Friday, September 24, 2010

Parent's Week


Last week we picked my parents up in Brescia, Italy. They had just been on a ten day Mediterranean cruise that ended in Venice so they hopped aboard a train and we picked them up at the station. We took a leisurely drive home and caught up on their amazing trip. The next day we headed for the city center of Zurich. We went to all the major sites including: Grossmunster, Fraumunster, St. Peter's Kirche, Bahnhoffstrasse, several different chocolate shops (how else will you know which is best?), Polybahn to the ETHZ (university), and of course ice cream at Movenpick.



They both had cameras. Lots of pictures!



Dad sitting on the old wall at the Lindonhoff (lime tree yard)


Teuscher Chocolate shop. We concluded that Sprungli is better!


On Friday We went to the Lindt and Sprungli factory store to pick up some souvenirs and then to the the Swiss Land Museum then to the ballet at the Opera House. Sorry, no pictures because we all forgot to take our cameras!


Saturday Chris drove us to Appenzell which is a little Alpen town with cutely painted fronts of buildings and picturesque landscapes. They are known for their cheese and beer.

I'm not going to lie, it was pretty cold...


We decided to take a hike a little ways out of the town into the hills. Mom was such a trooper. She had sprained her ankle on the cruise, but she didn't let that or a nasty cold stop her from coming on the hike with us.

Chris decided to take the cow trail back down. Part of the cow came home with him too.


This is where our hike ended on the ridge between hills. There were cows everywhere in the trees because we could hear their bells, but we couldn't see them.



Sunday we met up with Brett and Stacey Wall at church. They are the parents of my friend Ashly Johnson . It was so fun to see them! After church, we headed to Tellsplatte which I think is one of the prettiest places on Earth. It is supposedly where William Tell drowned while trying to save a child.



It was fantastic weather so we made my mom walk on her ankle some more so we could reach the water. She insisted Chopper came with us. I couldn't keep Chopper out of the water so I let her swim.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Brescia, Italy


Last week we traveled to Brescia, Italy. The company that Medtronic bought, Invatec, has a facility there so he/we will be going there fairly regularly. It is a beautiful 'little' city (pop. >200,000). Of course Chopper came with us. We (Chopper and myself) had so much fun walking around the old city and the castle which is pretty much a huge park filled with grassy areas, tunnels, and beautiful lookouts.


View of the Old City from one of the turrets. Chopper hopped right up on the ledge which was about two feet wide and 100 feet down.




Hills and grapes in the background totally reminded me of Santa Rosa.



The main parts of the castle were built in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, but there has been a fortress there since the middle ages.



Duomo Nuovo and Duomo Vecchio "La Rotunda" (far right) = New and Old Cathedral



South East part of Lake Lucerne. On our way home...