Grandma and Grandpa Robison Visit: Part 2

On Friday morning, the three of us drove down to Bern to go to the LDS temple.  It was a nice experience.  After that, we drove back home to pack up while Darren came home from work early so that we could drive to Austria.  We planned on visiting Salzburg and a place some WWII buffs might know called Eagle's Nest.

Me and Grandpa at the temple

The whole drive through Austria to the Salzburg region was beautiful.  The mountains are maybe even better in Austria than they are in Switzerland.  We made a stop in the Austrian city of Innsbruck to get some dinner and made a quick tour around the downtown area.  After that, we got back in the car and drove through Austria and into Germany!  Three countries in one day!  Salzburg is right on the Austrian/German border.  We stayed for the night in a town called Bad Reichenhall in Germany.  We didn't see much of the town because we got in late, went to sleep, had breakfast at the hotel, and left the next morning.  Before we left though, I opened some birthday presents since it was my birthday that day. 

Opening some birthday presents in Germany

Our first stop was to see Königssee, Germany's highest lake.  It is a beautiful and crystal-clear mountain lake.  We didn't spend much time there because we wanted to make sure we had enough time to see Eagle's Nest, which was something Grandpa wanted to see.

Us at Königssee

Eagle's Nest is a mountain shelter that sits on the summit of Kehlstein.  The building was a birthday gift to Hitler from his subordinates and it was one of his favorite residences.  It was taken over by the Americans after the war, but eventually was given back to Germany and is now a restaurant and popular lookout point.

Eagle's Nest as viewed from the parking lot of Königssee

However, when we got up to the parking lot for the bus that takes you up to Eagle's Nest, we saw that it was closed temporarily!  Yes, it was very sad and totally unexpected.  We were disappointed we didn't get to go up to the top.  We made the best of it though, by enjoying the great view from where we were and by getting some things in the bookshop about Eagle's Nest.

Grandma and Grandpa in Germany

The beautiful views in this part of Germany called Berchtesgadener Land

We then drove from Germany over into Austria to go see Salzburg.  Again, the drive to Salzburg was really beautiful.  We arrived in Salzburg, parked the car, and went to get some lunch.

The view on the way to Salzburg

These old minis are so cute

Lunch in Salzburg, complete with some birthday banana split!

We then spent the rest of the afternoon touring around Salzburg.  We walked by all the old downtown areas that included some places where Mozart was born and where he lived for a time.  Darren also picked up another pin for his Bavarian hat.  We should have had him bring his hat because he would have fit right in.  It seemed to me that most locals were wearing some pieces of traditional Austrian clothing, like the hats.

Downtown Salzburg busy with tourists on a Saturday

View of Salzburg and Hohensalzburg, the fortress atop the hill

Me and Darren at the Mirabell Gardens

We drove back to Zurich that night and everyone was kind enough to indulge me by having Asian food for dinner at Wagamama on my birthday.  By the next morning when we went to church, it had turned cold and rainy.  We spent most of the day inside, except for a short walk in the late afternoon when it stopped raining.  We then enjoyed a home-cooked meal by me, as promised to those who visit!

Us at our building where church is held

We walked around Rieterpark on the cold Sunday afternoon

Me with the turnovers I made for everyone for dinner

On Monday, it was still cold and rainy, but we were determined to have a good time anyway.  We stuck with our plan to go to Luzern and tried to get there early before the rain clouds got lower.  We drove to Luzern and jumped on the ferry boat right away.  We had delicious hot chocolate on the boat and we traveled to Vitznau.  We took the train up the mountain to the summit of Mt. Rigi.

Enjoying hot chocolate on the boat

Clouds were still high enough that we had some great views of Lake Luzern

About to pass into the clouds, which you can see in the picture

 We were able to get this before it started raining

We couldn't see anything from the top, but we did what every Swiss does and enjoy a nice lunch at the restaurant on the top of a mountain.  After lunch, we took the train back down where the rain had finally set it.  We got back down to Luzern by boat and I gave my grandparents a quick tour of the downtown area.

