it seems like my birthdays turn into walking days: last year we were in the lake district, this year we went on an evening walk with mr r (yep, the same mr r who chased us up bockmattli). we go by car down the lake until lachen and then turn off the highway and follow a narrow road that winds its way up to bräggerhof. we park the car, kit ourselves up and off we go! this time it's "more off a stroll than a walk" (mr r) but that is a relative qualifier: it goes up the mountain (but thankfully not straight up as on bockmattli). the path is quite nice, it takes us through small woods, across incline-climing meadows, past a couple of huts that according to mr r are open on weekends and eventually we reach today's highest point, stöcklichrüz (try pronouncing that, hah!) at 1247m. a wonderful view across lake zurich as well as the swiss alps lies before us — well worth the effort of getting here after a short break we continue along the ridge to gueteregg where we are arriving a bit past the closing time of the hut, but we are lucky and can still order.

the beer, the bread, the cheese and the fantastic view combine to make this a great birthday dinner! eventually — the rain clouds are coming closer — we get going again and make our way back to bräggerhof, crossing right across meadows, past some rather interested cows, through a bit of light drizzle. a fantastic evening!

p.s.: …and, oh, i got lots and lots of books (agatha christies), a sudoku game, a bugatti (albeit a small one :-), a fantastic pencil sharpener (no unsharpened pencils left currently), a really fun "just4fun" game, and a "bocksbeutel" wine bottle as a candle light cover…