check bitte!

ooh Tuesday. no, Wednesday. NO - TUESday. I don't know.
whatever day it is, it has been long.

after a croissant and a latte at a place called Hot Pasta (?) we said Auf Wiedersehen to Zurich and partook in some "loud speaking" at one another in the car while trying to follow road laws and directions from a GPS and Blackberry that refused to talk to any and all satellites in the world until... finally... we were on the highway.
destination: Innsbruck Austria.

the scenery changed immediately from clean bustling city streets to large open hills of green sprinkled with bell-wearing skinny cows. I really expected to see a blonde woman with double braids selling fresh butter on the side of the road but evidently all of them were busy - must be butter-churning season.

I took a stab at driving after we admired all the nutella at the gas station and man - 120 kph is deceivingly, very much-so... NOT FAST. and with all the fixed radar guns and cameras on the road, you do not want to push the limit (I am pretty sure I will have a few tickets in the mail when I get home).
5 (or 10) Gran Turismo-like tunnels later - at a blazing speed of 65 mph - and... destination reached.

Innsbruck is far more touristy than I would have liked - all the old couples wearing matching leiderhosen with price tags still attached and large groups of tour-attendees all wearing matching tacky neck-bandanas make me want to scurry back to my room BUT - the view of the Alps just isn't the same from there.
I am surrounded by snow-tipped lush mountains and incredibly humbled. to think - just last week there I was in my California mole-hole for 29 years completely satisfied with Yosemite - convinced I was lucky to be living so close to it. HMPH.
there's bigger beauty in the world.
and with better strudels too.

tomorrow we take a Nordkette (tram) up the mountain to Seegrube, meander around like we're on holiday and then locate a restaurant that offers a better dinner than the open-faced turkey "burger" I had tonight - complete with 2 pineapple circles and 2 cherries.
and yes - they looked just like boobs.

in other news...
...when receiving amazing strudel with powdered sugar, do not look down and breathe out in awe.
...the McDonald's here really DOES have a Hamburger Royale on the menu. it also is furnished like the nice section in Ikea (*obscure and generally vague photo included below).
...photo / adventure requests? submit them and maybe I'll make them happen. maybe.

yoghurt mit fruchten. danka.

bicycles, designer jeans, and Thai food.
that is the answer to: What 3 things will Kathleen remember forever about Zurich Switzerland?
after sitting through a flight in which my neighbor pooped her pants and my neighbor's neighbor barfed 4 times while landing, I find myself in Zurich - where Seattle meets San Francisco meets Manhattan.
*neighbors were 6 months and 3 years old but seriously, I don't care - that was really disgusting and should have been avoided.

Zurich has the cleanliness of Seattle, the city and art of San Francisco, and the fashion of Manhattan. combine all that with stunning German-speaking people and a few snowy mountains in the background and BAM - I give you Zurich.

if you have a shopping addiction, don't come here. I visited 2 H+M's and a store that had more designer jeans and the most-excellent white button shirts I have ever seen before I forbid myself to walk in to any more clothing shops. some other interesting tidbits? how about the fact that Zurich has no stop signs; the St. Peter's church which holds the oldest clock tower in all of Europe; and the Lindt chocolate factory which offered me a smell that made me think I was in an oven with a dozen cookies - minus the burning sensation.

tomorrow morning we leave Zurich and drive our rented Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback (they were out of BMWs) to Austria. and after 12 hours of walking today... I couldn't be happier to sit my butt down in a car for an extended period of time tomorrow.

in other news...
...horizontal stripes are "in". I get it - thank you pirate / sailor society of Swizterland.
...saw a single rainbow today while cruising to the Lindt factory through Lake Zurich - it was so bright and vivid.
...the Indian buffet I had dinner at - while being pretty good - thinks naan is a giant baked tortilla chip. nein. definitely NEIN
....shiza. time for bed.