Friday, Dec. 8th
Spent most of the morning exploring the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. This contains artifacts from early Switzerland, many from 1200 to 1500. There were lots of coins, arrange to show the history of their evolution. There were many religious artifacts: chalices, paintings, stained glass, and alter pieces. Seeing the old Christian relics graphically conveys that Jesus was real, was crucified, and had Mary for a mother. There was an amazing 4 foot diameter globe from the 1500's which shows Europe, Africa, North and South Americas in amazing detail. Other interesting artifacts: swords, guns, an amazing battlefield with miniature soldiers, a collection of bells that you could ring.

After I left the museum, I walked along the Limmat river for about a mile which ended with a good view looking down at the river. At this site there were people playing chess on large boards on the ground (this was common in the Switzerland cities).

While in Zurich on Friday, Sally told me a fern was coming through. In the mountains it is accompanied by very high winds that can take tiles off roofs. There was negligible wind in Zurich. During the fern, the temperature briefly rose to about 60 and the sun finally came out for a while. At the end, the fern “collapsed” and it became cloudy again. It might have rained, but I was on the way to Geneva.