The covered bridge at Luzern, still with beautiful flowers

Me and Grandma in Luzern

We drove back to Zurich and had dinner at Zeughauskeller again because it is so good.  Then the next day, my grandparents packed up and I took them to the airport to fly back to Canada.  We had a great time with them!  It was a great trip!

Grandma and Grandpa Robison Visit: Part 1

In the middle of September my grandparents were able to visit us.  My grandpa loves mountains and my grandma loves chocolate, so of course they needed to come to Switzerland!  They arrived on a Tuesday, but ended up being delayed four or five hours because of mechanical troubles in Toronto.  Luckily, they were able to get some sleep on the plane because as soon as they dropped off their stuff at the apartment, I rushed them out the door to see downtown Zurich!  But first, every good Swiss trip starts off with chocolate!

Grandma and Grandpa's welcome gift, a piece of delicious Lindt chocolate

Showing them around downtown Zurich, it was a beautiful day

Hanging out with Darren at the Zurich Arboretum after he got off work

And every good Swiss trip starts off with dinner at Zeughauskeller, also!  Yes, I have the perfect itinerary down now after so many visits.  So we took them there that first night and it was delicious as always.  It was so fun to see them enjoy all the little things I like about Switzerland, too, like the special French dressing and German-style potato style.

The next morning, since it was a bit cloudy, I had us do some indoor things.  We drove down to Gruyere to visit the chocolate and cheese factories.  They had fun trying all the samples of chocolate at the Cailler factory and seeing how cheese was made at the Gruyere factory.  Then we headed into Gruyere to have lunch at the same delicious restaurant I took Dad and Macy to called Restaurant La Fleur de Lys.  Now that I have tried fondue in a bunch of different places in Switzerland, I have decided this restaurant has the best.  Grandma and Grandpa loved it, too.

Grandpa and I trying to decide what chocolate to buy

Grandma in heaven at the chocolate taste testing station at Cailler

Me eating the delicious fondue at the restaurant in Gruyere

After walking around the very cute town of Gruyere, we drove down to see the Olympic Museum in Lausanne on Lake Geneva.  Like me, Grandma loves the the Olympics, so I was excited to take her there.  In addition, both Grandpa and I did high jump in high school, so we enjoyed goofing off at the museum.

Grandma and Grandpa at the Olympic Museum

Grandpa and I trying to high jump over the world record height, I don't think we made it

Trying to get over the high jump by other means

My grandparents next to beautiful Lake Geneva

After visiting the museum, we walked a few blocks to have dinner at a creperie that I had wanted to try.  A friend in Zurich had recommended it to me when we went there last time with Dad and Macy, but we weren't able to go.  All of us got one savory and one sweet crepe and it was delicious. 

One of the crepes we ate, yum!

After dinner, we drove back to Zurich to get some rest.  The next day was going to be sunny, so I took them to the best place in Switzerland: Interlaken!  We took the train up to Kleine Scheidegg and had a great picnic lunch.  Then we hiked from there over to Mannlichen to see some more great views.

Me and Grandpa at Kleine Scheidegg

Me and Grandma with Grindelwald in the background

Doing our Sound of Music picture at Mannlichen

We took the cable car from Mannlichen back down to Wengen and got some souvenirs at one of my favorite stores.  From there, we took the train back down to Lauterbrunnen and headed home.  We had a late dinner with Darren after he got off work and then went back home.  More to come in the next post!

Ticino, Lake Como, and Graubünden

On Sunday, after we left church, we got our things together for an overnight stay and drove down to the Italian part of Switzerland.  Darren had planned the whole road trip, so it was fun to find out what he was interested in seeing.  We stopped first in Bellinzona, since Darren hadn't seen the old castles there and I took him to the best two.  It was much warmer than the last time I was there back in February!

