cruise up the lake (Lake Zurich), then headed up the main shopping strip and bought a swiss knife!! Today we head to Munich, land of beer....mmmm