Sunday, 12 September 2010

Schellenberg, Lichtenstein

Danny made French toast - Magdalena says he makes the best French toast. "He can make French toast for me any day!"
This is one of my favorite pictures - check out the reflection in the lake! So beautiful!
Just a beautiful little cottage we passed on the way to Lichtenstein.
I can't believe we sped right past this place! :o/
If you look closely, you can see sailboats on the lake. We never saw any motorboats or water skiing on any of the lakes in Switzerland!
Another church on a hill. Such a beautiful sight!
Cows. Switzerland is mountains, lakes, tunnels and cows!
Magdalena and Dalena...in Schellenberg, Lichtenstein
Dad waits across the street in handicapped parking.
Look at that skyline!!!
More sailboats
We passed lots of lakeside villages.
Just outside the city of Schellenberg, we drove through a beautiful forest to the ruins of the Schellenberg Castle.
We past that ghostly looking church again - only the day was a little sunnier so it didn't look so formidable.
Now, this drive is a little disconcerting!
Back at the chalet - sauerkraut and brats. So yummy! Thank you Magdalena!
And, to top it off, here's a classic: Lisa and Danny doing dishes together! Wow!

Saturday, 11 September 2010

Race to the Schilthorn

Danny went to the bäckerie early this morning. I think it's interesting how they wrap the loaves in tissue paper, twisted together at the ends. I think this is the day he brought back the Luzern bread - the best tasting bread I've ever eaten (except my dad's maple pecan).
We looked out the windows before breakfast to see the runners gathering just a couple of blocks away for the Jungfrau Marathon. We didn't realize it at the time, but this race would be a major roadblock for us in our travels this day!
Swiss bread! :o)
When we left the chalet and headed to ride the Schilthorn, we were "lucky" enough to get right behind the thousands of runners that were in the race. They were going the same direction we were going! We were pretty much the "chase car" of the marathon for a while! As we drove past all the people who had gathered to watch the marathoners everyone cheered and waved at us. Bands serenaded us!
They handed us cups of water at the refreshment stations!
They cheered us on with noise makers!
At last, we were able to cut away from the runners and we were on our way to Jungfrau - but alas! We got behind them again just before we got into the village! Officials came down the road telling everyone that it would be a 30-40 minute wait!
Lisa took the opportunity to take a few pictures.
I got some too, like this one of a beautiful little garden in the backyard of a home by the river.
I thought the rocky crags on the side of were very interesting! Almost like a piece of gnarly, petrified wood.
This is the city where we took the Schilthorn to the tops of the mountains. If anyone remembers the name, please let me know. ;o)
There were waterfalls everywhere!
Here's a beautiful one!
Here's a picture of the Schilthorn, which took our group to the tops of the Alps!
They headed to the top of this mountain peak, and when they reached it, there were about 3 more gondolas that took them higher each time!
Here's a photo taken at the very top! I think it was the top of the world!
As I waited for everyone to come back down to earth, I spied this CTR symbol hanging from a car in the parking lot! (If you look closely, you'll see that it says, "CTB." haha
I found it very interesting that there were vineyards and orchards on the highest peaks of the mountains!
On the way back to the chalet, we passed a cow herder, leading his cows through the middle of the city.
Die Schule auf Bönigen
That night, we had spaghetti, with Magdalena's wonderful home made sauce!

After dinner, Lisa and Dalena picked at the left over spaghetti noodles. Magdalena was watching them. Back and forth, back and forth. Lisa said it looked like she was watching a tennis match!
The night ended with a game of Settlers for some, a movie for others, and Heidi für mich.

Back to Bern

Sharon and Gus arose early so they could get off to the airport on time. We had learned from past experience about delays on the Autobahn! It was sad to see them go, but they needed to get back to their family.
Off they went, in the White Rabbit! Gute fahrt!
After everyone else got up and ready, we drove into town. Jack parked the car at a gym and we split up and went walking. Lisa and Magdalena went with Danny and Dalena, and we took Dad. We walked down by the river and watched the trains and the people. The others went shopping - Magdalena was on the hunt for a sharp kitchen knife!
Magdalena said this was a fig tree. I can't see that these leaves would cover much!
Here are some pictures we took by the river. All the rivers in the area were this chalky, aqua blue. Dad got out of the wheelchair, to exercise his legs. We watched trains come and go from all directions. There were a couple of cogwheel trains that went up and down the mountain in front of us, and we caught a glimpse of them now and then through the trees.
We went into a COOP (I think it's pronounced Co-op) for some fruit and stuff for sandwiches. I liked the little dividers - for you and for me.
I really liked the way they do their produce over there. All the fruits and vegetables that have to be weighed have numbers. You bag your produce, then...
You put it on the scale, punch in the number and a price sticker comes out the slot on the bottom right. I love that concept! It seems so much simpler than the way we do it here! It's a lot quicker at the checkout! Another thing I liked at the check stands was that the checkers had chairs - comfortable chairs that bent and swiveled. Wish Stop and Shop had had those 42 years ago!
We met back at the parking lot and drove up to Bern. Lisa had her heart set on going to an RPM class at a gym there and Dalena wanted to go with her. Bern is only 30 or so minutes out of Bönigen, so we were all happy to go back. We dropped the two cyclers off near the gym and left the car just outside a big city park. Just inside the park, there was a phone booth. I thought it was interesting that there was a computer there, as well as a telephone. We noticed the same thing in several other locations.
This had to be the coolest park ever! The first thing we saw was about half a dozen ping pong tables! You don't see that in parks over there!
Then there were a couple of Foosball tables. Cool!
There was a large sandbox area, with stuff for kids of all ages.
Spring riding toys for little kids!
Sunbathing platforms! This one was empty, but there were a couple of others that were filled with people! I really didn't want to go take pictures at the others - it would be an invasion of privacy - as if they cared about privacy! There were a lot of pretty naked bodies in that park!
Lockers for the swimmers and sun bathers
Three adult pools and a splash pad for the kiddies - see what I mean about naked bodies? And it wasn't just the babies! I walked over to one of the adult pools just in time to see a woman putting her bikini top back on. Jack waled over to another pool to take a picture and he talked to a woman who worked in the park. She told him that all the activities in the park, including the three pools, are FREE! Wow! It was one of the nicest and most fun parks I've ever seen!
Just outside the park was recycle central! Recycle bins for just about everything you could imagine!
Jack got a picture of Lisa and Dalena after their cycling class. A guy there offered them a free smoothie (a healthy smoothie) because the RPM class was pretty pricey for non-gym members.
A pic of the girls outside of City Fit
Back at the chalet, those who went shopping earlier in the day showed off their purchases. Magdalena was happy with her sharp knife, a grater and a noodle maker. She put the first too to good use while we were there!
I think we had pork stew, green/vegetable salad and fresh bread for dinner! Oh yum! It was delicious! I got the recipe for the stew and have made it twice since we've been home. In fact, Jack is eating it as I blog! :o)