My 17-day European trip began in Switzerland.  It seems like no matter where in Switzerland one is, wherever you look, you are bound to see something beautiful. And in many places, the beauty is absolutely breathtaking.  My first visit to Switzerland was in 2021. Then, as now, I was there to see Nils, whom I hosted during the 2019-2020 school year. Nils and his family live in Meisterschwanden, a small town about 23 miles west of Zurich.  Their amazing home has a lot of floor-to-ceiling windows which provide spectacular views of the Swiss Alps in the distance and Lake Hallwil which sits just below.

The morning of my first full day began in Rapperswil, a charming town known as the “town of roses” located on the shores of Lake Zurich.  Rapperswil is home to the largest wooden bridge in Switzerland, a foot bridge that crosses over a portion of Lake Zurich to the neighboring town of Hurden. The walk along the bridge provided some up-close views of the many swans swimming in the water, and as the cloudy ski began to clear, I could see the Swiss Alps on the horizon.  The most prominent feature of Rapperswil is the Rapperswil Castle which rises above the rest of the town and offers excellent views from its elevated grounds.  There is also a nice lakeside walk which wraps around the bottom of the castle grounds and shows-off those roses that Rapperswil is famous for.  On this day, there were many people walking and riding bikes and swimming in the lake.

That afternoon, Nils and I rode the train to Zurich to meet up with his friend Beni.  The plan was to take a boat ride on the Limmat River which runs through Zurich.  However, while we waited for Beni to join us at the boat place, the skies suddenly grew ominous.  What had been a nice sunny day just moments before, was now rapidly becoming dark and windy. I told Nils that I thought there was a tornado coming, and just as he replied that Zurich does not have tornados, a large branch from a nearby tree suddenly broke off and nearly missed people walking by. While it wasn’t a tornado, the sky opened-up just as Beni arrived and a torrential rainfall took place for about the next 20 minutes. The three of us made a mad dash for the nearest shelter, in this case, the train station. Even though Beni had an umbrella, Nils a raincoat, and me a rain poncho, they were no match for the downpour and we were all soaked.  So, Beni and Nils quickly adapted what they had planned to adjust for the rain.

Instead of the boat ride, we headed for the campus of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, one of Switzerland’s most prestigious universities, where Nils and Beni are both students.  They showed me around their campus, which was quiet because it was a Sunday.  The highlight of the tour was getting to see Albert Einstein’s locker.  Einstein studied at the university and was also a professor there, and the school displays his old locker which contains some of his personal items.

After the university tour, the rain moved on and the sun came out. We spent the next few hours walking around Zurich and seeing some of the beautiful architecture. For dinner, we ate at Zeughauskeller, a traditional Swiss restaurant in the center of Zurich, popular with tourists, that was a really fun, energetic and noisy place with great ambience.  The food was great too, especially the dessert.

On my second and last full day in Switzerland, Nils and I took the train to Bellinzona. Bellinzona is a mountain town situated not far from the Italian border.  Because of its proximity to Italy, it is easy to forget you are still in Switzerland when you are there. Many of its residents are Italian, the majority of restaurants are Italian, and the architecture has a more Italian feel.  Bellinzona is known for its three medieval castles, stunning views, and its proximity to nearby lakes and resorts.  And at least on the day we were there, it is also known as a popular destination for Swiss schools to take their groups of students on their end-of -the-school-year excursions! A lot of school groups….everywhere!  But I really enjoyed visiting the castles and learning about their history. I also had the best pizza of the entire trip in Bellinzona.

After lunch, Nils and I got back on the train to the nearby towns of Locarno and Ascona. Both picturesque towns sit on the shores of Lake Maggiore which runs through Switzerland and Italy. We went swimming in the lake – a nice break on a warm day – and then had more pizza at a lakeside restaurant in Ascona.  We returned to Bellinzona around 6pm to catch a connecting train back to Nil’s place. We had about an hour to kill in Bellinzona and interestingly, it was now like a ghost town. All of the school groups were gone, and the restaurants and stores were closing. So, if you are looking for nightlife, Bellinzona is probably not the place. 

The natural beauty alone puts Switzerland near the top of my list of favorite countries.  Because most of the photos I took on this visit to Switzerland were in urban settings, I included some photos from my 2021 trip at the end of the video above so that you can see some of the magnificent beauty this country has to offer.