8 days until we see our daughter
Well, we have about 36 hours left in our son’s visit. The two weeks have flown by. The first week we stayed close to home, and simply caught up. We have played a lot more this week. Part of that is because his girlfriend made her first trip to ever to Switzerland. We have enjoyed taking Gabby around to some of the beautiful places in the country. I will not have as many picture this week. Most of the pictures we took were of the kids, and they have asked us to not share them online; so I will respect their wishes. (My guess is that they have already put a bunch of them out there, but….. :). )
We started off by driving to Grindelwald. We spent one day up on The First, unfortunately the rains came in during the afternoon, so that was cut a little short. We had plans on going to the Glacier Canyon on Saturday night. We had been online and seen all the pictures taken at night; so we figured it was always open late. We missed the small print that it is only open late on Fridays. So we walked from our hotel to the canyon only to discover it was closed. We decided to adjust our itinerary for Sunday, and after going up the Jungfrau, we drove over to the canyon before heading back home. On the way back home they did get a small taste of mountain passes, as we took the fast way back.
The two took the train over to Bern earlier this week. We toured the Rhein Falls, and Schaffhausen. We even were treated to an unexpected concern at the Munot. (The Munot is the circular castle above the village. Unlike most castles in Switzerland. The Munot was built solely as a fortification. Most castles served a dual role as the primary residence for the ruler, as well as having a military application. ) Today they are exploring the wonders of Zürich, and then tomorrow, I believe, they are going to Luzern and Mt Pilatus. Today they also had to go to the airport and get their COVID test. The only people flying into the US right now are returning citizens, and some business travelers. However, they have to show a negative COVID test before flying.
Whoever schedules the rain in Switzerland, you have done a good job. We have only had one rain washout during the two week stay. I hope you keep on the job, because I need three weeks coming up for our daughter’s visit, and immediately following that; my parents are coming for a week.
My favorite local store is the Trek Bike shop near our house. I’ve put a 1000 miles on the trainer this summer. (The rain has wreaked havoc on doing anything outside.). I think riding the trainer is even harder on the bike than road miles. Part of that is the simple evaporation and blowing away of perspiration. When I am on the trainer even with a terry cloth covering, a good portion of the sweat lands on the bike. I had to replace bearings in the head tube and the crank. Primarily due to sweat induced rusting! Anyway, the owner of MoveOn Bikes is FANTASTIC. Incredibly friendly. Fast and meticulous work. AND even more importantly for Switzerland the pricing is incredibly affordable. I hope to buy a bike from him before we move home, but that might be a bit of a reach. Good bicycles are even more expensive here than back in the US.
Not a whole lot more to say about this week. I know Julie will be happy when Annual Filing Season is over. She is already looking forward to (hopefully) spending a couple of days near Naples when Kaylee is in town. I will be happy too. We will be able to go back a regular schedule. and not a schedule that changes from day to day.
Hope you enjoy the pictures below. I’ll write again next week.
