Birthday Fun and Last Hurrah before baby #2 (5 months late)

I finally convinced my friend Rob to take some time off of work and come visit us in Switzerland by promising him a trip of a lifetime. Rob arrived on my birthday and we enjoyed some great summer weather as we explored Zurich, went for a swim in the lake, checked out Lucern, and spent the evening in Rapperswil.

On Saturday Rob and I headed to Interlaken for perhaps the most extreme and fun activity that I've done in Europe so far. I highly recommend canyoning in Chli Schilere if you are the adventurous type that doesn't have issues jumping off of a 35 foot cliff into small pool of water. The weather was overcast and rainy so the pictures don't do it justice, but the extra water flowing through the narrow canyon made it even more intense.

All geared up and ready to go

"Fritz" and "Hasi" posing after successfully repelling down the waterfall

Some scenery shots on the way back to Zurich

We stopped at Como on the way down to Cinque Terra and explored the sights of Como for a few hours before taking the boat up to Bellagio.

We arrived in Cinque Terra with enough time to scout out our camping site (you're technically not supposed to camp in Cinque Terra, but no hotels offered a view we were looking for). We hiked the trail between all five cities and enjoyed the cool blue water of the Mediterainean several times along the way.

Great Italian food

A great hike between cities

My friend Rabinder from work and her friend Jay drove down with us - they loved it.

After CT we made a stop in Pisa and Siena on before arriving in Florence. I'm glad we made the extra effort to visit to Siena and the rain could dampen the charm or energy of the city.

I was a bit disappointed that the scheduled rehersal of the running of the horses around the main piazza was canceled due to the rain, but the piazza was still very impressive and we had some excellent pizza in an adjacent restaurant.

Florence was impressive and IMO Michelango's David is the most impressive piece of art I have ever seen. The Academia doesn't have much else, but the entry price (and line that we waited in) was well worth the opportunity to behold the David (for a second time).

After Florence, we headed to the Petty's place near Padova. We enjoyed some fantastic italian food at Oda's in preparation for our expedition though Venice the next day.

After Venice, we grabbed some pizza from a great little pizzaria in Camisano and then I headed back to Zurich late that night to a wife who was threatening to go into labor. :-)

Rob had to go on to Rome alone...

Thanks for coming and visiting, and congrats on your engagement to Des!