Holiday in the Mountains

This week Adalyn was on holiday, so we decided to take advantage of the days off and plan a little get-away. When we started talking about where we wanted to go, there were of course many ideas, but we decided for our first European trip we would go somewhere we could drive, so we chose Grachen.  Grachen is a village located in Switzerland at an altitude of 5, 310 ft.  I had read that it was a very family-friendly village with many activities for kids, unfortunately, we went during their mid-season, so many of the activities were closed.  That definitely didn't affect us though, we still found many things to do to keep us entertained- just looking outside our window was amazing! We arrived Thursday afternoon and just spent time in the chalet and roaming around the village.  We basically were the only tourists there!

Inside of the chalet we rented-

Girls enjoyed having sleep-overs every night- 

super fun to listen to them sing and talk before they fell asleep and in the morning-

View from the balcony- 

On Friday, it was a gorgeous sunny day perfect for hiking, so we went on a hike exploring the forest area in Grachen.  There are so many hiking trails and we also found a playground in the forest that the girls loved!

Eliza loved hiking in the backpack!  

Swinging in the forest- 

After a lunch and nap break back at the chalet, we went to Zermatt.  Zermatt is the world's most famous car-free alpine village.  We had read about Zermatt before we moved and knew that it was a place we wanted to visit.  It was only a thirty minute drive from Grachen to the train station where we took a train into Zermatt.  Zermatt is home to one of the most famous mountains in the World, The Matterhorn.  It is the 10th highest mountain in Switzerland, 14, 692 ft., and known as the "Mountain of Mountains."  It truly is an unbelievably amazing site, we probably spent an hour just admiring its natural beauty.  We were very fortunate to visit on a clear, sunny day, so we were able to clearly see the mountain.  We spent the afternoon taking in the lively atmosphere of Zermatt, many people are already skiing and snowboarding in the mountains there, so it was much busier than Grachen.

The Matterhorn

We also ate dinner in Zermatt at a pub that had very tasty hamburgers, which are hard to find in Switzerland.  Eliza ate so much of her meal that the waitress actually commented at the end of our dinner, "She is the best eater I have ever seen."  It was pretty funny- of all the customers she waits on, Eliza impressed her with her eating ability!!

Hiking made her hungry- or was it the ketchup???

After dinner, we headed back to Grachen- all of us were exhausted- according to my phone, we had walked five miles that day, which is a lot for their little legs!

Saturday, Eliza woke us all up at 6:45, eager to start the day.  We went on another two hour morning hike, which of course included a trip back to the playground.  We also had a somewhat scary discovery- as we were hiking, we saw a man carrying a hunting rifle below, we were a little concerned, but decided if we were on a trail, we should be fine.  During nap, Chris went back out to hike, and saw another man with his hunting rifle, but also carrying a deer behind him... apparently we were there during hunting season!

After lunch and nap, we decided to visit another nearby village, Saas Fee, which is another car free ski resort.  The road to get there was crazy- very windy roads up and down the mountainside with not a lot of shoulder space.  Chris was white knuckled the entire ride there- thankfully we got there and back safely!  Many of the people in town were skiing that day- so not many were along the trails. The views once again were amazing in every direction- it is really fascinating to think about how these villages are formed, the effort and engineering to create the roads, tunnels, and everything involved when working around continuous mountains.

View in Saas-Fee

They also have a a toboggan run, called "The Feeblitz."  On the run, you take the steepest toboggan lift in the Alps to the start point, and then you go back down the hill through a 360 degree loop, steep curves, and jumps all at speeds of up to 25mph.  At first, we were really pumping Adalyn up to go, but she seemed a bit scared- so, Chris went first by himself to let her know how it was- he came back and didn't look super confident about her going, but she had decided she wanted to go, so we couldn't say no!  So, Adalyn faced her fear and road on the toboggan- we were so proud, but still a little shocked she actually did it.

There they go!

Mission Complete!

Of course Eliza wanted to ride too-

We had another day of walking over 5 miles, so we were all exhausted and slept very well!

On Sunday, we were all sad to leave Grachen, it was such a fun trip- we were able to enjoy the outdoors and explore a different part of Switzerland.

