Luzern, Switzerland...Day 4

We spent Day 4 of our adventure touring around Luzern (Lucerne), Switzerland. Apparently, if you're a Swiss or if you're German-speaking, the city is spelled Luzern. However, all English speaking or non-Swiss will spell it Lucerne. Even the city logo has both spellings in it:

We started out the day with a driving "tour" of the city. Actually, this was an inadvertent tour because we were trying to find the Gletschergarten (Glacier Gardens). Luzern has many winding as well as one-way streets. We even found some streets that went up & down very steep hills! We finally decided to just get out & ask...it was a good thing too! Apparently, this is a very hidden location & only accessible by foot...but for the kids very well worth it!

The first thing to "welcome" us to the Gletshergarten was the "Dying Lion Monument." This monument was carved out of natural rock in memory of the heroic deaths of the Swiss mercenaries at the Tuileries in 1792. WHAT?!?! 1792! This amazes me! All of the detail & the curves of the lion's mane...carved in the early 1800s...no machinery! WOW! All of the kids were really excited to see this too!

After looking at some interesting glacier remnants, we went into the Spiegellabyrinth (Hall of Mirrors). It was so much fun for all kids & all four parents! I think the funniest parts were seeing 6 or 8 Colins or Sheridans, watching the kids walk squarely into a mirror thinking it was an open hallway, & watching everyone walk with their hands out in front of them as if we were blind or in a very dark room!

Here is more mirror fun:

Then, of course, we're in Switzerland. What's one thing you HAVE to eat for lunch or dinner??? Perhaps some great, delicious Swiss delicacy?!?! Well, we don't know what that would be because for the kids, we went to McDonald's!!! I know...FANCY!!! Honestly, it was an easy choice so that we didn't have to fight our kids to eat something! And we saw one when we "toured" the city earlier in the day.

We continued walking around this picturesque city...seeing Chapel Bridge & the Water Tower over Lake Lucerne, to seeing a portion of the former city wall that was used to fortify the city in the former days! We, also, stopped in at the Jesuitenkirche (the Jesuit Church). This church was right off the water & is beautiful on the outside & inside!

After the church visit, we were all tired & still needed to drive back to Germany. So, it was time to go...oh, but wait! We can NOT come to Switzerland without tasting & getting some Swiss CHOCOLAT!!! Oh YUMMY!

Strangely enough though, we actual had a hard time finding a place that sold it. More than likely, this "shortage" was probably due to the fact that we were shopping on a Sunday (everything seems to shut down after 4 pm on Saturday until Monday morning). We stepped into the Bachmann's Confiseur shop & I, all of a sudden, felt this great sense of euphoria! I died & went to Chocolat Heaven!!!! I had to look at everything & it was so hard to control myself & not buy 1, 2, or more of EVERYTHING! But I also wanted to find some chocolat that I couldn't find in the States....didn't know that the Lindt Chocolate Company is actually Swiss chocolat! However, I can buy this in the states...so I actually had to search for another company because Lindt chocolats were everywhere in this store! I finally found a company that I didn't recognize...Camille Bloch...but then I still had to make a choice! Darn! I couldn't just buy it all! I finally decided on a "Torino Noir"...Swiss Dark Chocolat with Truffle filling! Mmmmmm! The kids had to be restrained from their desired indulgences, but they finally settled for some lapins en chocolat (chocolate bunnies)! Simple, but still mmmmmm! delicious! Unfortunately, hindsight...wish I took a picture of all the chocolat everywhere in this store!

Our pics of Day 4!

And so ends Day 4! The adventure continues tomorrow!

Our Snow Fun Adventure...Day 3

Our adventure continues on Day 3...what did we have planned for today? Snow tubing & tobogganing in the Swiss Alps, of course!

