Finding "Beethoven"

In Salt Lake City you can find decorated buffalo statues all around town. Well here they do the same thing but with St. Bernards dogs.  

It makes sense to see them here because these dogs got their name from working as rescue dogs at the Saint Bernard Pass in the Western Alps on the Swiss-Italian border.

We have enjoyed collecting pictures of these cute, sad-eyed "Beethoven" dog statues. We will keep hunting for them during our few remaining Swiss outings.

Swiss Summer Fun

The mouth-wash blue Aare River winds it way into Bern from the Alps and is a playground for the Swiss on hot summer days. We have been fascinated with this beautiful river since we arrived last Fall.

We were determined to see where and how the people of Bern enjoy the river. We figured out how to get to it and then learned that the Bernese swim, river surf, raft, paddle board, and tube in its cool, clear water and walk and bike the trails that border it. 

The river flows swiftly with a strong current and is only for experienced swimmers. We loved this message that we saw painted on the trail next to the river! It can be dangerous and there are designated places for getting in and out and there are parts of the river that too dangerous and are off limits.

Right in the heart of Bern, in the shadow of the Parliament Building (which you can see in the background) is the public swimming complex which is a great place to exit the river and then take advantage of the pools (there are four of them), showers, lots of lockers, W.C.s, changing rooms, lawn for sunning, trees for shade, playgrounds, picnic areas, snack bars, etc. The really great part of this complex is the cost....it is FREE!!! The Swiss really know how to have fun in the summer!

Dinner with our Students

An invitation to a barbeque with our students from English Class just happened to fall on July 24 which allowed us to celebrate the Utah Pioneer Day holiday with them here in Switzerland.  Dinner was delicious and the French and English conversation was entertaining, educational and fun. 

Our host had planned to serve us his homemade eclairs with chocolate filling but something went wrong and they didn't turn out right. We were impressed with how he turned a failure into a BIG WIN. He used the filling and his artistic skills to create an individual design of chocolate in each bowl which was then served with a luscious chocolate cake wedge. Such a clever recovery!                        It was a great evening with our students!

the temple for Frank

the "artist" at work

a flower for Beth

Can't Get Enough...

...of the Aare River!!! A morning stroll with a good friend was the perfect start to P-day!

We enjoyed watching this pouch also enjoy the Aare!
Sure wish that these pictures could share the feel of the cool air in the shade, the sound of the birds singing in the trees, and the river water splashing at the shore.
Here are some of the other sights we found on our stroll along the path.

A ferry to cross the river

Dripping moss-covered rock

Access to launch your raft

Scott day camp

A Nice Walk Along the River

 The Relief Society Sisters of the Zollikofen Ward had a memorable activity the other night.

 The plan was to go for a walk along the banks of the beautiful Aare River...

...with the option of swimming or floating down the river.  Several of the sisters jumped in the water...

...and the rest of us walked through a conveniently located pedestrian tunnel to where they would exit the river and join us.

 While we waited and watched for them, a few drops of rain began to fall, then the drops got bigger, and fell faster. By the time we ran back into the shelter of the tunnel it was a full blown DELUGE with thunder and lightening!!

There was nothing left to do but wait out the storm huddled together singing, eating ice cream pops, laughing and chatting. It was a perfect activity - plans were adapted due to the unexpected and everyone had a fun and memorable evening!!   

How Much Wood....

...would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? If he were a Swiss woodchuck, then he could chuck ALOT of wood!!!  

 Here in Switzerland the piles of wood are stacked perfectly and range in size from small stacks...

 ....to medium - large stacks...

...and GIGANTIC STACKS!! To give you some perspective on this one that we found in the nearby forest, you can see 5 ft 2 in tall Beth standing next to it. We figure that this HUGE stack is about 20 feet or two stories tall!! The woodchucks that live here are really good at chucking wood!!

A Fun Foreign Fourth!

We were far away from the "land of the free and the home of the brave" but we were still able to celebrate with the help of some friends!!! We made and shared homemade apple pie with our English Class students and spent a few minutes quizzing them about USA facts and were surprised at how much they know.

We were thrilled to see a young man dressed in very USA colors walking across the temple grounds! He is here at the temple this week with the large group of members from Serbia/Slovenia/ Croatia/Montenegro. As we visited with him we learned that he purchased that outfit in a WalMart when  he visited America and the missionaries who baptized him.  We love seeing Old Glory no matter how it is displayed.

 We rejoice in Americana wherever we can find it even if it is on a container of cream cheese! Here  they refer to it as just "Philadelphia".  Strange but a wonderful taste of home!

Our sweet French neighbors knocked on our door on The 4th and presented us with this container of "American" ice cream along with their wishes for a "Happy Independence Day". How thoughtful of them! Hurray for the red, white and blue!! Hope you had a happy 4th!!