Zug, Switzerland

This week’s letter is ‘Z’ for

~ Zug ~

Zfor Zurich is what I had really wanted to write here today. I lived close by this city for five years. I know I never took many photos, which is most likely why they are not properly organized. Oh well, maybe in the next round of this fun meme. So this post is about Zug.

Zug, SwitzerlandZug, Switzerland

I would almost bet a few of you haven’t heard of Zug yet. A small town, even smaller than beautiful Zurich, which, by American standards and number of residents, is already a pretty small town. But then again, the USA are roughly 229 times bigger (land mass) than Switzerland with about 39 times more population. Switzerland’s population equals that of New York City, almost – amazing. Want to see more interesting numbers comparing two countries?Check out this interesting website I found while searching the net – ifitweremyhome.com.

Zug, SwitzerlandZug, SwitzerlandZug, Switzerland

Anyways, back to the city Zug, capitol of canton (county) Zug. Like so many cities in Switzerland and Europe Zug dates way back into the middle ages when it was first mentioned in 1240. Canton Zug is a low-tax region of Switzerland, making it a sought-after place to live. Most likely the reason, companies like Siemens, Roche and Johnson & Johnson built their sites in canton Zug. To us it meant a day trip to see something new. At the time David was writing on his fantasy novel and was interested in caves. The closest ones I could find were the limestone caves,Β Hoellgrotten Baar (close to Zug). He was also looking into getting a new car and narrowed his search down to a Mercedes SLK or a Porsche 911. So that weekend we rented and tried out an SLK. We enjoyed driving it from my home in Koblenz, AG all the nice winding roads preceding the Alps south east to Zug. We briefly stopped to fold down the top of the car and for lunch at a local place somewhere in the woods. We got good food and drinks, which we could consume while sitting outside taking in fresh air, nature and farm animals.

 

When we got to the caves, we did a self-guided tour and I grabbed a few photos. I am always fascinated how these dripstones evolve, making many interesting, sometimes weird patterns. So, I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Hoellgrotten BaarHoellgrotten BaarHoellgrotten Baar

Hoellgrotten BaarHoellgrotten Baar

Hoellgrotten BaarHoellgrotten BaarHoellgrotten Baar

Hoellgrotten BaarHoellgrotten Baar

Later on we decided to have a quick peek at the city of Zug itself and drove into the town center, heading for the lake. We walked for a little while through the neat and small streets of town and strolled along the lake watching the swans. And the approaching storm, judging by the looks of the clouds hanging over the lake. It did not get us, because when it did, we were back in our car, folded up top and heading home.

 

p.s. in case you are curious, in the end David decided to get the 911 πŸ™‚

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Jenny MatlockThis is my contribution today to round 5 of Alphabe- Thursday hosted by Jenny Matlock. If you have a moment please visit her website and check out other ‘student’s’ work and her ‘terrific tangents’.

 

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26 thoughts on “Zug, Switzerland”

    • Zurich IS beautiful. I still can’t believe that I took so few photos there, and now even have to hunt them down – grrh. But I guess it is normal to not be a tourist when you are at home πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • I thought you might like the dripstone photos. It had been a while that I looked at them and now think I might pull them out and work them a bit more. Yeah, the 911 was fun in Germany!!

      Reply
  1. I find Switzerland fascinating and I would love to go see for myself. What amazes me is the nature and the architecture. And that little town of Zug (At first I thought the name translated to Train but then I read the Wikipedia article and learned better) looks so pretty! I wish you had taken more photos of your time there!

    Reply
    • If you get a chance to go, go, Sonya, because Switzerland truly is beautiful. I do have more pictures of my time there, but not a whole lot – sigh – I am sure they will turn up soon and then I will share them in another post.

      Reply
  2. what an interesting name for a town and great Z word! Wonderful photos , just love the cave ones. Almost like paintings. Thaanks for visiting my own Z. I’ve just discovered this word hop and so will stick with it.

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    • Thanks, Sandra, for returning my visit. Round 5 is actually my first one, too and I started with ‘I’ only. It is fun!

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    • Hahaha – yeah, I bet he would, it is a fun car, but highly impractical. Although I always have to stress that the trunk (located in the front) was actually surprisingly big – LOL. Switzerland is a great country to visit and so are caves.

      Reply
    • Thanks a lot! Yeah, I know – swans can be pretty vicious. My husband, then bf actually stayed a few steps back, watching – LOL

      Reply
  3. I like your “Z” word post, Claudia. I have driven through Zug once when going from Lucerine to Liechtenstein (country). It is very pretty there with the all the hills and little mountains and also the pretty homes like the ones you posted. I think we skipped Zurich both times we were in Lucerine.

    We did think that Liechtenstein was too commercialized. That didn’t bother us too much however because we ate lunch at the MacDonald’s. We were traveling with our then 16-year-old granddaughter and she delighted in finding some ‘near American’ food.
    ..

    Reply
    • Haha – that is funny about your granddaughter πŸ™‚ But you really should not have skipped Zurich. It also is very beautiful.

      Reply
  4. Oh. Wow!

    I’d love to be able to go to Zug. Or Zurich.

    Or even any city in those lovely places that DON’T start with the letter Z.

    Fortunately for me, I feel like I’m actually visiting when I see your lovely photos!

    Thanks for letting me tag along!

    Zis was a lovely post.

    A+

    Reply
    • Ooooh, that is so nice to hear, Jenny! Its nice to know that there are people out there reading and enjoying my posts πŸ™‚

      Reply

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