A WEEKEND IN SWITZERLAND

I arrived in Switzerland safely after an 11 hour plane flight, and then, after a 2 1/2 hour train ride, Mike met me at the train station in Kandersteg. After a good nights sleep, we woke up Satruday morning and decided to spend the day in Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn. From Kandersteg, you have to put your car on a train which takes you through a tunnel to the other side of the mountain and drops you off in the village of Goppenstein. Then we drove to the town of Tasch, left the car, and boarded a "people" train for the short ride to the carless city of Zermatt. It was a beautiful, clear, COLD day!

Here we are at the foot of the Matterhorn, in the village of Zermatt:

We rode the cable cars about halfway up to the station called Trockner Steg, which is the ski stop for those interested in skiing the area surrounding the Matterhorn. It was about -10 at that altitude. We had lunch at a restaurant there, and stopped for an obligatory pose at a spot with a more unconventional side view of the mountain:Mike has been practicing with creating picture panoramas, and we thought you would enjoy his Matterhorn pano. It shows how the Matterhorn kind of "sticks" out of the surrounding area with it's distinctive shape:
On Sunday, we drove to the Lauterbrunnen Valley, which is a beautiful section of the Bernese Oberland. We were surprised to find Lauterbrunnen Falls almost completely frozen, with just a small spray coming over the side of the cliff -- and it was freezing on the way down. It was a very interesting sight. From there, we drove around Lake Brienz, and stopped for some pictures at Brienz, which is one of my favorite little villages. It is famous for wood carvings and music boxes. Yes, I am spoiled. I have a wood carving and a music box from Brienz, compliments of the per diem Mike gets paid by Raytheon! We went through the town of Interlaken, which connects Lake Brienz and Lake Thun. We stopped and had a quick lunch at McDonalds (hey...it was quick, and we were running out of daylight!) that cost us a little more than $20 for two burger/fries combos. Even at that, it is cheaper than most Swiss retaurants -- albeit not nearly as tasty! We drove around the shoreline of Lake Thun, and enjoyed views of Thun Castle on it's shores. See the swan in the water? It was a really nice day!

SNOW IN KANDERSTEG

I am leaving day after tomorrow for a 11 day vacation in Switzerland! I have been anxiously awaiting this day since Mike left in October, and have piles of warm clothes ready to be tucked away in my suitcase. I was pretty sure we would have snow while I am there...and sure enough, Mike woke up today to a winter wonderland:

BRRRRRrrrrr!!!!! I am glad I went and bought some new boots to keep my tootsies warm. I am leaving the house in capable hands. It has been nice to have built in housesitters -- Lisa and Charles take good care of things for me. I will post pictures while I am gone!

HALLOWEEN AND MIKE'S HIKE

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! Faith dressed as Jasmine, and Jake dressed as her tiger friend. Brody was the lion from Wizard of Oz, and new brother Rhys was the scarecrow! They were all so cute! Poor Jack had a fever and could not go trick-or treating, but the other kids had a good time. They were a little leary at first, but after the people gave them a piece of candy -- it was all good. Faith went to the Harvest Festival at church, and she had a good time playing games and gathering candy. The next morning Lisa couldn't understand why Faith wouldn't eat her breakfast, till she noticed the candy bag had been taken. She found Faith in her bedroom with candy wrappers all around! When she saw her mother standing there, she said, "Yummy candy, mommy". Oh well, it only comes once a year!

Mike is enjoying Switzerland. The weather has been really good, so he has taken a lot of hikes after work. This is a photo of a lake that is within hiking distance of his house. It's name is Oesheninsee, and it has the most beautiful blue water! I am kind of surprised there isn't any snow on the ground -- but I am sure there will be in a few weeks. Until then, the weather has been great. He went to Gstaad (famous ski resort) on Saturday, but he said it wasn't all that exciting. I thought maybe he'd see a famous celebrity or something! Seems like I am always reading in the checkstand gossip rags that Tom Cruise, Britney Spears or some member of the royal family is in Gstaad. I guess it's just like being in Hollywood -- everyone always thinks you should be seeing movie stars on every corner. He probably wouldn't recognize anyone even if they were there, I know I wouldn't