Living in Switzerland is absolutely the experience of a lifetime. The downside though is that we are really far away from our families. And even though we go back to Texas twice a year, it is great having people come visit us too. Our latest visitor...my mom and her friend TP! Yay!
Baby K and I took the train and picked my mom and TP up in Geneva and were pretty much go, go, go the whole time they were here. BK and I have recently learned the importance of taking the train that has a family car, which is exactly what my mom, TP, Baby K and I did to get back home. My mom and Baby K were both very happy, as the playing could commence!
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| On the train back to Montreux |
The first day I went to language class and they recovered from travel a bit, then we explored around Montreux. It takes a while to get acclimated to all the hills...especially the huge one you have to climb to get to our house!
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| View from Gruyere castle |
Their second day here we wanted a day to really experience Switzerland, so we headed to the Callier chocolate factory, Gruyere, and Fribourg. Unfortunately the Callier factory was closed, so we got back in the car and went to Gruyere. There, we enjoyed seeing the castle and amazing views, ate some Gruyere fondue for lunch, and "toured" the cheese factory.
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| Mom and TP being "cheesy" |
I like the village of Gruyere, but I'm not so sure about the cheese factory. There wasn't much to said tour; only 12 stops in two rooms as the entire tour. I feel certain there must be better tours out there about Gruyere cheese. We did get to see the cheese maker doing something to the Gruyere cheese, but I honestly am not even sure I know exactly what he was doing.
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| Cheese factory |
The next day I went back to language class and they came with me to Lausanne. We spent the afternoon enjoying nice weather next to the lake and touring the Olympic Museum. I would highly recommend the Olympic Museum if you get a chance. It has lots of interactive exhibits and touches on a variety of areas all related to the Olympics (Greek Olympics, modern Olympics, history of various sports, highlights of games, marketing, testing your physical ability). You really need a few hours to do the whole thing, but it's well worth the time.
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| Cycling sculpture outside Olympic Museum |
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| Baby K gets the Gold! |
With Switzerland comes neutrality, and with that comes some significant world events. While we were in Lausanne the US-Iran nuclear talks were happening at the Beaux-Rivage Palace. There were tons of media and police in the area, as this hotel happens to be next to the Olympic Museum. When we asked what was going on, one of the camera men told us that Jim Carey was here. We really thought, "Wow, all this security for Jim Carey...since when does he need snipers on the roof." A bit later we realized it was actually John Kerry. Good thing that guy was behind the camera.
The next day was Baby K's birthday. It's still kind of weird to say that we have a one-year-old. I hope her birthday was good; I would assume so, as she got to open presents, go to playgroup and have them sing to her, have lunch with everyone, devour a cupcake, FaceTime with family, and then start her first weekend away from BK and me. Not too bad for a first birthday!
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| Sitting in her new TCU chair from Mawmaw (my mom) |
BK and I enjoyed our weekend in Burgundy, and I think my mom, TP, and Baby K enjoyed their weekend in Montreux together. I think they did some strolling, survived the grocery store, did lots of playing, and practiced Baby K's walking quite a bit. I think I may have emphasized how I like a schedule a little too much, as my mom wrote down what and when Baby K did everything over the weekend. I appreciated it, but for the record, did not request it. I would post a picture, but I don't think they sent any. More on our trip to Burgundy later.
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| Us enjoying Baby K's birthday weekend |
It's crazy how fast time passes when people come to visit. The next few days we spent some more time in Montreux, including seeing Chateau de Chillion. If you like castles and fortress-type things, you should go see Chateau de Chillion. Not only does it have amazing views of the lake, I think it's around 1000 years old, which is just crazy.
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| Outside of Chateau de Chillion |
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| Climbing all over the castle |
We finished up their trip with a day trip to Nyon and Yviore, France, which are just across the lake from one another. We left the house in the morning and got to Nyon a bit earlier than we had to catch the ferry. I made the mistake of telling my mom and TP that they could go look around in a store for a minute...then we missed the ferry over to Yviore. They came out of the store to find me pointing to the ferry that had just left.
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| Getting some energy out in Nyon |
It all turned out great though, we had lunch by the lake (filet de perche- a local specialty) then caught the ferry over to Yviore. Yviore is a little medieval village also on the shore of Lake Geneva. Summer is the high season, so some of the shops were not open yet, but things were starting to come back to life as we approach spring and Easter. The time we had there ended up being perfect and just enough to walk around and enjoy the sites, but not have too much time to kill.
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| Chateau in Yviore Botanic Gardens |
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| Cobblestone streets with tons of flowers in bloom |
We headed back to Montreux and they got ready to leave the next morning. They caught the train to head back to Geneva, then back to Texas. I think they should be about recovered now, and their legs returning to normal after climbing a hill to get to anywhere we were going. I'm sure my mom and TP have other stories to tell about the trip as well. I can think of a few myself, but I'll let them divulge what they want to their friends!
A few days after they left we were on to our next adventure in Istanbul. It's a long weekend here, so hopefully I can find some time to delve into that one too!
