Seilpark, Interlaken

Katie and I planned to go to Interlaken to go to Seilpark, but our plans were foiled by the rain. I knew Mom would never want to go with me, but Dad was game, so we went this week. Seilpark is a ropes course or tree park. Basically there are rope courses up high in the trees, suspension bridges, zip lines etc. that get gradually harder and higher. Don't worry, you have a harness and a tied in at all times so even if you fall, you aren't going anywhere. Well, I think Dad wanted to kill me once we got on the zip line course. Once you start the course, there is no turning back, except of course the way you came in, so you pretty much have to keep going. While I thought the zip lines were the most fun, Dad did not enjoy the 20m in the air part. He was a good sport though, and did it anyway. It was fun! While I did get a little nervous once or twice, I thought it was nothing compared to rock climbing, which can be quite scary. In any case, part of the fun is the challenge of overcoming your nerves and accomplishing the route. I think Dad might disagree with me though.

Zermatt, The Matterhorn!

One thing I did not get to do last time I was in Switzerland was see the Matterhorn. Actually, I think the last time around we were so excited to be in Europe and everything was so new to everyone that we spent more time traveling other countries than we did exploring this one. I personally have enjoyed seeing parts of Switzerland I had not been to (and seeing a few more for the second or third time around). Well, I figure the Matterhorn is the most recognizable peak in Europe, perhaps in the world, and probably a big part of the image people conjure up in their minds when they think about the Swiss countryside, along with Heidi and cows and cheese and chocolate and all that. More on the chocolate later.
What can I say about the Matterhorn? It looks exactly like Disneyland, only bigger, higher, and no wire off the top for Tinkerbell to fly down after the fireworks are over. There are mountaineers, but they are not dressed up as Mickey or Goofy. Why is the Matterhorn so famous? (Besides the Disney connection anyway...) Well, it was one of the last great peaks of the Alps to be summited in 1865. Being just at the border with Italy, there was a bit of a race between the Swiss and Italians to summit. It was accomplished by the Swiss, in view of an Italian team close behind who promptly gave up and went home. However, four members of the party died on the descent when one fell and the rope broke. (They accidentally used the oldest rope). The story was of course sensationalized in the media of the time. Between then and now 500 people have died on the Mountain. So the little town of Zermatt has become famous, all for its location in the shadow of this peak.
Seeing the Matterhorn is a matter of luck for most tourists. Switzerland can be very hazy, and even here in Lausanne on a sunny day it might be difficult to see the Alps just across Lake Geneva. On a cloudy day you cannot see it at all. Many people travel to Zermatt and do not even get to see the mountain as it is hidden behind the clouds and haze. My first few weeks here were rainy and gray, and finally the weather has gotten hot and sunny. I found a daily webcam which shows the view of the Matterhorn each day. Almost every day this month the photo was nothing but clouds, then suddenly it was perfectly clear, so we checked the weather for the next day and decided now or never. It was a three hour drive through the mountains, mostly small backroads. There are no cars in Zermatt, you actually have to park at a nearby town and take a train in. No views on the train as it was basically through a tunnel. So we arrived in Zermatt, a town based entirely off of tourism which is based entirely off of one mountain. Still couldn't see it for the buildings. We had to walk a bit of a ways, but it paid off, the day was clear and the view was perfect. We ate lunch on the terrace of a cafe and enjoyed the view.
There are several gondolas you can take to get a closer view. By this point it was a bit late in the day so we did not get to the best viewing spots, but we did get to the closest one. The gondola took us up to about 8500 feet, where there was a mountain lake, a small church and hiking trails.
So we hiked around a bit, enjoyed the views with the others in the area before heading back down to Zermatt and enjoying some coffee and ice cream at the cafe again.
I would have liked to get to a higher elevation and really enjoyed the panoramic views of the Alps and the glacier, but I was not disappointed with our day. Of the other "Swiss" things to see, I have already seen the cheese factory, so we decided another day to head to Maison Cailler, the oldest operating chocolate factory in Switzerland. That was by far the dumbest, cheesiest tour I have ever seen (and we thought the cheese factory was bad). However, we did get to sample lots of chocolate, so maybe that made up for it (a little bit). Apparently there is also a Heidi village somewhere out in the mountain. Sounds like the worst tourist trap ever, but Mom really wants to go. We'll see... Tomorrow we leave for Bordeaux for a weekend of wine tasting!

