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I got a surprise call a few days before Annie travelled to Europe. She said she was going to Switzerland too. She called me up first week of December but we were not around then as we were in Cyprus. She thought she dialed the wrong number but she tried calling me up again and finally we were able to talk to each other. I have not seen my cousin Annie for more than 12 years.

It was Monday afternoon, 18th of February 2008, when I fetched Annie at the train station in Lucerne, Switzerland. She stayed with us for five (5) days and four (4) nights here in Weggis.

The next day, Tuesday, we went to Lucerne for shopping and for a nice walk along the lake. How many times have I been to Lucerne and how many times did I blog about Lucerne? Well, you probably have not seen this side of Lucerne as I have not blog about it. We especially went to the Promenade for a walk, and Palace Luzern for an afternoon dessert. Palace Luzern is one of the five star hotels in Lucerne.

Afterwards, we just spent our afternoon walking around Lucerne taking photos and videos especially of the birds being fed by people. We really had fun taking videos of the birds. We never noticed the time, that it was time to go home as we needed to take the last boat trip to Weggis.

The next day, Wednesday, we went up to the Rigi Kulm, the Mount Rigi, the Queen of the mountains in Switzerland. I did not have too many pictures of Annie. I was always using her camera every time I took her pictures, and I forgot to get some copies from her. The nice thing about the trip was we bought the day ticket so we were able to go up twice to Mount Rigi.

First we took a boat ride from Weggis to Vitznau, then took the cogwheel railway from Vitznau to Mount Rigi. Once we were up in Mt. Rigi, we took our lunch at Rigi Kulm Hotel, and afterwards, roamed around Mt. Rigi taking photos and videos as usual. I took a lot of videos of Annie especially when she was rolling, and rolling, and rolling on the snow. That was really hilarious.

As we still had a lot of time, we took the blue train from Mount Rigi to Arth-Goldau, roamed around the area, and then went up again to Mount Rigi and waited for the red train to go down to Vitznau. We did not go to Vitznau anymore, instead we got out of the train in Rigi-Kaltbad and took the cable car going down to Weggis.

Look what happened to the sole of my winter shoes!

I have not been using my winter shoes for so many years. I was always using rubber shoes going up to the mountains and we normally do not go up to the mountains during winter. Hub suspected that the rubber of the shoes was not good, as his and his brother’s shoes had the same fate. It was not about because I have not used them often.

The next day, Thursday, we took a boat trip on the lake from Weggis to Vitznau to Gersau to Beckenried to Treib to Brunnen. We had some coffee and tea at the Restaurant of Elite Hotel in Brunnen. Then we took our lunch at the boat from Brunnen to Ruetli to Lucerne. We especially sat in front of the boat for a nice whole view of the lake. We went around the city of Lucerne once again. This time we did not forget to go to the Lion Monument.

We were supposed to take the boat to Weggis, but I saw Ate Pet, another Filipina from Weggis, so we went with her going back to Weggis. I invited her in our place and we chatted for a while until Hub arrived. As it was a Thursday, we had our dinner at SeeHotel Gotthard Restaurant in Weggis.

The next day, Friday, we wanted to go to Mount Pilatus. Unfortunately, it was foggy up there even if the weather was good. So we decided not to go up. We had nothing to do then, so we again went to Lucerne. We just roamed around the shopping area in Lucerne and had some pictures with the Chapel Bridge, Water Tower, Jesuit Church, Spreuerbruecke or Spreuer Bridge among others. Again, I did not have any pictures as I was using the camera of Annie. It was another day of having fun.

When we arrived home in Weggis, Hub was already waiting for us. We brought Annie to Zurich as Annie’s beloved boyfriend K was already waiting for us at the hotel. Finally we arrived at the hotel in Zurich, and Hub and I met K for the first time. We had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Zurich, Switzerland. After dinner, we went to an Australian bar, also in Zurich, and had some fun. We probably went back to Steigenberger Hotel at past 2 o’clock in the morning.

The next day, Saturday, we left the hotel after Annie and I said our goodbyes, and we were hoping that we will be seeing each other again the next time they will be in Switzerland. Annie and I, now that we’re adults, discovered that we actually have a lot of things in common. Just an example, did you notice all the smiles?

Once again, Annie, K, thank you very much for everything! Hope to see you again!