Prague

Sunday we rested and took the train to Prague.  The ride through the Czech Republic was beautiful.  Not as beautiful as Switzerland, but many of the farm houses were so rustic and interesting.  We had met a Czech on the train and he helped us find the right metro stops to get to our hotel.  As we came out of the metro and saw part of the city I was amazed at the site.  This is what I saw.

It is incredible.  We dropped our suitcases off at our hotel and then spent hours walking around.  We found a TGI Fridays and since I am always missing American food we had dinner, Keith did not approve.

Vienna

Keith and I spent Friday and Saturday in Vienna.  It rained a bit but we had a wonderful time.   We went to a bunch of museums, saw a bunch of palaces and cathedral's,
and loved this amazing city.

Schönbrunn Palace

Gardens of Schönbrunn

Austrian Parliament Building

Bethoven's Apartment in Molker Bastei

Part of the Hofburg Palace complex

Vienna Rathaus (city administration building)

Natural History Museum

Burgtheater

Vienna Film Festival - Rathaus

Back side of Rathaus

Votivkirche

Votivkirche

Belvedere Palace with Klimt collection 

Karls Kirche, Karlsplatz 

Vienna Opera House

Hundertwasserhaus

Hundertwasserhaus (apartment building) 

Saint Stephen's Cathedral, center of old Vienna

 St.Stephen's Cathedral

Hofburg

Viennese Sachertorte - This is a famous Austrian dessert, but it looks better than it tastes.

Coolest Thing Ever

Keith and I took a train to Zurich Thursday night and then boarded our sleeper car around 10:30pm.  I'm not sure why I thought it was so awesome, but I really felt it was the coolest thing I have ever done.  Of course the room was tiny but they greeted us with water, cookies and even individual bottles of wine. (kind of wasted on us.)  The room had a bathroom with a shower, a table and two chairs, and even air conditioning.  They brought us breakfast in the morning of hot chocolate, yogurt, breads, cheeses, meats.  Keith slept like a baby and I barely slept.  There was so much movement.  But still, go to sleep in Zurich, wake up in Vienna. Coolest thing ever.

So Much to Look Forward to -

When we have regular weeks like this past one there is not much to highlight on my blog and I don't often take pictures of the day to day stuff.  But I wish I did.  Yesterday as I was driving with my friend Lori over one of the beautiful bridges in Bern the view of the Alps literally took my breath away.  The skies were so blue and with the Aare so turquoise and then the snow capped mountains - I wished I had my camera and could share what I saw.

I also wish I had brought my camera Saturday night when we went to dinner at my friend Monique's house.  She had a beautiful table set outside with sunflowers and an array of goodies.  They had constructed an awning to protect us from the predicted rain.  We had the most amazing meal with five different kinds of meats, wonderful salads and breads, and incredible desserts.  Unfortunately the rains did come and even though we were protected for awhile, a huge gust of wind tumbled it all down and we had to run inside for cover.  It was a wonderful evening, thanks to Monique and Hans.

Another highlight of the week was that Keith gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting and he gave it in German.  How amazing is that, and it was amazing.

So even though the last week was a little slow, this is what I am looking forward to and I will definitely bring my camera for it all:

-Keith and I leave Thursday night, take a private sleeper car to Vienna.  Spend two days in Vienna, then take a train to Prague where we have three more days.

-Mike and Becky Richards come and we look forward to spending some time with them.

-Keith's parents come and stay with us for two weeks.  The kids and Keith will have one of the two weeks off to travel nonstop.  We can not wait! They leave Friday September 28th.

-Keith and Josh have a Father/Son camp out Friday night.

-Carolee and Doug Romney come to stay at our place.  We will only have 24 hours with them, but Kelly and I are extra excited to see Carolee.  They come Saturday.

-We leave Sunday to spend two weeks in England and Scotland.

-During the time we are gone Susan and Brad Andrews are coming to share our flat with the Romney's.  Unfortunately our paths won't cross with the Andrews.

Stresa, Italy

Wednesday Andrea and Ken Wilkinson came to Bern and it was so nice to see them.  We walked around Bern a little and then headed back to our house for our traditional raqulette dinner.  After dinner we took the funicular up to the Gurten, visited and walked around there for awhile.  They headed back to Zurich that evening but it was great fun to see them.