AMSTERDAM

Well, I had a list of 5 destinations that were a must see for me while in Europe. I have now accomplished the second one and that is the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. The first was the Last Supper in Milano, which I wrote about in an earlier post last Sept.

Cat arrived for a 2 week visit on May 23rd. I decided it would be a good time for us to explore Amsterdam. The two of us took the hour and 20 min. flight by ourselves since Marc was still in the U.S. on business. He was able to join us the last two days of the trip.

In all of my travels, I have come to the conclusion that I like small or private tours for me to really experience and learn about a city, sites and history. Most of the tours are wonderful and worth every penny. Not the case in our first tour in Amsterdam. We started with an hour bus ride around the city...boring and not a good guide. Then on to a diamond making factory, which turned out to be a 45 min. sales pitch. We were then supposed to take a boat thru the canals and end at the Anne Frank house. I knew from reading, it is too small for tour groups, so I assumed we would learn along the way and end the tour there for our own viewing. Once I learned that we would rush thru the Anne Frank house first and end with the boat tour, I said to Cat, NO WAY. No one is going to rush me thru this site, THIS IS WHY I CAME!!! I informed the tour guide we would be leaving the tour at this point. She did give me a voucher to have my boat tour at a later date. (Which sucked by the way)

Before my trip I got prepared by reading The Diary of Anne Frank, so it was all very fresh in my mind. I had also listened to a story on NPR back in the states about the Chestnut tree outside of the attic window that Anne looked at and wrote about in her diary. This tree told her the changing seasons by it's leaves and blooms. Well the tree is dying and will only be alive for a few more years. Ten saplings will be planted in different spots across the U.S. in the next few years, one of those being the site of 911.(other sites that promote tolerence to all peoples) I was so touched as I gazed at the leaves from that tree out of the attic window where she spent most of her time alone or with her friend Peter writing in here diary. Needless to say, it was worth giving up the last part of the tour to spend as much time as I needed in the "hiding place" I was so touched that I purchased two more books at the book shop and read both of them. Once Marc arrived a few days later, we both returned to the hiding place so I could share it with Marc and really re-live it one more time before we left. It was defiinitely the high light of my trip!

Of course we could not pass up the Van Gogh museum. As a post Impressionist artist born in the Netherlands, Van Gough produced approximately 1,100 drawings and almost 900 paintings before killing himself in Auvers-sur-oise in France outside of Paris. The museum in Amsterdam contains 200 paintings, almost 500 drawings and over 800 letters written to his brother during his life time. His life as an artist only lasted 10 years.

The next day was also one of our favorite. We had a small group tour of the city with only 3 other people. Our tour guide was from Cork Ireland, so you can imagine the stories. It was three hours of history walking thru the old part of town covering everthing from the red light district to the "coffee shops" offering legal pot smoking and the Jewish district that became unthinkable slums during and after the war.s

By the time Marc arrived, so did the rain. But we saved the day by spending it in the Rijksmuseum museum containing a great collection of Dutch painting including of course Rembrandt and Vermeer. Rembrandt lived a rich life in Amsterdam, but died a pauper and is buried somewhere in the city in an unmarked grave. We viewed the grand house he lived in.

Bikes, bikes and more bikes. There seem to be no fat people in Amsterdam, even though their food is heavy, because EVERYONE rides bikes. As a tourist you must always be aware of not stepping in the bike lanes. There are people in suits, high heels and dresses and everything in between. Even the motor bikes ride in the bike lanes! They all have bells though, so they can ring, ring, ring when you step into their path!

All in all, a great trip, good food, fascinating architecture and really nice people and they all speak English!!!! Yea.

Therese

Around Switzerland

Everyone only seems to blog about traveling, but I find that the mundane activities from day to day can be just as interesting when they are different from your home country.

Every Saturday in Lausanne there is a huge outdoor market. Its size outdoes any market I have seen in the states, including Pike's in Seattle. It sprawls from the center of town down through the streets, offering a lot more variety than you can find in the local grocery store. Beyond just fruits and vegetables, you can find milk, cheese, meats, nuts, olives, flowers, and more. Sun, rain, or snow (it was raining this week), the Swiss are on the streets every Saturday morning. I was excited to get farm fresh milk, not ultra-pasteurized as most of the milk in the grocery store, and from cows that actually graze on pasture (and in the Alps no less) rather than living indoors fed corn as the great majority of unfortunate dairy cows in the US.

