Zurich

At the beginning of the month I realized I had even more vacation time to burn, so I took 2 days off and went to Zurich for the weekend. The city was compact and pretty and exceedingly clean and organized. It also has Europe's largest clock tower.
The Swiss are very clock-oriented, naturally, as well as being quite proficient at languages. When I walked into any store or restaurant, I would be greeted in 4 languages: "Grüezi! Bonjour! Hello! Bongiorno!" I think they just keep rolling out various greetings until you reply. Even when Swiss guys would hoot at me on the street, they would say the equivalent of "hey baby" in various languages until I turned my head.

A walkway along the river Limmat.
Lake Zurich, where everyone strolled around. There was a large park on the side that I was standing on that has a Le Corbusier building that I explored. I didn't take a picture of it but here is a link. It was like walking around a Mondrian painting.
I also went for a hike in the hills above Zurich, along a path called the Planetenweg, which featured a little replica of the solar system. The path went through the woods and alongside several farms. While I kept expecting to hear the hills alive with the sound of music, it was not forthcoming. Where was Heidi? Where were all the people in lederhosen? Maybe I have my Swiss cantons mixed up.
All cows in Switzerland appear to wear bells around their necks.
auf Wiedersehen!