Friday Keith was ready for an adventure.  The kids and I have been going non stop but poor Keith felt like his summer was too short.  We found a great place to stay right on the shore of Lake Maggiore.  It had an amazing pool right on the lake and because it was in Italy, the food was fairly cheap and delicious.

What is it about Josh and gelatto - Look at his face, SERIOUSLY!

The Ellis's

We had one day to regroup from our trip to the states and then Thursday morning we met the Ellis's at the train station bright and early.  Leslee, John, and Sarah came to visit for a few days on their way to France.  It was so great to see them!  We dropped their stuff of at our house and then headed to Zermatt.  It was a beautiful day and you could see the Matterhorn perfectly.  We took the Gornergrat up to the highest point where the views were spectacular.  We walked around the cute town of Zermatt, had ice cream, went to the museum, and then headed home.

Friday was a really fun day.  We took the train to Grindlewald and then took the gondola up to First.  We planned on taking the zip line down but the line was too long so we took the tram down to the half way point.  From there we rented scooters and rode them down this beautiful path into town.  I was so glad the zip line didn't work out because I think the scooters were much more fun.                       

From Grindlewald we went to Lauterbrunnen and then Trummelbach Falls.

 Saturday the Ellis's headed off to the Chocolate Factory and Gruyere,

 I headed off to bed.  When they got home they all rode their bikes down to the Aare River and went swimming.

 Sunday we all went to church together, had a great dinner, then spent the afternoon seeing Bern and the Temple.

Monday the kids had their first day of school.  They were so sad to see the Ellis's go, yet they were happy to go to school and they each had a great day.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Emily and Meg traveled around the last week while Kelly and Josh finished their last week of school.  They had a "I survived a year in a new school,  in a new country, speaking a different language"  party Friday night and spent Saturday hiking in Gimmelwald.

Monday, July 9 we all flew to Atlanta together.  Meg and Emily headed to Salt Lake from there and we went to Los Angeles. In spite of the horrible tooth pain on the plane, the many dentist appointments, the two root canals, the new bridge, and the obscene amount of money spent on all that, we had a nice trip.

We went to the beach with Mel and Hunter.

 We went to our cabin in Sedona.  James and Ryan caught a fish.

 We hiked and swam in the creek.

Thanks to Ty, we watched movies outside at Jen and Ty's beautiful new home in Flagstaff.  We hung out with the kids and held Hadley every chance we got.

Lastly, we spent time in Phoenix with my family where my family takes such good care of me.

On my own

Hi, it's Keith writing. 

Dru, Kelly, and Josh abandoned me and went to the U.S.

So Saturday, I went for a walk. 

Kandersteg village, pop. 966

Oeschinensee, (180 degrees panorama)

Northwest side of Blümlisalp

Lots of waterfalls...

OeschinenseeView from the East End

why the cheese is good

Cousins are the Best!

It has been a fun week with my sisters four kids.  Sunday was church, it rained all day, some went to the temple, some took walks, all got very wet.  Monday and Tuesday the Garfields did a lot of hiking in the Berner Oberland area.  Both nights were spent watching the European Soccer Tournament.  Wednesday Jake and Gail flew home and Emily, Meg, Kelly, Josh and I went to the chocolate factory.  Not surprisingly, going to a place that gives you all the chocolate you can stuff in your mouth is always fun.  Afterward, we went to the awesome hill top town of Gruyere.  Kelly and Josh have so much fun with their cousins.  They said the best part of the whole day was playing charades on the trains.  Don't mind us as we stand in the isle of the train acting out American movies and I'm sure yelling out our guesses much louder than we should.

Josh and Jake - Go Spain

Kelly and Josh's last day of school was today.  It is amazing to me what they have endured this past year.  It has been really fun, really exciting, and really, really, difficult.  I think this next year will be much easier and we are all looking forward to it.  Kelly, Josh, and I leave Monday morning for Los Angeles.  We are going to miss Keith and even though he is happy to stay in the beautiful mid seventy degree weather instead of the blazing heat of California and Arizona, he is sad we are leaving.  We will spend a week with Ryan and his family, a week at our cabin in Sedona with Ryan and Jenny and their families, then Kelly will go to Salt Lake and Josh and I will spend a week with Jenny in Flagstaff.  Then I will have a glorious week in Phoenix without children and then we will all spend a few days together before we fly out of Phoenix.  I am so excited to meet Hunter and Hadley and see Jen's boys.  It will be very interesting to see if a month in the states will make us more homesick when we come back to Switzerland, or more appreciative of this great opportunity.