Mom has rescued a stray cat here. He lived in the park across the street and after many months she finally got him to trust her enough to follow her inside. Not sure how long he was out there, but I can't imagine he would have fared well through the winter. And now, the majority of the park has been torn out and there is currently construction going on all over the street, so I am glad he is safe indoors. The only misfortune is that the apartment is on the 3rd floor, so he has no yard to play in. There is a balcony, but apparently it is not uncommon for cats to jump off because they do not have the depth perception to realize how high up they are. Mom has arranged a net and plants over half of the balcony so that Jean (he is named for the park he used to live in) can enjoy being outside without having to worry about him. He enjoys his little play area, and he is a very loving cat. He is a big boy, and I'm sure he has gained weight living in the apartment, but he is fairly active and loves to play. When he comes back to the States I'm sure he will enjoy the backyard.

Switzerland is full of medieval towns, most of them well intact with city walls, towers, churches and (of course) old clocks. Today Mom and I decided to head to Murten, an old town on a lake of the same name. We had no idea but June 22 1476 is the date of a huge battle outside the walls of Murten, in which the Swiss united to attack the Burgundians and slaughtered an army of over 20,000 French, driving them out of Switzerland. This was the beginning of the Swiss Confederation which became modern day Switzerland. In fact, the city walls still have cannonballs embedded in them from this very battle. We came into the town having no idea there was a holiday, but soon realized something was going on. All the children were dressed in white, many shops were closed, and people seemed to be gathering for a parade. As we sat down to lunch our waiter informed us of the celebration, complaining that cannons begin firing at 5am so he was in a bad mood. So we got to see a parade, with apparently every child in town, bands, cannons and all. Mom and I seem to get lucky on accident- several times we have found ourselves in the middle of a festival having no idea what was going on.


The World Cup is on right now- and it is a much bigger deal over here than back home. I have actually never watched it before this year but I have gotten into the spirit. The Swiss are normally very reserved and quiet, there are rules about not doing laundry after a certain hour and laws about not making too much noise after 9 pm but that all goes out the window after a game. Horns are blowing on the street for hours, non stop. And I mean non stop. A game ends at ten and for two hours everyone is blowing horns, whether the Swiss played or not. I will say that when the Swiss lost the streets were fairly quiet after, but I have never heard so much noise here as when they beat Spain.
Speaking of Swiss Laws, there is a law that if you have only one cat, with no others, you must schedule a cat play date once a week with other cats so it can socialize. Haha.

Hopefully I will get to see some more Swiss cities I did not see the last time around. The weather has been cold and rainy, but hopefully it will be improving. If we get a nice clear day we will go to Zermatt (The Matterhorn). More updates soon. Mom claims she will post about her trip with Cat to Amsterdam one of these days....

Athens, Greece

Katie and I took a five day trip to Athens, which included a day trip to the island of Angistri to enjoy the quiet beaches. Being both History majors we were very excited to see the ancient ruins of the Acropolis and the other archaeological sites in Athens. We have both been to Rome and so had high expectations for the even older sites in Greece. We arrived in the afternoon and decided to get a good view of the city by hiking to the top of Lykavittos Hill. There is an old church and restaurant at the top, as well as an amphitheater for summer concerts. The hill proveded 360 degree views of the city, the Mediterranean Sea and of course Acropolis Rock, home of the Parthenon and several other temples. It was a great way to see the city. As you can see from the photo, Athens is dense and crowded. I hate to say it, but it is an ugly city. Aside from the ruins, there is no beautiful architecture and many buildings are abandoned and in severe disrepair. Although the city itself is quite safe and the people very friendly, overall I am sad to say it is the ugliest European city I have seen. In addition, unlike in Rome, the ruins are very poorly preserved. There were no crews of archaeologists working, the few workers we did see appeared to be unskilled workers moving marble fragments into various piles. Every site we saw there were countless stacks and stacks of fragments, just sitting in piles, exposed to the elements and with no apparent plans to protect or restore. It was very sad to see that these ruins are reduced to foundations and piles of fragments, unprotected from graffiti and seemingly abandoned in their various piles. Still, the Acropolis is definitely worth seeing. The Parthenon is still in fairly good shape, especially considering it was shelled while being used as a gunpowder storehouse. There were restoration projects going on at the Acropolis, and the scaffolding takes a bit of the charm away, but it seems at least there is some work being done to preserve these sites. Unfortunately archaeological and restoration projects are expensive, and given the state of the economy it is not totally surprising that things are not as well preserved as they could be, but it was a disappointment all the same.
The National Archaeological Museum was definitely a treat. My favorite exhibition was Greek sculpture. The museum has statues dating back as far as 7th century BC, and the early colossal statues that surrounded the temples look Egyptian in style, gradually moving toward more realistic and humanistic poses of the Classical period. Most statues remaining are marble but there are also impressive bronze sculptures. There was also a great deal of pottery and other more common everyday items. Knowing that Greek sculptures are in museums all over the world, and still seeing the amount that remain in Greece are a reminder of what an impressive civilization once flourished there.
We also took a short ferry ride to a nearby island to enjoy the beach. The weather was hot in Greece, although not as hot as Arizona, the beach was a welcome treat. The water was clean and turquoise and the beaches were not crowded at all. The island was very small and quiet,a true getaway so close to the bustle of Athens. I can see why the islands of Greece are a popular destination point, I could have spent more time there than we did in Athens. All in all, Greece was a little bit of a disappointment but perhaps only because my expectations were too high. I enjoyed seeing the ruins of Athens and the beaches on the island, and all of those made it worth it. Still, I have to say that the seeing the ruins in Rome was a more rewarding experience.

