En Suisse

OK, the rehash of the trip is starting to get a little boring. How are you all holding up? I now give you Switzerland, in one huge chunk. Enjoy, I promise it'll all be over soon.

First of all Switzerland was only OK. Evan put it best when he said that Switzerland is the price we had to pay for going to Germany. The roads weren't as good, making driving less fun. The route between Zurich and Bern wasn't particularly picturesque. Everything was insanely expensive. And don't even get me started on the Schweizerdeutsch (Swiss German dialect) - yikes.

But we did have a great time in Gruyeres (yes, after the cheese) and in Montreux at Chateau de Chillon. Both are west of Bern, and the drive there gave us a nice taste of Swiss countryside you see in postcards.

Inside the cheese factory - they had these cool cannisters where you could smell all of the various veg the cows eat, that in turn flavor the cheese.


The playground outside, with the Alps in the background


When we were done in Gruyeres, we continued our westward route to Montreux and Chateau de Chillon, which is on the Eastern shore of Lake Geneva.


View of Lake Geneva & the Alps


Headed towards the entrance




"Self!" (what he says when he wants to do things himself, and the stairs were on the list)


Evan took this shot from one of the upper turrets (is that a word?). Nice bird's eye view of the courtyard and a very tiny A & C.


View of Lake Geneva from inside - don't you love the finger?


Tuesday we hung out in Bern, which was only OK. Definitely my least favorite of all the things we did. But maybe we were just ready to be home.

A shot of E & C on a bridge over the Aar River


The building where Einstein lived when he figured out E = mc^2.


Headed to see the bears...


The famous Bern bears - Bern actually means "bears" and Duke Ferdinand decided to go fully authentic and actually have some bears on site.


The Bern Zytglogge - the hourly movement of the astrological clock apparently inspired Einstein's theory of relativity

Our best dinner out at the Curling Club's restaurant. Charlie was mesmerized, and we got to eat in peace.




Our last day we went to Fribourg, a city that bizarrely captures the Swiss divide - half the town speaks German, the other half French. Thank god the Italians didn't get a toehold somewhere. This was one of our few days of crappy weather, so we decided to hit Chocolaterie Villars and then call it a day.

Eating chocolate, and washing it down with hot chocolate. Heaven.


Count Chocula

Off to Switzerland

One of our last nights in Germany, the whole crew went out for dinner Hanchen Paula (translation: Chicken Paula. Her name is Paula. She cooks chickens). Charlie had a great time smooching all over Moni and eating French fries. And Evan discovered the secret to eating out with Charlie: drink a liter of beer!







We took off for Switzerland Sunday morning. Thankfully, Moni is coming for a visit this summer, so it wasn't so hard to say good-bye. These photos where taken behind my uncle's house - they have a great view of the Rhon in the background.



One last hug for Moni


On our way to Bern, we stopped in Schaffhausen, home the Rheinfall (Rhein Falls). The walkway down to the base of the falls was super rickety, so again, Charlie stayed behind. PS - What's with public safety in Europe?



A stroll with daddy through less treacherous terrain

Wurzburg

Our next-to-last day, we went to Wurzburg with my Aunt Moni. I was born in Wurzburg, so it was kind of fun to go and check it out. When I told the rental car guy I was born there, he said, "oh, you're a Franconian," as Wurzburg is the main city in Franconia, the northwestern most region of Bavaria. But I digress...

We started out the day in Karlstadt, a smallish town known for its wine. Not too much on the vine in March, but still very beautiful. We were assured, as usual, that it's gorgeous in the summer.

The Karlstadt Rathaus


The cutest lil Easter tree


Random statue on the corner of this building


Looking out for boats and ducks on the Main. Ducks and pigeons were other major points of interest for the Charles.


The big attraction in Wurzburg, besides the hospital where I was born, is the Residenz, one of King Ludwig's crash pads.


Again, the fountain was a critical stop


Die Alte Mainbrucke (The Old Main River Bridge) - all cobblestones and flanked with statues of saints


Close-up of father & child


More Bavarian Easter decor

Next Stop, Rothenburg

After so many weeks of spotty blogging, it feels weird to post so much. Hopefully you're not getting sick of me! Our next jaunt was to Rothenburg, which is the kind of town where you are bound to see tons of tour groups, because 1) the medieval wall that encloses city is still entirely intact, making it rather unique; and 2) the place is freaking adorable.

The Rader Tor (or main gate)


Impossibly cute cobblestone street


More impossible cuteness


The Rothenburg Christmas Museum. We did not enter.


Snacking on famous Rothenburg Schneeballen (snowballs) - many layers of crispy pastry coated with powdered sugar.


Yum.


Sharing with mommy


Taking a break at the Burggarten (Castle Gardens)


Great view of Rothenburg


Great view of us?


Why is Charlie pouting? Because his mean daddy wouldn't let him pick up dog poop. In the background is the Burg.


He really wanted to open this door. We spent a long time here.


More flowers worthy of smelling


That crazy face spewed (hopefully this is no longer the case) hot tar on invaders.


On our way back to the car, Evan and I both climbed up the world's most rickety steps to check out the views from the wall, which were very impressive indeed.

Bamberg

Mom, Niki and Ulli flew back to the States on March 5, and that afternoon we picked up our rental car. Evan and I aren't terribly prone to car envy, but let's just say a week of driving/riding in an Audi A4 was pretty swank.

The car in all its glory. Evan's recorded high speed on the autobahn was 220 km/h, after which I had to help him pry his hands from the steering wheel.


Our first day trip was to Bamberg. The Altstadt (Old Town) has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site because it survived the Allied bombing raids of WWII unscathed. The other reason to visit: 10 breweries in the town limits. Evan had a delicious Rauchbier (smoke beer) at a local brewery, which I think was the highlight of the day for him!

The Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall) is the most photographed building in town - pretty cute, huh?


Bamberg's Klein Venedich (Little Venice)


One of Charlie's favorite things on the trip: fountains. He couldn't get enough. This was the highlight of our hike up to the Michelsberg Kloster.


Daddy, smell this flower!!


No, really - smell this flower.


The Bamberg Dom. Inside is a famous statue of the Bamberger Reiter (the Bamberg Rider). The identity of the rider, and the artist, are unknown. When Hitler visited the Dom, he appropriated the image of the Bamberger Reiter as the Aryan ideal. Pretty creepy, huh?


It was too dark in the Dom to get any good pictures of the Reiter, but I found this one on-line.


Heading back to our chariot via cute cobblestone streets.