More Guests Check -In! Steph & Brent's Swiss Visit

Reunited! Hanging out on Lake Geneva in Lausanne

Fondue!

Walking through the ramparts in Murten

View from the ramparts over Murten

Roman amphitheater in Avenches

Taking a short break!

Reading up on Einstein's life at his museum apartment in Bern

Bern's new bear enclosure

Bern's famous bears!

Steph testing the waters of Bern's Aare River

After arriving home from Crete on Monday, we welcomed my friends Steph and Brent to Switzerland on Wednesday evening. After 24 hours of travel, they finally made it to the Lausanne train station with big smiles, happy to finally have arrived!! They were troopers and managed to stay up late catching up in order to better adjust to the time zone change.

Thursday, we did a short outing out into town to get their Swiss passes at the train station and groceries at the Coop City, which Steph thoroughly enjoyed! :) Between their jet-lag and a bad case of the stomach flu that had hit me just a day before, we were all ready for naps in the afternoon! I had to pull a "mean mom" move and wake them up from their snooze a little while later, but over-sleeping a nap while experiencing some major jet-lag can ruin your sleep schedule for the rest of the week. I say this from personal experience! That night we served our guests a traditional Swiss meal of cheese fondue to expose them to the local cuisine!

Friday, Steph and Brent took a panoramic train to Lauterbrunnen, located approximately 2 hours 40 minutes from Lausanne in the Swiss Alps. Unfortunately, our plans to meet them there after work were thwarted due to my illness and so Mark and I spent an uneventful weekend at home. Luckily, our visitors got to experience the wonder of hiking in the Swiss Alps! They came back in the early afternoon on Sunday and we all had a relaxing afternoon at home together. They also got to see our Sunday grocery shopping routine at the train station, as everything else is closed here on Sundays!

Mark and I had to work on Monday, so Steph and Brent headed to Chateau de Chillon to check out the castle. We were very thankful for the home-cooked meal they had prepared when we got home from work that night. :) I took the day off on Tuesday to spend their last day in Switzerland with them. We had a long, but fun day of sight-seeing! We started off in Murten to walk the medieval ramparts, eat lunch and enjoy a glass of the local wine from Mont Vully! Then, in an "Amazing Race" move with only minutes to spare, Steph and I took off for the train station so I could buy a ticket, while Brent paid the lunch tab! All worked out and we made it on the regional train that took us to Avenches, a few miles away from Murten. Avenches, although a small town, is known for having the most well-preserved Roman ruins in Switzerland. We sat in the Roman amphitheater, which was being prepped for hosting summer concerts and plays. We then headed back to the train station, wanting to catch the next set of trains that would take us to Bern.

Bern, our final destination of the day, greeted us with some great sights. We went to Albert Einstein's apartment, which is now a museum. This apartment is famous as he was living at this location when he worked on his Theory of Relativity. Next, we moved on to Bern's cathedral and then ended the day with a visit to the new enclosure where Bern's famous bears live. We finally made it back home, 7 train rides and 11 hours later, but with a feeling of accomplishment that we had experienced so much! Early Wednesday morning, Mark and I said "au revoir" to Steph and Brent, as their Swiss visit had come to an end and they departed for Italy. It was great to see them and I am already looking forward to our next rendez-vous, wherever that may be! :) Miss you both!