This week, we look forward to Adalyn and Eliza going back to school and Halloween. Halloween is not a Swiss holiday, but since so much of the community is made up of expats, it is celebrated in some ways.  I was actually very surprised to see that Adalyn is having a Halloween party on Friday at school- most of the schools in Minnesota have to now call it a "Harvest Party."  We also plan on doing some trick-or-treating with some of the other American families we have met.  You can find pumpkins here, but they are expensive- a typical size pumpkin costs about $16 dollars.  

Other pictures from the week-

Fall fun!

Bowling- they bowled every ball together!

The girls and their new friends!

Road trip ready!

Ready to hike-

No fear- riding the zip line! 

(Of course Chris was right there to catch her just in case!)

Have a great week!  

Our first visitors!

This week we were very excited to host our first visitors!  We were able to do so much with them-  they basically just had one day here, so we started out the morning by going to Annecy, France.  We walked around by the lake, the village, and ate lunch along the canal.  Since it was a Wednesday, it was much quieter and such a peaceful place to visit!  After lunch, we headed to Lake Geneva and showed them the lake, the Jet d'Eau, and the "Flower Clock", the famous outdoor clock made up of about 6,500 flowers and plants.  After enjoying a stroll by the lake, we headed to Mt. Saleve.  We decided to take the cable car up to give them the whole experience- it was also the first time in the cable car for me and Eliza.  They really enjoyed looking down from the mountain and seeing Lake Geneva, knowing they had just been there a half hour ago!  We then went back to the house and had dinner and watched a movie- it was a wonderful day of touring!  We can't wait to do it again- the girls LOVED having other people around!!  All smiles all day!  

The girls were soooo happy with Marin!

Great morning in Annecy-

Just in case there is any ice cream left in there- 

Loved the swans-

Eliza kept scooting over to be closer to Adalyn in the cable car!

Adalyn is now on holiday for the next week- so on Friday the girls and I took a field trip to the American Store.  This store is known to have American foods, but at a price.  I wanted to go and find essential baking goods, baking powder, etc.  It was crazy how expensive the food was there!  We did find baking powder- yeah!  They also had Newman's honey mustard, (regular salad dressing size, $8.50), so I had to get that too!!  We also picked up a can of pumpkin, just because it felt right! (the can of pumpkin was $4.00)  It was funny to see what items they had in there- here are just a few pics!

Glad I brought some from home and my mom sent more- $8.00 a jar!

Who knew Americans miss Chunky soup!!??

I guess Shake and Bake and Stove Top is also a popular craving!!  Very surprised to see those items-

Eliza at the birthday party on Friday- she is saying "cheese" with a mouthful of cake- 

Adalyn having fun at the party! 

Her first "boy party"- wasn't sure what to wear or how to do her hair!!

This weekend the weather was absolutely gorgeous- sunshine and 75 degrees!  On Saturday, Chris got back from Germany around 2:00, and we headed to the lake- we had an incident where we found a lost/stolen purse and I tried calling the police to report it.  I asked in French if they spoke English, they responded "no" and hung up.  Oh my- it totally made me realize what would happen if it was an actual emergency???  So, the lesson learned is this week I will be google translating different emergency phrases so I have them written down if I ever need to use them!  Long story short, I found the woman's business card, called her and was able to give her purse back to her.

On Sunday, we decided to visit Vevey, Switzerland which is a town located on Lake Geneva known for its amazing views of the Alps and an abundant amount of vineyards.  I had read about the "Lavaux Express" which is a miniature train that travels through the narrow roads of the vineyards.  We decided to take a "fast train" to the meeting place of the miniature train- Adalyn was excited for her first train ride!  Unfortunately, we discovered the miniature train was booked for the rest of the day. They informed us that we could get one in the town of Lutry, so we drove there.  We were able to get on a train there and we had a great time!  It was such a beautiful day to be outside - we have heard the winters can get quite gloomy, so we are trying to take advantage of every sunny day!

Fast train ride!

Standing outside the train- she was terrified that we were going to miss it! 

Miniature train- 

Wine stop on the train ride!

Every year during this time we are usually back on the farm for harvest time and Adalyn has a picture in the corn... this year, her harvest picture is in the grape vines!

This week is fall break for Adalyn, so we are looking forward to our trip to Graechen and Zermatt.

Avoir une merveilleuse semaine!

A quiet week...

