Switzerland - Day 8 (Zürich)

Popped out in the morning to see one more Lucerne landmark, Bertel Thorvaldsen's famous carving of a dying lion (the Löwendenkmal) commemorating the hundreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when the mob stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris.

Afterwards stocked up on yummy food for the train ride to Zürich, Swizterland's largest and most cosmopolitan city, named as having the "best quality of life" in the world.

We had a big walk around the city, first through the old town, and then through the fancy shopping district, through which the windows were filled with jewellery and expensive watches.

We popped into the Grossmünster church and ascended the tower for the panoramic views:

St. Peter's, the largest clock face in Europe:

All in all we had a pretty low key visit to Zurich, but we were saving our energy for the big New Year's street party. And what a party it was - food stalls everywhere, 80s dancing on the side of the road, lakeside raving to popular German-language electronic music, and one of the best fireworks displays we've ever seen - a feuerwerkschiff on the lake. A fitting send-off for our holiday.

Tucking into street vendor food:

Raving:

The cityscape at night (yes, that's a circus):

And so it came time to say farewell to Emma and Frank and head back home to London. We really enjoyed having companions to travel with - the conversation was great, and the "Zombies!!!" games appropriately rousing. See you both again in Feb!