Culture Galore!

Today we went to Ballenberg, a village with an open-air museum. The museum shows really old buildings and crafts from Switzerland back in the 1500s - 1800s. It was an amazing cultural experience into the country where I was born.

On our drive up, we stopped at a viewpoint of the village below. That lake in the photo, is SO blue. The clouds made it grey but when we were driving down beside it, it was as blue as ummm the iTunes logo! (ok, not the best comparison, but it was the right blue!!!)

Up in Ballenberg, the little chapel there. Built in the 18th century.

A house and barn built in 1568. Inside, the loom. At this museum, people are there to actually use the loom, make the cheese, weave the baskets, etc!

A mountain house where the shepherd boy lived during the summers on the mountains.

Making Cheese!!!!!

Tons of cowbells....

FRESH cheese and hand carved wood carvings. We saw the carver carving some camels for a nativity scene. SO MUCH DETAIL goes into them.

A little petting area where the goats came to nibble you... They are adorable... I love goats...

PIGGIES!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS THEY ARE THE CUTEST THINGS EVER!!!!!!

The old village

Our Lunch! (don't covet)

Mama and baby cows... Oh so beautiful... Then we left the museum, and went into Meiringen to visit none other than.... SHERLOCK HOLMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and the Reichenbach Falls...

And last, but not least, the clouds opened up for us to be able to see the freshly snowed upon mountains. :D Beautiful!!!

Hello from Bäch, Schwyz, Switzerland!

Well, good evening once again. We are now staying in Bäch which is in the Canton of Schwyz. Schwyz is next to Zürich. We drove to Bern, the capitol, yesterday and saw the sights there.

The parliament buildings, the clock tower and a few other nice buildings...

Mom, Papa and Lucy in front of the clock tower.

The Bern bears are a big attraction. They have a pen in which they can romp about as much as they please. The symbol of Bern is the bear.

Adorable heart-shaped waffles and standing around a table drinking coffee... Wonderful! On the left next to mom is my godmother Marie-Ursula.

And today Papa took us to the Abbey at the top of a mountain. It was beautiful!

Now I must run because we are going for a walk and I suddenly have a burst of energy.
Ta ta!

More on Switzerland

Greutzi! (Swiss German for Hello) We've spent the last 2 days visiting family and walking around the city. Today we climbed the Grossmünster, which is a church in Zürich.

That's the view from the top of the tower... it's amazing!!! Aside from lots of visiting, we haven't done much else. :) More pictures to come later!

Switzerland -- First Full Day!

Hoi! Already we have immersed ourselves in Swiss culture. :) We went walking all morning and afternoon, ate Bratworst and drank Rivella!

Went to the Toy shoppe this morning! Ah, the swiss know what toys are... wooden carvings, puppets, puzzles, marbles. :D my kind of toys... I'm thinking of making a list of all the things that my future children must play with as they grow up. :)

Swiss Streets :) most are stone streets, unpaved. ahhhh, simplicity.

Sign for No-walking zone... Lucy was sure that it meant that she didn't have to hold mom's hand anymore. Ha ha, nice try Lucy...

Up in the park by the river. Beautiful eh?

The Grossmunster Cathedral. Famous Swiss building, we will climb up it soon, not today.

Men playing chess on a very large board. Hey Andrew, we could always beat you on that one... :P Also, the flag of Zurich.

City of Zurich. Also, very beautiful...

Our Lunch today: Bratwurst, Rivella, buns and mustard :D DELICIOUS!

Very Swiss -- Cukoo Clocks :D

Writing postcards... hmmm different ways... Whose way would you be more comfortable in? Kristina's or Sofi's?

The first bunch of postcards! Can you find yours? Well, time for another walk along the lake. Ciao!

HELLO SWITZERLAND!

Guten Morgan to you all! Though I'm writing this at 2 minutes to Seven PM it is morning on the West Coast of North America! After 3 flights we have finally arrived in beautiful Switzerland! Though it's gray and moist, it's still lovely and a great place to relax. You really must try it sometime... ;)

SWISS AIRPORT SALES = Gigantic Lindor balls and Huge Nutella Jars!!!!

The river is about a block away... it's beautiful there. Trees and boats everywhere and across the river you can see the villages.

And the view from our current home. My mom's cousin's apartment, completely downtown. That's all I have for today! Keep checking, the journey has officially started!

3 DAYS LEFT!

LEAVING CANADA IN 3 DAYS! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! CRAZY!!!!! We are in the midst of trying to get ourselves organized, seeing remaining friends/family, and trying to slowly change our time. WOW! I can't believe we will be gone in 3 days. I'm getting a bit nervous, it's just a BIG step in my life! I just wanted to write a little bit to show that I haven't totally abandoned this blog :)