Parella and Lake Maggiore, Italy

Megan here again, which means that for the next 5 or six weeks there should be some regular updates. After I leave Maureen will be here, and Mom swears she will keep updating. We will be doing lots of traveling so there will be lots of photos.

My friend Katie and I arrived a few days ago. She got in before I did as we flew on separate airlines. Our trip overlapped with Cat, she left the day after I arrived. Katie landed in Geneva so Mom, Dad and Cat picked her up and then headed to Zurich to pick me up the following morning. We spent the first day in Zurich before heading back to Lausanne. At first I was a bit disappointed and worried as it was rainy and a little cold. I thought maybe I did not pack enough warm clothes. I expected some rain, but I didn't think it would be so chilly. Fortunately, it was sunny in Lausanne and has been warm (almost hot, but remember we are from Arizona so not really) ever since.



We saw some nice art in Zurich and had a nice day, but we were all very tired so it was nice to get back to Lausanne and relax. Not for long however. The next day we got up early and made the drive to Parella, Italy. I have made the trip once before, over a year ago when I was here the first time around. The drive winds through the Alps and over the Grand S. Bernard Pass. Last time it was covered in snow so we drove through a tunnel that is several miles long. This time around the weather was nice so we drove over the tunnel. The road winds back and forth and offers some spectacular views of the Alps. The weather was nice but at that high altitude there was still a lot of snow on the ground. Pictures cannot nearly do it justice. All I can say is that the Alps are amazing.

The tour de France follows this route frequently and names are still painted on the road from last year. Anyone who willingly races up (and down) a path like this has to be a little nuts. You can see how the road winds around. We passed some Swiss hikers and lots of people riding motorcycles.

As we came down the mountain it was quite warm and green. The drive itself made the trip worth it.

















We discovered Parella through friends of Dad who bought a house there before the Torino Olympics. They generously let their friends stay in the house, which is next door to his cousin Anna, who is generous enough to provide us visitors with home cooked Italian meals and a walk around the town. Every building is hundreds of years old, and it seems like everyone has a garden with grapes and cherry trees, onions, lettuce, and other vegetables. It feels a little like going back in time.

We walked around the town and enjoyed everyone's lovely gardens. Anna cooked us a five course meal for dinner which we enjoyed on their patio until it was after dark. The sun doesn't set until about 10 pm in the summer, a refreshing change from the dark winter months.
The next morning we made the drive to Stresa, Italy on lake Maggiore. Mom and Dad have been quite a few times but I had never gone before. We took a boat on the lake out to an island Isola Bella, home of a huge palace and garden said to be the most beautiful garden in Italy. We enjoyed lunch in a cafe on the island with 360 degree views of the lake and surrounding towns and did a bit of shopping. We enjoyed wine and olive oil at a little wine shop in Stresa and drove back over the Alps to Lausanne. We have a few days to relax and Katie and I will head to Greece on Tuesday. We will spend two days in Athens and two in Santorini. We have been wanting to go since last year, so we are very excited. Mom and Dad will be in Paris and Normandy. I will keep the updates coming.