Switzerland!

I was able to see quite a bit of this beautiful country!
Need to return for more of the Swiss alps (Zermatt area).

View of Lake Zurich.

This summer, I finally made it to Switzerland! For years, my mom and I have promised our former foreign exchange students we would come visit them. In June, I met my mom in Zurich (she was "on the way" home from a vacation to South Africa) where we were greeted by Silvia, one of our former students and friends. We went up to the top of a hill in Zurich, overlooking the lake and city. Turned out this was just the beginning of our adventures with her - Silvia was an excellent tour guide, and she found some spectacular places to take us hiking and exploring. We also met her sweet boyfriend Iwan, who loved telling us the history behind a lot of the architecture and churches we drove by. They even cooked us a traditional Swiss meal called Raclette, which we devoured in their home in front of their HUGE aquarium. Toward the end of the trip, they took me to a hot springs, known for its healing power.

Rhinefall

Here we are with Silvia in Flims where we hiked to Caumasee, the "Caribbean of Switzerland."

One of the best parts of reconnecting with our students was where we got to stay - in Sins, Switzerland with our friend Lorena. We loved staying in a small village and getting a taste of local life. We went for nightly walks in the forest nearby, swam in the local river, and regularly visited animal friends at the neighborhood farms.

Forest near Lorena's home - great for hikes!

Cute baby cow! Just one of many animal friends.

Local river. One day I bought a raft and spent the day lazily floating down.

Traditional breakfast in Sins. My favorite were the "gipfeli" (croissants), yum!

One day, another sweet student (Marina) came to visit us in Sins.
We grabbed lunch (and dessert!) at our favorite cafe.

Lorena works as a peace officer and is very busy! Despite staying with her, we didn't see much of her during the day (she is in the middle of designing a house for herself a few miles down the road, and took her own mini travel trip to Oslo while we were there!) Fortunately though, she was able to take a day to take us to the Italian part of Switzerland. One the way we drove over a large, snowy pass. On one side of the pass, all the signs are in German, and as you pass they switch to Italian - I thought that was so neat! Such a small country, and yet there are four national languages and unique culture in each area you visit. Lorena, an avid traveler, can speak just about all of them, and was happy to teach us some words here and there.

Not dressed for snow! Driving over Gotthard pass to get to the Italian side.

We picked a beautiful day to go to Italy... I mean, Locarno, Switzerland!

While we loved spending time with our student friends, my Mom and I also spent some time exploring on our own. Lorena and Silvia helped us get a discount train pass for a couple days, and we made the most of it by traveling to the French side one day. We walked around the city of Montreux and spent quite a while touring Chillon Castle. Lot of history behind those ancient walls.

Lake Geneva in Montreux.

Inside Chillon Castle.

The next day we hit the train again and headed to Lauterbrunnen. This may have been my favorite day - the scenery was absolutely incredible. We took a train halfway up the mountain to see the snow-covered alps, then came back down to hike through the valley by foot. This area had so many unique, beautiful details - like the way the air smelled so fresh, and every time you walked by a river you'd get a cool breeze from the glacier-fed water. Our original plan was to spend the night in this area so we could make the most of it, but stormy weather warnings changed our plans. No complaints though, the rain added some beauty to our ride home!

Valley of 20+ waterfalls. Reminded me of Yosemite, but with much fewer people.

Nothing like seeing the alps and waterfalls in the same scene - absolutely stunning!

(How is this real?!?!)

Rainbow from the train to end the day.

As much as we love nature, we also balanced it out with some city exploration. We hit the highlights in Lucerne:

Kapellbrücke - the oldest wooden footbridge in Europe, filled with art depicting historic scenes.

Lion Monument commemorating Swiss Guards who were massacred during the French Revolution.

A very Swiss scene, don't you think?

Gorgeous wall art in the city center.

We also saw some beautiful art and architecture in the many abbeys and churches throughout the country:

Okay, this one is cheating - from Swiss Miniatur park!

The best kind of art - made of chocolate!

Some of the best views came from the many train rides through the countrysides. You can set your watch to the trains in Switzerland, so they are a very reliable source of transportation.

My last night in Switzerland was super fun! I spent the day wandering Zurich with Marina and her boyfriend Lukas. It was so great to catch up with them. We got some delicious lunch, soaked our feet in Lake Zurich, and then headed to Zug where we met up with Lorena for Zugfest - an annual festival. We listened to some music, ate some festival food, and then watched fireworks over Lake Zug. It was sad to say goodbye, but I am sure I will see them all again soon, considering we all love to travel!