Trummelbach Falls

      Sunday, my back was killing me so Keith took the kids on a little adventure after church.  They went to Trummelbach Falls which is near Luaterbrunnen.
      The Trummelbach Falls in Switzerland are a series of ten glacier-waterfalls inside the mountain made accessible by tunnel-lift and illumination.
     They said it was beautiful and had a great time.  ( I was sad to have missed it but I was glad to have a little time to myself and to rest my back.)

Chocolate and Cheese

    I was a little worried about Kelly going to girls camp, but she had a great time and even stayed at a friends house before she came home. Josh and I took a train Thursday out to the country to pick up Kelly after she had spent the night at Renate's house with her daughter Lara and their neighbor Noel Buri.  Kelly had a wonderful time at girls camp and staying over with her new friends.  They hiked, took a boat out to an island where they stayed in a cabin, went to a monastery, saw Rousseau's hideout, and made some darling new friends.  That afternoon we went back to the immigration office for Kelly's photo and fingerprints.  In the evening we went downtown and got caught in a torrential downpour.
     Friday we rode bikes to the pool, sat by the river, swam, and played ping pong.  I can't even describe how beautiful that ride is, or how beautiful the river is.  Josh and I were glad to have Kelly back.
      We will not have to live on the streets come August 3rd. The company has found us a furnished apartment for August and September.  We haven't seen the inside, but the outside looks great.

Losing a flip-flop in the Aare.

Playing ping-pong, the Aare is in the background.

    Friday night we met Keith downtown and then headed out to IKEA.  We tried to finalize our furniture decisions so we will be ready to order our stuff when the time comes.  We also found out that they will do a next day delivery and they will carry everything up the five flights of stairs.  That is a huge relief, but now Keith will have to put it all together.  Help!

    Saturday we met our friends Mike and Uma and took a train, then a bus, then a train, to get to the Callier Chocolate factory.  The kids thought they were in a Willy Wonka sequel.  We took a tour  where we walked from room to room as they told us about chocolate through the ages.  At the end we watched the chocolate being made and wrapped by a robot... and then my life long dream came true!  We moved into a room that was filled with thirty different kinds of chocolate and we could eat as much as we wanted.  No one was standing there counting how many pieces you stuffed in your mouth, no one was judging you for filling up your backpack with the trays of chocolate -- it was a complete free-for-all and I loved every minute of it.

The town of Bulle where we caught the second train.

This is the dream room where there are trays of chocolate.  Heaven!

  
    After getting sick on chocolate, we took a train to the Gruyere Castle.  It was an incredible castle on a hill in the town of Gruyere.  After the tour we had sandwiches and ice cream for dinner and just sat on benches overlooking the town.

The Gruyere Castle from the train.

Two local swiss kids in traditional costumes.

The cheese vault at La Maison du Gruyere, a
cheese factory which we did not end up touring.

In the town of Gruyere with Mike and Uma.

Performance art

Switzerland is too beautiful for words.

This is a  bar right outside the Giger Museum.
Giger was the artistic director for the Alien movies.

A street scene from the town of Gruyere.

The cutest house.

Invaders breeching the ramparts.

My Brave Little Camper

     After church Sunday we went on a four hour bike ride with our neighbors Carmen and Uli.  They showed us where a wonderful pool is called the Muribat, we rode around the airport in Bern, and then rode back through a beautiful area with amazing homes called Muri.  It made me realize that our bikes will open up a whole new part of Bern that we can't easily get to by train.  When we got home Kelly told me that she had decided she wanted to go to girls camp, which began the next morning.  I was shocked that she would want to spend three days and two nights with 12 girls she didn't  know and that don't speak much English.  She is braver than I ever was.(or maybe so sick of Josh and me that she would do anything to get away from us)  Either way, I was thrilled.  We got her packed and woke up early the next morning to buy some things and get her to the train station by 9:00.  My friend  Renate picked her up and off they went.  I sure hope she has fun.

On the way to girls camp.

     Today, Josh and I went on a long bike ride.  First we headed through the forest, along the river, then up the hill to say hi to my friend Monique in Wabern.  Then we headed over the bridge, past the zoo, through the cornfields,  and  to the Muribat Pool.  It is a beautiful pool right next to the Aare River.  It was too cold for me,  but Josh had fun jumping off the high dive and going down the slide. We had lunch next to the river.

Over the bridge

Past the pelicans,

Past the animal with big horns,

past the wild hogs,

through the cornfields,