L'hotel de Mark & V - A visit from Mom and a trip to Prague!

Prague's Old Town




Prague's famous Charles Bridge


Týn Church in Old Town Square

The cathedral at Prague's castle

Our view from the river cruise

The past month has gone by in a whirlwind! I spent the first week of May getting our apartment ready for our first guest of the spring: my Mom! She flew in on Mother's Day, which was great and we spent the afternoon catching up! She was a trooper and adjusted to the 9 hour time difference w/out difficulty! On her first full day in Switzerland, I took her around the Old Town area of Lausanne. We had lunch at one of our favorite spots, the top of Manor Department Store and did some shopping! Tuesday we took the train to Geneva, but spent most of our hours there dodging the rain and except for seeing the Jet d'Eau, got almost no sight-seeing in that day! Unfortunately, we have been experiencing a cold month and it has been chilly and rainy since my mom arrived. By the end of the day we were cold and wet and I went to bed feeling poorly.

Wednesday was my birthday so it was a lot of fun to have her in town. Since I wasn't feeling that well, we had a low-key day. I took her down to Ouchy, the lake-side area of Lausanne. We had lunch at the Creperie d'Ouchy...yummy! and we walked through the Olympic Park. It started to rain again so we headed for warmth back at my apartment! We made one of my favorite dishes as a kid, my mom's spaghetti sauce and so I had a good spaghetti birthday dinner that reminded me of home. The day was topped off with a birthday webcam w/ Sister and my Dad, as well as one earlier in the day with Steph, thanks to her insomnia. :)

Thursday was a Swiss holiday so Mark and I took my mom to Montreux and up the mountain train to Caux. Then Friday we jetted off to Prague for a week-end trip. Although rainy and cold, we had a fun week-end! The city architecture is really beautiful. We stayed in an apartment suite right off of the main square so we were close to all of the main sights, including the famous Charles Bridge and Prague's castle. We did a lot of walking around the Old Town and took a river cruise to rest our weary feet! Our Friday night dinner was a more traditional Czech meal in a cozy, dining room setting at a restaurant around the corner from our hotel. Our meal on our other night in town was a delicious combination of the Belgium delicacy "moules et frites" or mussels and fries...yum!

We got back to Lausanne on Sunday afternoon and spent the afternoon relaxing. I had to work on Monday and Wednesday that week so my Mom spent a couple of days doing some local sight-seeing on her own. We appreciated the home-cooked meals she had waiting for us when we got home from work! On Tuesday, we took the train to France and had a shopping day in Lyon. We had a wonderful day and I came home with some new clothes and an early Christmas present from my mom...a new set of luggage! We spent Thursday, her last day, in Lausanne's old town, picking up some a few more souvenirs and enjoying our last hours together. I was sad to see her off on Friday morning, but we had a fabulous two weeks together!