Robison Family Swiss Adventure: Luzern and Interlaken

On Saturday, I took Dad and Macy to the beautiful town and lake of Luzern.  My plan had been to take them to another great mountain on the lake called Pilatus, but the high clouds were covering the peak, so we went to Mt. Rigi instead.  We took the same mountain train and cable car as I did with Mom and Steve.

Dad on the train up to the Mt. Rigi summit

Cute family!

Someone was tired of me taking pictures of her

Me and Dad being silly at the top

It was a bit chilly and windy at the top, but the clouds parted for us as we explored around the top.  Dad and I walked down a mostly-safe path from the top to a grassy outcrop.  Macy stayed up top with Lauren and took our picture, which turned out great!  Switzerland is so beautiful!

The great picture of me and Dad by Macy

When we got back to Luzern from our adventure on Mt. Rigi, we found ourselves in the middle of a summer festival!  It had been all set up in the time that we were gone!  We weren't able to explore much of Luzern because the festival, but we loved listening to some of the bands, eating delicious food from the stalls, and watching an air show!

The summer festival we came upon in Luzern

Dad and Macy in Luzern

Me and Macy with the famous covered bridge in the background

The great air show we watched

After spending a little time at the festival, we headed home to get some rest.  On Sunday, we woke up to sunny skies and warm temperatures!  The great weather had finally arrived.  I decided this was the perfect opportunity to go to Interlaken, so after attending church, we ate a quick lunch and drove to the Interlaken region.  

Heading into the Jungfrau region, I think the Mönch is in the distance

As usual, the area was BEAUTIFUL!  I love love the Jungfrau!  This time we did not go into the Lauterbrunnen valley, but went into the other valley, instead, to the resort town of Grindelwald.  We parked at a ski gondola station, got out of the car, and just stopped to admire the beauty all around us!  We then took the gondolas way up to the top of a mountain ridge that separates the two valleys.  One of the peaks on the ridge is called Männlichen, so that's what the stop is called.

The gondola station in Grindelwald that takes you to the Männlichen area up top

There were tons of paragliders out, it seems to be a popular sport with all these mountains

The ski gondolas we took from Grindelwald

The gondolas take you from 3,400 feet at Grindelwald all the way up to 7,300 feet at the mountain ridge!    We arrived at the top and just marveled at the view.  It was so beautiful!  I love it!

Dad, Macy, and Lauren with the Eiger in the background

Looking over the other side of the ridge at Wengen and Lauterbrunnen

I'm in heaven!!

From Männlichen, we took an easy 90-minute walk along the ridge over to Kleine Scheidegg.  You could probably do the hike in a shorter amount of time, but we kept stopping to take amazing pictures.

Some rock towers hikers have built up over the years

Me and Dad on the trail

This little fox trotted right past us with a huge piece of stolen cheese in his mouth

A great shot I got of the reflection of the Eiger

The view from our trail as we were nearing Kleine Scheidegg

We took the train from Kleine Scheidegg back to the Grindelwald Grund station to head home.  Because of weekend traffic, it was stop-and-go to get out of the Interlaken region.  It was around dinner time, so we were hoping just to stop at some restaurant along the way and get something.  But most places in Switzerland are closed on Sunday and we kept passing lots of restaurants that weren't open, so we started to worry.  We saw that a gas station was open and decided that this was our best chance of getting some food.  But this is a Swiss gas station and we were able to get fine Swiss salami (at 54 CHF/kg!), cheese, crackers, and a fresh salad.  We felt like white trash by buying dinner from a gas station and eating it in the car, but it was far from that with our expensive salami, fine Swiss cheese, and the amazing view we had from the gas station parking lot.  It was pretty hilarious how great this meal was even though it was from a gas station.

Our view during "dinner" :)

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Us!

I'm interrupting my Robison Swiss travelogue to say, happy second anniversary to us!  We've been celebrating our anniversary for several days now with different activities, which I will post about later.  Many readers of this blog knew us when we were married two years ago, but some did not.  Which means this is a great excuse to post engagement/wedding/honeymoon pictures!  Woohoo!

Darren proposed on December 5, 2008 in Seattle, WA

We were married on July 18, 2009 in the Bountiful LDS Temple

It was a scorching 100-degree day in Utah, but at least we had blue skies!

Our reception was at The Point in Salt Lake City

One of our favorites of us

Leaving our reception

Darren surprised me with a honeymoon in Fiji

Our own bure on a small island with only eight other huts in the resort

Enjoying a relaxing afternoon on the water

One of the best memories was when Darren told me on our honeymoon about how he had been referred to a position at Google and was thinking about interviewing for it when we got back.  I remember saying he should go for it and see what happens.  Who knew that two years later we would be where we were because he took that interview!