Darren at one of the old castles in Bellinzona

Looking from Castle Montebello to Castelgrande

Me on the grounds surrounding Montebello

The inner parts of Montebello

It was after we visited the castles that Darren realized the camera was on the wrong setting and fixed it.  Good thing he pays attention to these things.  After seeing the castles in Bellinzona, we drove farther down Switzerland to another cute town in the Ticino region called Lugano, which is on Lake Lugano.  This is a popular vacation spot for the Swiss who like to experience the Italian culture without the Italian chaos. :)  We walked along the lake and stopped to have a great dinner next to the water.  The sun set and rain clouds started to roll in while we were at dinner, so we walked back to our car with small rain drops falling on us.

Camera fixed!  Pictures are big again!  Me next to Lake Lugano

We left Lugano and drove along very, very tiny roads (it was a little tense when cars would squeeze by going the other direction) to leave Switzerland for the famous Italian region of Lake Como.  Lake Como is the third largest lake in Italy and because of its clear waters, pleasant weather, and idyllic mountain views, it has been a popular vacation destination since Roman times.  Many celebrities have homes somewhere on Lake Como, including most famously, George Clooney.  

We drove through Italy to the northwestern part of the lake and ended up in a small town called Gravedona where Darren had booked a hotel for that night.  Since it was dark, we didn't get to see the amazing view from the hotel right away, but we unpacked our things and read for a bit before going to sleep.  In the middle of the night there was a big thunderstorm that rolled through the area.  Lightning was flashing all over the place outside, but there was just a small amount of thunder.  By morning, the skies were completely clear and we got up early to look at the fantastic view from our balcony.

The view of Lake Como and the town of Gravedona from our balcony in the morning

Another great view of Lake Como

We got up, had a delicious breakfast, and then enjoyed some time by the pool before we had to leave.  Darren knew I had wanted to take a beach vacation this summer, but with our busy travel schedule, we had never made it to a beach location, so he was nice enough to plan this time for me to enjoy some sun.

Our hotel from where the pool was

Soaking up some sun, but never seeming to get any more tan

Darren did a few laps in the pool

We then left Gravedona and drove around the northern side of the lake over to the town of Varenna.  We then took a ferry boat over to the popular resort town of Bellagio, which is located on the point where the lake separate into two parts.  The Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas is named after this place.  Even for a random Monday afternoon in September, the town was still busy.  We enjoyed walking around the cute small streets before having a delicious lunch of prosciutto with melon and fresh pasta.  We also enjoyed eating food for only 9 Euros!

One of the ferries on Lake Como

The town of Bellagio on Lake Como

Us on the Bellagio waterfront

Me on a cute street

We didn't spend all day at Lake Como because Darren wanted to take a drive through southeastern Switzerland while we were in the area.  So we left Bellagio to get our car and then drove up from Lake Como back into Switzerland.  The southeastern part of Switzerland is called Graubünden.  This area has some of the world's best ski resorts at St. Moritz and Davos and contains the Swiss National Park.  The whole country feels like a national park to me, so that must be saying something about this area if the Swiss single it out in that way.  Our drive took us through the Engadine Valley and we found that the area was really beautiful as promised.

We stopped at a very small town close to the Italian border called Soglio.  Darren had figured out earlier that this was where the picturesque town was that is on the cover of our Switzerland travel guide.  It really was a super cute town and seemed like nothing had changed in hundreds of years.

The view from the windy road up the mountain to Soglio

A comparison of the cover and the real thing

Us in front of the famous view from Soglio

Darren with a great mountain background

After out quick stop in Soglio, we continued our drive and passed through both St. Moritz and Davos.  With huge hotels, restaurants, and spas all around, these two cities were a stark constant with the quaint, old towns just down the valley and they weren't that appealing to us.  Though, I imagine they are more beautiful in the winter with the great skiing and the celebrity clientele.  We then made our way back home from there.  What a relaxing and fun weekend!  I think after that trip, we have hit every major city in Switzerland with the exception of Basel.  We feel pretty good that we have made an effort to explore a lot our temporary home.