Switzerland!

We've just returned from a great week in Switzerland. The kids had a two-week fall break. Remember that they started school on August 4th, so they were very ready for some time off. They spent the first week at a soccer day-camp. Oliver loved it, and Nora held her own, even though she was the only girl in her group. Soccer here seems to be more  of a boy-thing. For the second week we headed south to the land of milk chocolate and stinky cheese, despite dire weather predictions. We were eager to see family, so off we went. We stayed a few nights in Wil to visit with Katherine's grandma and great aunt and uncle, and also made a trip to Zurich to visit Katherine's aunt Moni. Then we headed up to the Toggenburg with Uncle Sepp and Aunt Margrit to the family cabin with an amazing view of the Churfirsten (seven mountains all in a row).

The first day we didn't see much except for cow pies because the whole valley was covered in thick fog.

However, the next day brought beautiful sunshine, and so we took a walk with Aunt Margrit and Uncle Sepp along our side of the hill, meeting with farm dogs and cats along the way.

Churfirsten

Schafberg, 2239 meters

We spent the next two days in the hut alone, built fires, hiked, read, played games, and listened to Swiss radio. There is no television or telephone in the hut, and only one room is heated, and so one ends up spending a lot of time together.

Scarred by previous unsuccessful fire-building attempts, we put too much wood in the oven on the first morning. The result was that the living room/dining room/family room felt like a sauna and we had to hang out in our underwear (sorry, no photo). After procuring some serious winter boots, we embarked on a terrific, long hike up a snowy mountainside to the Selamatt. The snow was knee-deep at the top, and we kind of lost the path. However, we were richly rewarded at the top with a steaming plate of french fries. No matter how high you go in Switzerland, there is always a nice restaurant at the top.

Säntis (2,502 m)

From the Selamatt we walked to a cable car station, and took a ride to the top of the Chaeserrug (2400 meters). The view was simply incredible, even in the chilly -7 celsius temperatures.

View from the Chäserugg into the Alps, 2262 m

The rest of the week we spent with family in Wil, and traveled to an impressive monastic library in St. Gallen. All in all, it was a much needed break, and we returned to Goettingen refreshed. The kids' German improved dramatically over the course of the week, and they were very happy to find their friends back home.