Switzerland & France

  1. Trips
  2. 2011
  3. Switzerland & France

When:

June 2011
Switzerland2011_7613

Flashback: Switzerland 2011

Walk and I have been going back through old photos lately (and still planning our big adventure later this year for our 5th anniversary!), and found a whole area of Switzerland we visited in 2011 that we never posted here. It's a theme lately: old places in new posts! It's hard to believe this was us 4 years ago, not even at our first anniversary. To this day, Switzerland remains in the top 3 places I've been. The fresh air, the idyllic trains, and the spectacular alpine lakes. Sigh. We took tra…

Switzerland2011_7155

the day we saw an avalanche

We were walking through a pasture of wildflowers when we were frozen by a harsh, crashing, rumble. A huge sheet of snow and ice skidded off a mountain thousands of feet above us. Walker shouted to me, Al, get it! I was holding the tiny lens and yelled back, over the roar, Why don't you get it? (His lens was bigger.) He yelled back, I can't. I have the ultrawide! All this happened in about 2 seconds, and I lifted the camera and bam. Caughtcha! (It was finishing, but you can see the streak in the …

Switzerland2011_6953

Swiss bliss

First things: we are in America. Yesterday, we survived four flights and traveled for over 24 hours. With five checked bags and two heavy carry-ons, I think we qualify for some traveling record. I'd like to nominate us for Eyes-Most-Dry-From-Flying and Most-Bags-of-Delta-Pretzels-Eaten-in-One-Day. But, before it slides too deep into the past, I wanted to talk about Switzerland. I wrote this on Friday, June 17 (shame, Alie), but here it is now. Let me just say that when I stepped out of bed tod…

Graduation_8379

We are leaving

Life has been crammed with delights, and with goodbyes, of late. There's been no time to write about them. I don't even have time for a summary of Switzerland, Paris, graduation, and our last days in Scotland, let alone a proper post. And here we are today, our last day in St Andrews. We will take one last walk on the beach, and we will notice everything like it was new. In the past couple days, we have eaten sticky toffee pudding and fish 'n chips from the best spots. We have walked to the post…

Switzerland2011_6950

And the view from our hotel is . . . (Wengen)

gold. We opened our balcony door yesterday, and stepped out into a choir of cowbells and sweet mountain air. It's delicious here. Delicious, sunny, and cool. I want to bring it all home. Yesterday was a train day from Geneva into the mountain town of Wengen where our hotel is (howdy, 4 connections!), and about a quarter through our journey, a man with a thin moustache, red plaid shirt, suspenders, and felt hat with feathers walked by us on the train. I whispered Walk about four times in varying…

Geneva2011_1068

Bienvenue à Genève!

Heidi braids, red-checkered plaids, and yodeling were what I long imagined as Switzerland. Visions of my childhood reading come to life with a log-cabinesque structure and snow-capped mountains. Let me tell you---whatever you’d imagine as the complete opposite of a log cabin, that’s where we’re staying. Asian-inspired with the sweetest aromas floating in the air above our orchid, welcome to the world of supersonic elevators, leather headboards, and designer body milk. (In case you don't know, ho…