We travelled about 30 minutes or so from Lucerne, Switzerland to Engelberg, Switzerland...another BEAUTIFUL drive. We saw not just snow capped mountains, but Colin saw what he thought was frozen waterfalls. Whether this was just frozen run-off or actual frozen waterfalls, we don't know & that small detail really isn't important...the site was still spectacular! It was a great, beautiful, sunny day! Since our kids had never been skiing before, we opted to not put them in ski school. However, it would've been really cool to say that we've been skiing in the Swiss Alps. Maybe next time! And there is more to do in the Swiss Alps than just ski!

First, we started the day with a fun gondola ride up the Mt. Titlis resort! The kids had a great ride, and we enjoyed a breathtaking view! Of course, both the girls & the boys were practically attached at the hips! So, the girls all rode together, and all the boys rode together! All of the kids had such a fun time & probably could've stayed on the gondolas all day long!

Girls Gondola Ride

Boys Gondola Ride

So, our next stop was the "Snow Toys Park." Here, the resort has snow tubes, as well as 2 other contraptions, to ride if you aren't skiing. Greg rode both of the contraptions, but I don't know what they are called or even know where to begin to describe them! All in all, it was a fun adventure. Warning: this video may not be for the light of stomach viewers, but we thought you'd like a taste of our adventure!

After lunch, we rode the gondola about half way down the mountain. At this point, we found our way to the Tobogganing equipment. Well, actually, I call it sledding, but Greg says the official name is Tobogganing. Sheridan rode with me, and Colin rode with Greg. Sheridan & I crashed once, and Colin & Greg crashed twice. Although, when we were done, Sheridan would've rather have rode with Greg. She kept telling me to go faster & not slow down! If I had listened to her, I have no doubt that we would've crashed more!

This was an incredibly fun day! Here are the pics too:

We saw another opportunity for adventure in the Swiss Alps...something I'm sure Greg would've literally jumped to do. Check it out!

Just to recap our day...a little interview of the kids:

And so, there is Day 3! Our adventure continues tomorrow with a tour of the city of Lucerne...a must for the day...Swiss CHOCOLAT!!!

Reuniting Friends...Day 2

Our European adventure continues...

We arrived in Germany today, March 12th about 7:20 am. WHEW! That was a LONG flight! But the kids did well & the only issue was Colin trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in when he was SO TIRED!

I anticipated & dreaded going through the passport & customs part of this trip. But actually, it was really easy! I guess Germany isn't as concerned about their visitors?!?! They didn't ask us any questions, we didn't have to fill out any forms, & we didn't have any customs checks with our bags! Crazy, but I was relieved!

The next part of our adventure starts with getting our rental car & trying to navigate the German Autobahn!!! Note to self & others: when trying to navigate, it's probably best to orient yourself with the direction your facing! I guess we were too excited to get going, we just took off, not sure where we were or what direction we were going! HA! We got so confused & turned around, and it's NOT easy to exit & do a quick U-turn! We ended up on another section of the Autobahn, had to exit that & find another road to turn around on & make our way back. Then, once we found the correct Autobahn highway number, we discovered that we were heading in the wrong direction! WHEW! There went 25-30 minutes, but we got a quick tour of some parts of Germany that we probably wouldn't see...or will probably ever see again! HA!

We finally made it to our friends house (of course after getting lost in their small village because the street signs are kind of hard to read). And the kids anxiously waited for their friends return home from school...oh, but it was a very sweet reunion!

Our adventure continued right after this reunion! We loaded the cars & both families drove to Switzerland (via Germany & Eastern France). Here are some pics of the view on our way:

So, here's the next mini-adventure we had on our way to Switzerland! I made the mistake of letting Colin drink some apple juice & orange juice on the plane...a rare treat for him! Well, the juices were "catching up" with Colin & we found ourselves making an emergency pit stop on the side of the road in France. He got to do to France what many Americans wish they could do, he got to literally dump (for a kinder way to put it) on France!! It was great but not expected, so we weren't prepared! Gas stations & rest stops were very few & far between, so this was the best we could do!

We arrived in Switzerland just in time for dinner. We were all tired, so we ate dinner, got settled & went to bed!

And so, there is Day 2!