Happy anniversary Darren!  Here's to many more years of: laughing, sarcastic banter, traveling, cuddling, playing Rock Band, you making fun of me because I'm awkward, me forcing you to go on walks, watching West Wing, going to the temple, picking out dream houses on Zillow, fighting over who gets the Kindle, being loud talkers, and most importantly, supporting and encouraging each other.

Robison Family Swiss Adventure: Zurich, Colmar, Strasbourg

I'm now going to go back and blog about when my dad and step-mom were here at the end of June.  Some family members have already read about this trip on my dad's blog, but I want to have a record of it in my blog, too, so this might be a repeat for some of you.

My parents arrived Wednesday morning on June 22nd on separate flights.  Dad was coming from London and was supposed to arrive the night before, but got stuck in Frankfurt because of thunderstorms (By the way, we've been having crazy thunderstorms here all summer!  I didn't know that was common here.).  Macy and my baby sister Lauren arrived from the US around the same time.  Since everyone was tired from getting up early or from jetlag, we decided to spend our time just seeing Zürich that day.  The weather wasn't that great, but my parents, who live in Texas, were just happy it wasn't 100 degrees.  We all took the train back to my apartment to settle in and clean up.  Darren was actually out of town for a business trip at the beginning of my parents' visit, so he wasn't home.

My cute sister!  Beware, there will be a lot of pictures of her in these posts because I'm obsessed.

We started off our tour of Zürich by having lunch at Sternen Grill, which is a famous take-away food stand that has excellent sausages and roasted chicken.  My dad really likes sausages, so I had been waiting to take him here as part of his Father's Day present.  It is a very popular place and is usually crowded, but the service is quick and efficient, so we got our food in no time.  The sausages and the chicken were really delicious and warmed us right up on a cool day.  I then showed Dad and Macy the highlights of Zürich and we had fun being silly.

Dad and I at Sternen Grill

Enjoying fresh water from the fountains

Dad trying to fit in with the locals

Dad, Lauren, and me in front of St. Peter Kirche

As promised, one home-cooked meal for those who come to visit us

We all went to bed early that night because we were tired, but not too early so people could adjust to the time zone.  We got up the next morning and drove up to the Alsace region in France, which Darren and I visited in December.  If you remember, this region is on the border of France and Germany and has switched ownership many times over the centuries.  Therefore, the towns are a perfect blend of French and German culture.  This time, we stopped in the town of Colmar, which according to my guide book is "the best preserved city in Alsace".  We had lunch at a restaurant recommended by one of my friends and it was really good.  The best thing we had was a pizza-looking dish called tarte flambée, or in German, Flammenkuchen.

Dad, Lauren, and Macy at Restaurant Pfeffel

The tarte flambée, a thin crust topped with white cheese, bacon, and onions

Dad's beef stew served in a handmade Alsatian dish, I bought one of these dishes in December

The outside of the restaurant we ate at

We walked around the old part of town for a while and came across this church and saw that there was a bird's nest on top with two big storks in it!  Apparently storks are the mascot of the Alsace region.  They might have had baby storks in the nest, but we couldn't see or hear them.

A church in Colmar

The white storks in a nest on top of the church

Me and Macy (and sleepy Lauren) in Colmar

After we finished visiting Colmar, we drove another hour north to Strasbourg.  By only driving an hour north, we were able to get out of the cloud cover and get some sun!  We again walked around the old part of town and visited one of my favorite cathedrals ever, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Strasbourg.

Enjoying some sunshine in Strasbourg

Me and Lauren, I promise I'm not torturing her even if her face looks like it

Dad and I trying to decide where to go, Lauren relaxing in the stroller

Dad and I being silly in Strasbourg

Amazing pictures Macy took of the cathedral

A great close-up shot by Macy

I wanted to have dinner in Strasbourg so we wouldn't have to worry about eating when we got back to Zürich.  Without any recommendations, we just walked around and tried to find something that looked good.  We eventually settled on an outdoor restaurant with a beautiful setting near the river and under large, verdant trees.  We all tried some Spätzle, which is an Alpine-region traditional entree made of funny-shaped egg noodles.

Where we ate dinner in Strasbourg

In my opinion, I think Strasbourg is much more interesting than Colmar and is worth the extra hour-drive to get there from Zürich.  The old part of town is bigger and prettier, and the main cathedral is breathtaking.  After dinner we drove back home through Germany where there were no speed limits (on some part of the highway, not all)!  It was a breath of fresh air to be able to drive as fast as you want when typical speed limits on Swiss highways are 50 or 62 mph!