hi all, So sorry for the hiatus...again.
Summer is now coming to an end and I have so much to share about our summer. I last posted about our fantastic trip back to the US. Since then, we have been keeping very busy hosting visitors, traveling, returning to school and all the responsibilities that come with that, and trip planning.
Two days after we arrived home in July, we were visited by some friends from IL. The eldest daughter was completing a 2 week teen tour of Europe, ending in Switzerland. My friend and her younger daughter came to Zurich to pick up the older daughter, spend 2 nights with us, before they all headed to The Netherlands to visit with their former exchange student and his family. The weather had taken an uncharacteristic turn - it was very cold and rainy during their visit. This however worked out well for us. We all were recovering from jetlag hangovers, and really enjoyed the down time, with the opportunity to chat and laugh; there weren't many lulls in the conversation as we had so much to catch up on. The kids enjoyed hanging out together, too. We greatly enjoyed their company. On one of the days, we went into Zurich and visited the Swiss National Museum, basically Swiss History Museum. It was wonderful, like a micro Smithsonian, filled with artifacts from their interesting history, photo exhibits of the best news photos of the years, quintessential Swiss items (watches, cowbells, chocolate history etc), and period clothing. It was very enjoyable.
Also during this visit, my friend stayed with the kids for an evening, while Jason and I, along with 2 friends, went to the Bon Jovi concert. It was a great evening. The concert was held in an outside soccer stadium. The evening was perfect, the skies had cleared, the weather was mild, and the atmosphere so festive. Now that we are "north of 40" and remember our big concert days 20+ yrs ago when performers wouldn't begin until 9pm for a 7pm concert, we were concerned that the concert would end around midnight and be too tired to enjoy. So, we loaded up on our vitamins, and braced ourselves. We were pleasantly surprised when Bon Jovi started at 7:30 - I guess he too feels the effects of being in your 40s. We loved hearing all the familiar tunes and he put on a great show.
We were sad to see our friends leave, but knew we all had much to look forward to. A few days later we were blessed by a visit by my Bro in Law, Sis in Law & "the cousins." They visited us to kick-off to their 2 week Trafalgar Family Tour of Europe. We had a great time showing them around Zurich, eating fondue, showing them facets of our life in Switzerland (schools, Badis, riding the trains, ferry etc). They enjoyed seeing our little town and getting an idea of how the Swiss really live. They enjoyed the Wildepark and my SIL sooo enjoyed hearing the cowbells ringing. We showed them around the lovely little city of Zurich. It is always so hard to remember the history of the various landmarks, but I think we showed them the highlights, including a spot that had historical significance to my SILs father. We enjoyed a bit of time at the Zurich flea market, in Carl Weber toy store on the Bahnhofstrasse, visiting the Fraumunster and Grossmunster churches, and a playground. My SIL and I spent a bit of lovely girly time at the Flea Market and then had a good chat at one of my fav places, Schober Cafe (fav shabby chic - where Marie Antoinette would eat if she came to Zurich.) My nephews were eager to see a true European castle, so we visited Kybourg Castle, and then took a boat ride to Richterswil, a lovely castle town at the southern side of Lake Zurich. The Brothers made some deposits at the Swiss Casino, which always seems like such a promising prospect before they go, and a bit of a bummer upon exit. One day we ventured to Flumserberg Mountain (where we had skiied in winter) to zoom down the mountain on the cool tobaggan rides. We enjoyed sharing our Swiss life with them as I think it is impossible to understand the beauty, challenges, fun, and wonder of living in Switzerland without witnessing it firsthand. It was a very full and fun visit and, as sad as we were to see them leave, we all had so much more to look forward to in the coming weeks.
Two days after the family left, we were visited by dear friends from IL. They had already traveled in Europe a bit before, so were familiar with European travel. They had a fantastic itinerary set. My family was in a bit of flux during their visit. My son was leaving for Scout Camp in Germany during their visit and my hubby was driving him to camp leaving me & my daughter car-less for a few days. Our friends were following Rick Steve's Switzerland suggestions and did some day trips from our house, and stayed with us in the evenings. They visited Luzern (where we met up with them), Zurich, and Pilatus Mtn. These friends are amazing, effective, and efficient travelers and my daughter and I joined them for a day trip. On Sunday, we visited Bern where we toured Switzerland's capitol city, swam in the frrrrreeezing Aare River (unforgetable wonderful experience), visited an ancient walled city of Murten (walked the ramparts of the old walls - amazing) and ate a lovely dinner and dessert in a cavernous uber-cool restaurant, then enjoyed sunset gazing at Roman ruins in Avanches. We left at 9am and returned at 11:30 pm. The next day, they left for a 2 night visit to the Jungfrau region.