Another week has passed and we are looking forward to this week when we have our first visitors!  Chris' cousin, Marin, and her friend are coming for a quick trip, about 36 hours- passing through Geneva on their tour of Europe!  Unfortunately, Chris will be traveling this week, so it will be just the  girls as tour guides.  We are excited to see how much we can do in one day- hopefully they will be the first of many visitors.

This week was low key.  Adalyn continues to love school and dance- she started Sunday School last week, so she excited to go to that every Sunday morning- it is taught in English- so that is a plus!  She has been learning more French- she now asks to use the "toilette", play in the "garden"(yard), and put on her "wellies"(rain boots).  Eliza is doing great in her daycare and continues to entertain us with her love of dressing up and dancing! She also is talking much more and can pretty much tell us what she wants/needs- although still has confusion between yes and no!

Eliza could spend hours playing in my closet- loves high heels!

This weekend it was cloudy, rainy, and a bit chilly so we didn't go on any exciting adventures- next week is Adalyn's fall break- similar to MEA in MN.  She has the whole week off, so we are going on a four day trip to Grachen, which is in Switzerland near Zermatt.  It should be fun to go on our first real getaway!        

Up until now, I had not really been craving anything from the states...until yesterday.  I was so hungry for either a chicken caesar wrap or chicken tenders and honey mustard!!  You don't find anything similar to a wrap or chicken tenders here (which is probably good- a lot healthier, but sometimes you just want a piece of fried chicken!).  We did find one restaurant open on a Sunday, which is very hard to find, and all enjoyed juicy burgers!

Looking forward to this week- our first visitors and Adalyn has another birthday party- this time I feel a bit more prepared!

Have a great week! A bientot! 

We went back to the "Stuffed Animal Museum" on Sunday with Chris- 

More park fun!

All set for school on a rainy day!

Chris took the girls to the lake Saturday- we went again Sunday- 

they love watching the water and the ducks!  

Autumn is here!

Autumn has arrived in Geneva- the leaves are changing color and the temperatures are getting cooler, not quite as cool as Minnesota, still in the 60's and 70's.  This week was another week of school, playgroups, and playgrounds.

Since my birthday was Thursday, and Chris works 8:00 - 7:00, he requested that Saturday be the day we celebrated.  In the morning, we went for a morning hike on Mt. Saleve.  It was a cool, crisp morning perfect for a hike.  The girls are proving to be quite the hikers!  Since it was still early, fog was in the air, so it felt as though we were in the clouds.  Soon the fog cleared and we could see the city.

 Climbing trees!

 Monkey see... monkey do...

Hiking family selfie -of course... no smile from Miss Eliza!

Saturday afternoon after nap we went to a festival in Eaux-Vives, which is a district located on the left side of Lake Geneva.  One thing we have definitely noticed while living here is that they love festivals!  It was a gorgeous day, so it was fun to just walk around and check out the street market, listen to live music, and play at the playground.

Bicycle built for two!

Saturday night Chris and I went out for my birthday.  We decided to go to Old Town, which is a maze of small streets filled with shops, cafes, restaurants, and historical sites.  We were actually able to enjoy our food and drinks without any distractions - it was a wonderful night out!

Sunday during nap time Adalyn and I made lasagna and apple crisp.  Chris walked in the kitchen and said, "It smells like home."  There are definitely ways that we have made Geneva feel like home, including making recipes from home.  Since basically nothing is open on Sundays in Geneva, you have to be creative in what you do for entertainment.   I usually research the week before different events going on, and unfortunately sometimes the advertisement sounds way better than the actual event!  Which was the case today.  We have been missing all of the fun fall festivities we did back in MN, so I saw that a town near us was having an "Autumn Fest."  Super, I thought.  Well, we went there after nap, and it was a bust.  There was one person making home made cider, which was fabulous, but that was it.  Such a disspointment.  We are hoping to find a true fall festival in the upcoming weeks.

All in all, it was a great birthday week!  It definitely is a lot different being away from family and friends on your birthday, but the girls and Chris made it special.  I also appreciated all of the birthday messages sent across the pond!  I am excited to celebrate with family and friends in December when we visit.

Eliza is now in the "dress up" stage!  

Girls reading... have you noticed they are often dressed alike? Adalyn is obsessed with matching her!