Adee!

One of the worst and inevitable characteristics of traveling is that the end is always sad. I have never met someone that said "I am so happy that my vacations ended!"

But vacations must end, and today it is my turn to say goodbye...

http://murdockcrc.whereareyou.net/index.php?intMessageId=67606

Switzerland's prettiest barroque city

Solothurn advertises itself as the prettiest barroque city from Switzerland. Well, I'm not an expert on barroque cities to judge that, but Solothurn managed to call my attention.

The history of Solothurn dates back to the year 14 - 37 AD, with the foundation of the celtic Salodurum, around the time when Tiberius was the emperor of the Roman Empire. That means that across almost 1000 years, what today is Solothurn is heavily influenced with the architecture of several epoques, something that is quite unique for such a small place. And the fact that this place has managed to survive almost 1.000 years is simply fantastic!...

http://murdockcrc.whereareyou.net/index.php?intMessageId=67589

Buongiorno Lugano!

Going to Lugano from Zurich means crossing the country from north to south. Even though the journey takes almost 3 hours to complete, and that it costs CHF 118, I wanted to see and meet the Italian part of Switzerland. I also was a little bit intrigued: was the Italian Switzerland just as the Italy I knew? Just because they speak the same language doesn’t mean they are equal, but they must share some of the culture, shouldn’t they?...

http://murdockcrc.whereareyou.net/index.php?intMessageId=67444

The endless Lucerne

For those staying in Zurich and having one day to spare, the visit to Lucerne is mandatory.

The trip from Zürich Hauptbahnhof (main train station) to Luzern takes around 50 minutes with an InterRegio train from the SBB. The train tickets price is around CHF 46, not expensive for a Swiss train...

http://murdockcrc.whereareyou.net/index.php?intMessageId=67429

Top of Zurich

In one of my previous posts, I told you about a place where one can see the best panoramic view of the city of Zurich. Well, this is the place...

Read the rest on my travel blog:
http://murdockcrc.whereareyou.net/index.php?intMessageId=67285

Tour around Zürich

I am a true believer that city tours by bus are one of the best ways available to get to know a city, at least the most important landmarks. So, as always, I took a city tour from "Best of Switzerland".

Now, in a wonderful display of my endless intelligence, I forgot to take my digital camera with me. Therefore, I had to take the pictures with my cellphone. Please, pardon the bad quality of the images...

One of the company's offers (http://www.bestofswitzerlandtours.ch/) is an extended, 4-hour tour through Zürich and its surroundings. At first, the bus drove near the main train station towards Wollishofen, where it stopped so that we could observe Lake Zürich (Zürchersee). Here, people can sail their boats on the lake and even swim and take the sun along its shore (that is, in summer, of course).

Afterwards, the tour circled around Zürich's highlands to the north, where one can see beautiful (and very expensive) houses. Also, we drove in front of the FIFA's new headquarter building. As you may know, FIFA's main offices have been in Zürich for quite several years now.

Coming back down to Zürich, we stopped at Fraumünster church. This church is right in front of another very important landmark of Zürich, the Großmünster church. The church of Fraumünster was founded in the year 853, and is widely known for its windows, done by Marc Chagall, which display stories from both the Old and New testament in marvelously elaborated glass.

Großmünster church:

Fraumünster church:

Next, the tour took us to the airtram on Adlis. There, we climbed to a mountain where one could see most of the valley where Zürich resides. Though not the best spot to see a panoramic view of Zürich (that will come later...), the view is still precious and worth the effort to get there.

Views of the valley:

To end the tour, we crossed Lake Zürich via the Meilen ferry. The ferry takes about 8 minutes to cross the lake from one side to the other. Here, the views of the city are also impressive.

As for the tour, well, I'll highly recommend it to everybody traveling to Zürich. It costs CHF 45 (about $43), but you get good value for your money.Bye,Luis.

Bye bye beloved friends

So, it finally happened:

After nearly 4 years of uninterrupted service, my Rudy Project sunglasses died today while skiing.

For those of you who know me, you'll know how important these sunglasses have been. They have accompanied and protected my eyes while doing everything: skiing, rodeln, jogging, rappeling, shooting, rescues, etc.

Along the way, they have done much more than protect my eyes from the sun, but they have also been struck with shrapnel while shooting, with dust and rocks while rappeling, splashed with blood, oil and other substances while working at the Red Cross, and so much more. These fellows have withstood much more, I am sure, than what they were actually designed to resist.

I will always remember them for their almost perfect and loyal service, and if you wish to buy the BEST protective sunglasses on Earth, be sure to buy the Rudy Project Ketyum. They are expensive, but worth every single cent.

Here you'll see the last picture of them:
http://public.fotki.com/murdockcrc/traveling/sterreic h-2007-wint/dscn0075.html

Some photos of them at service:
Holmatro Motor Vehicle Crash course:
http://public.fotki.com/murdockcrc/cruz-roja/demost raciones-y-en/curso-holmatro-2007/dsc0136.html

Rope rescue:
http://public.fotki.com/murdockcrc/cruz-roja/demost raciones-y-en/demostracin-rescate/dsc02205copy.html

Structural collapse rescue training in Texas, USA:
http://public.fotki.com/murdockcrc/cruz-roja/demostrac iones-y-en/curso-texas-2005/fotos-texas-fire-tr-1/img3263.ht ml

While rodeln:
http://public.fotki.com/murdockcrc/traveling/sterre ich-2006--aus/dsc0023.html

See you, old friends...