With my car and younger son back from the drop off at Scout Camp in Germany, two days without plans, I decided it was time for an adventure. I had been looking for a reason to conquer my fear of driving on the German Autobahn, and had wanted to take my Lego loving son and rollercoaster loving daughter to Legoland. I did some quick research, made some reservations, and packed up the kids and set off with them to Legoland Amusement Park in Germany, about 3 hours away. My GPS took me on a wierd route - it required me to take a ferry across Lake Konstanz into Germany - which gave me a bit of a worry, but I had faith in the GPS, rolled with it, and as usual, it all worked out. The kids and I had a wonderful time. The weather was extremely hot, and there were tons of bees, but it didn't deter us from having fun. The rides were quite similar to Legoland California. Our favorite of course, was the pirate wars water ride where you suirt tons of water at other riders. It was great fun. We also loved the miniworld. In Calif, the miniland is based primarily on lego structures of American landmarks - the Brooklyn Bridge, NYC, Mount Rushmore, Washington DC. Here, in Germany, the miniworld structures all depicted various European cities. It was amazing to see Venice recreated in legos, German cities, Switzerland, England....it was incredibly lovely.
We stayed overnight in a quaint traditional guesthouse closeby. We ate a scrumptious breakfast there. During the meal, I reflected on the moment and was filled with gratitude for such a great life, and great kids. We so enjoyed every minute of this summer....and of our time in Europe.
I was also feeling quite proud of myself, having tackled this German adventure single-handedly. When I first moved to Switzerland, it seemed that every single day, I would have to go outside of my comfort zone and accomplish something that seemed a bit intimidating or overwhelming. Once we got settled, things started happening more smoothly, errands and adventures became more routing, and things hadn't been so overwhelming. It had been awhile since I had really tacked something new. Driving in Germany had been something on my TO DREAD list. I was feeling quite empowered and eager to conquer this fear....and had done it.
So, what had intimidated me so much? Driving on the Autobahn....where there is no speed limit. My hubby had driven up to the Scout Camp in Germany and returned home Monday telling me about the crazy autobahn and how he had driven 110MPH ....yes, my responsible, safe, completely sane, cautious hubby had driven 110mph with our boys in the car. He claimed he HAD to go that fast to keep up in the slow lane. People were passing him very fast....likely 150 mph. Well, knowing he did it, and getting an idea of what to expect, helped me. I knew I could do it....and the car as well. Well, in the slow lane, I drove quite comfortably at 90 mph, with 95 mph being my fastest....likely the slowest driver on the road, but I was comfortable. I was very happy to have done it safely....and it wasn't so bad....it was sort of crazy fun.
On the way home from Legoland, we planned to spend the day at Neuschwanstein Castle. We had planned to come previously with the cousins, but when we realized how far away it was, it didn't make sense to drive 6 hrs roundtrip in a day. However, it was a great stop on the way home from Legoland since it was 90 minutes away and it was, sort of, on the way home.
Neuschwanstein Castle is a magnificant work of art commissioned by King Ludwig II in the late 1800s. King Ludwig was an extravagant spender. He loved the arts and beauty and luxury and spent the country's money supporting such pursuits quite generously. However, his German subjects did not quite appreciate the lavish expenditures as he did. The castle was only partially completed when he was found to be "insane," removed from the throne, and died shortly thereafter by drowning. The Castle became Walt Disney's inspiration for the DisneyWorld/Land Castles. It has 16 completed rooms, and they are all opulent and gorgeous.
I was very glad that we had gotten to visit the Castle. When we arrived at the castle town, there was a massive line to get tickets to tour the castle. I was glad we had made the reservation on line and avoid the wait. The Castle sits on a very high steep peak. We had 60 mins to get up to the Castle, which we thought was plenty of time. We decided to make a quick pitstop which turned out to be not so quick, leaving us only 30 mins to get up to the Castle. Then we realized how far away it was! Yikes - no joke - see the pic. The line for transportation was a 30 min wait. The kids and I decided to walk up the hill (35 min walk) so we decided to hustle and jog up the hill. My daughter was in a panic - she almost hyperventillated. I reassured her to take her time, not to worry. But, worry she did, " what if we miss the tour? What if they won't let us in?" I assured her it would be no problem, we could always come back another time. The poor little things ran up the mountain in 15 mins - people were amazed and made comments to us since it was a very steep hike. My kids are amazing! Look at the picture of K&T giving the thumbs up - you can see the castle on the peak in the right of center - we literally jogged up the hiking path in 15 mins! Sometimes my kids probably wish they had a different mother.....
As soon as we arrived at the car, the rains started. It poured buckets. Our trip home was delayed due to weather and it made me think of my poor sweet son at Scout Camp enduring this weather in just tents. : (
When we finally arrived home, our friends had returned from Jungfrau and Zurich and we enjoyed our last evening together. They are very dear and special friends and we were so happy to have them visit and share our European life with them.
When they left, the kids and I enjoyed a bit of normal Zurich life. We went to the Badi one day to meet up with friends and swim in the gorgeous lake. Then, on Saturday, we drove to Germany again with J and did some shopping where it is less expensive. It proved to be a fruitful adventure. We stocked up on some awesome beef - filet mignon turned out to be delicious. After spending the morning shopping, we went to a Swiss town, Stein am Rhein for lunch and exploration. This is Switzerland's best preserved Midieval town, famous for the beautiful frescoes painted on the buildings. It is gorgeous and quintessential Swiss. Oh...how I love living in Europe!
Then, my older son returned from camp that evening. He had a wonderful and productive time. We had a few more carefree days and before school started. We made the most of reconnecting with the ex-pat friends, hosting bbqs, and enjoying the amazing Lake Zurich resort-life. Its been a wonderful summer. Hope yours was great too! Drop me a note, I'd love to hear about it. xo
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