switzerland

we left florence on air berlin, where we had one of the grouchiest flight attendants ever which was only redeemed by getting full-sized candy bars on the flight, and landed in dusseldorf. the highlight/most awkward moment of the dusseldorf airport was the fact that no one could figure out this weird automatic door on the baby changing/handicapped bathroom which was directly across from where we were sitting at the gate. this resulted in a guy accidentally opening the door on an older gentleman who was sitting on the toiled, which wouldn't have been so bad except that since the door was automatic, it stayed open for about a minute and then VERY slowly closed while the man on the toiled yelled in german at the guy who opened the door. but there was nothing to be done...except try not to laugh/stare/allow our kids to stare. and make sure we locked the door when we later used that bathroom!

this was the first thing that caused the flight attendant to yell at us...apparently letting them play together in the same seat while everyone boarded is not allowed??

the kids had mastered the art of sleeping on the plane at this point

after the awkward layover, we flew from dusseldorf to zurich. in zurich we rented a car to drive to lucerne, where we stayed for the night. driving in switzerland took some getting used to - there were several times that we drove the same loop 3 or 4 times before figuring out how to turn where we wanted to turn. but it was a beautiful drive so we didn't mind too much!

by the time we finally made it to lucerne, it was pretty late. we hadn't eaten dinner, we were tired, and we only had a very small amount of cash on us. we (thankfully) got the last parking spot at the hotel and then walked around trying to find an atm and a place to eat that was still open. not my favorite memory of switzerland. we finally got cash and picked up doner kebabs at the only place that was still open. they were actually pretty good!

the next morning, we ate another incredible european breakfast where the highlight was mini-yogurt cups with fruit and made-to-order scrambled eggs. i think the kids probably each ate half a dozen of those yogurt cups!

the landmark of lucerne is the chapel bridge, built in the 14th century

there were swans all over the reuss river which flows through the middle of the city

on the steps of the chapel bridge

the paintings, which depict swiss history and patron saints, were added in the 17th century

we also visited the lion of lucerne, which quinn thought was the lion of sodor (and we may not have told him otherwise...)

after seeing the sights in lucerne, we found the highway and started our drive across switzerland toward france

we made it to interlaken and drove around until we found this icy blue river. john says he remembers standing on this bridge when he was a kid and being in awe of the beauty of switzerland. it was fun to find it and all experience its beauty!

from interlaken, we drove up the mountain to lauterbrunnen to eat lunch and catch a cable car to go further up the mountain. we enjoyed a really delicious lunch with some authentic swiss fondue!

unfortunately it was a cool, cloudy, misty day while we were in switzerland. but we still enjoyed the amazing beauty of the alps via cable car.this was the view looking up the mountain.

here we go!

looking down at lauterbrunnen

when we got to the top, we then took a train across the mountain to the town of murren, which is a town that's only accessible by cable car or train. there are no cars in the town!

excited to be on another train!

don't those look like happy cows? and they really do have big cowbells around their necks!

trying to get a pic in front of our train... they weren't interested

thankfully we had umbrellas, but we weren't prepared for it to be 38 degrees up there!

 we walked through the town of murren, which was a cute little swiss town literally on the side of the mountain. it was so beautiful!

5374 ft above sea level

finally, we were cold and wet and it was time to head back down the mountain. going down was a little scarier than going up!

i'm pretty sure i'm not brave enough to walk across that bridge...

then the cable car turned and we went straight down!

after returning to lauterbrunnen and getting the car, we stopped for fresh-from-the-alps water for our water bottles and some swiss chocolate for the road.

and we were off to besancon, france!

the kids got a nap in the car, which was good...until we arrived at the hotel in france at 10pm and they were rested and ready to play. but we'll save that for the next post:)

what a beautiful adventure we had in switzerland! the majesty and creativity of God's creation is really just breathtaking.