Switzerland

After a few days each in Belgium and France, I picked up my niece Eliana in London and we took off for a weekend in Amsterdam plus a week in Switzerland. Our main goal was walking in the Swiss Alps: the Bernese Oberland near Interlaken. There we rode a train to the snowy "Top of Europe" at Jungfrau and hiked alongside grazing cows near Murren and Wengen.

The Swiss scenery is stunning and getting around is a breeze with the world's most efficient and punctual transportation system. I'm usually not into "sightseeing by train" but the views from the scenic trains really are wonderful. Other stops included Montreux (on Lake Geneva with cheese and chocolate factories nearby) and Luzern (charming old town). We also happened to catch two of Europe's big summer festivals on the weekends: the floating Gay Pride parade in Amsterdam and Zurich's techno-music Street Parade.

Getting my niece back home from Heathrow yesterday was tough with the terrorist scare, but she made it and now I'm in London visiting friends. In a week I head to Athens and the final leg of my trip: Eastern Europe.