We woke up around 3 a.m. on Saturday and had to catch a night bus at 4 a.m. to get to Bonn central station by 4:45 to take a bus to the airport. From there our flight was at 7. We made it to downtown Zurich around 9 and walked around for a bit. We then went to McDonald's and every meal was super expensive! A big mac was 13 franks which is about $15. It was ridiculous. After that we were near a tram stop trying to figure out what we wanted to do next when a man heard us talking and offered his help. We were about to go to the botanical gardens in Zurich but he said that they were not very good and under construction. He offered to take us to a nice place of town with an old, pretty bridge with a bunch of local shops integrated under the arches. Along the way he bought us chocolate bars and a bag of goodies from one of the shops. He then showed us the Freitag store where they make hand bags and purses out of recycled shipping container canvas. If this wasn't enough already this random guy that had met us that day then showed us the tallest building in Zurich that had a tea and coffee shop at the top. Not only did he show us it he took us to the top and paid for all of our drinks and even bought us a couple peaces of cake! We couldn't believe how lucky we were and were amazed at the generosity of this gentleman. Clouds, the name of the shop, overlooked the entire city and the view was amazing. To the right we could see Lake Zurich and out in front of us we could see the city with mountains in the background. We talked with him for over an hour up there about Zurich, where we came from, and places and things to see in Europe. From there he rode back to central station with us and helped us figure out how to get to the mountain for the next mourning to go sledding. There he also purchased some macaroons for the 6 six of us to share and as if he had not already done more than enough for us he gave us a personal tour of the city. This was better than any tour guide could have done. He showed us the biggest clock tower in Zurich and took us to many other beautiful places. One of them was the park witch was elevated above the river passing through the city. From there you could see for miles. He then showed us two good restaurants in town and helped us get reservations. Before leaving us he got us some roasted chestnuts. Not my favorite but the others really liked them. We offered our thanks and invited him to have fondue with us but he said he and his wife already had plans. We couldn't thank him enough for everything and got his e-mail so we can send him a thank you with some pictures. I will never forget Roger, he one was one of the nicest people I have ever met. He took like four hours out of his Saturday to give a personal tour of Zurich that included him spending money on us six random Americans. It was a very lucky weekend for us! After checking in our Hostel we went for a hike on a mountain we could see from their. We had a lot of fun and took a bunch of great pictures playing around in the snow like kids. After that we went out to eat at one the restaurants Roger had suggested. Our meal was very good and the dessert was awesome! From there it was bed time after a long, unforgivable first day in Switzerland. We got up bright and early as Roger had suggested to get to the mountain before it got too crowded. The sledding was more fun than I would have ever thought! It was exactly like snow skiing just scaled down a little for sleds. There was turns, drops, and bumps. The slope was 3.1 kilometers long and you could get going pretty fast on the sleds. It took us a little while to figure the turning out but once we got it, it was awesome! After that, we went on a boat tour of the lake and then headed back to the hostel for dinner. Everybody but me ordered fondue, and good thing I didn't because it was gross. The next morning we did a little shopping for the girls and walked around the city some more before heading back to Bonn.
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