The Amazing Aare River

There is a lot of GREEN in Switzerland, including the "mouthwash green" Aare River that twists and turns its way from the glaciers of the Bernese Alps. Its flows through the lakes at Interlaken and then carves its way through Switzerland. Eventually it dumps its waters into the Rhine River in Germany and finally into the North Sea. (Can you find the green river amid the green trees and green crops in this picture?)

Ever since coming to Switzerland we have been fascinated with the Aare River. We had seen it from a distance but today we got close enough to touch it!!  

 A favorite summertime activity, for locals and tourists who are very strong swimmers, is to cool off on a hot day by floating in its fast-moving waters. The city provides safety tips and suggestions on where to enter and exit. One resident of the area "commutes" by floating home on this amazing river!! 

Sunset in Switzerland

 Took a stroll around the temple this evening ...

...and were treated to...

... loverly colors in the sky above and the earth below!! 

And we weren't the only ones enjoying the sunset!

More Exploring - Domodosola, Italy

What a great city in the Italian Alps just across the border from Switzerland!

The town is beautiful with lots of flowers, old architecture, little shops, and friendly vendors in the Piazza.

 We loved walking the clean cobbled streets finding something interesting around every corner.  We got lost a few times but didn’t mind the chance to discover more picture taking opportunities.

We visited one of the many pasticcerias (bakeries) for a sweet snack, a gelateria for a yummy ice cream, and the marcato (market) for reasonably priced delicious deli meats and cheeses to bring home.

Hope that you enjoyed traveling along with us!

Exploring Switzerland

The temple is closed for maintenance so we are doing some exploring and thought we would share.

We took the train to Liestal, near Basel, and then into Germany thanks to the kindness of our friends, the Wiesners, who picked us up at the train station, and drove us through the lovely country side. We enjoyed views of beautiful France, Germany and Switzerland.

While in Germany we were able to take advantage of the reasonably priced postal services and mail a big box of treasures home to Utah. 

A delightful surprise was being treated to lunch at a delicious Chinese Buffet! We loved spending time with this sweet couple and will take our friendship home with us to cherish and nourish forever.

Another day we went to Luzerne which is just a one-hour train ride from Bern and is the tourist capital of Switzerland. We loved walking the covered wooden bridge built in the 1300s, seeing the swans which originated as a gift from King Louis XIV, taking a boat ride on Lake Luzern which is fed by snow melt and then drains out on its way to the Rhine. These are just a few of the beautiful things we saw in Lovely Lucerne!

The mountains and hills are gorgeous! In the picture above, you can see the tracks that take the funicular train up the steep slope from lake level c-l-e-a-r to the hotel at the top! We had a great time on our day-trip to Luzerne!

Sing along..."We're dreaming of a Perfect Garden....

."...just like the ones that we see here.

 "Where the plants are happy....

 "the soil's not crappy....

 "and the frost doesn't come each month of the year!"

 

Did you sing along to the tune of "White Christmas"?  

We found this fantastic garden in the village of Münchenbochsee. We are DREAMING BIG that someday we can manage a garden just half this amazing in Randolph. 

"May our days be sunny and bright, and may all our veggies grow this right!"

The 4th of July

There won't be any flag flying or fireworks here so we had to get creative!!! 

 God Bless the U.S.A!!

We Love To See The Temple

 The Bern Switzerland temple is extremely photogenic!!

 It puts on its Best Dress every day!!