This weekend in Switzerland was wonderful because my cousins were off from school and we got to spend some quality time together. They are two of the most wonderful people ever. I admire their manners, in addition to their caring, genuine, generous and loving personalites. On Saturday, we all ate a big breakfast together and it consisted of fresh breads, lots of nutella and coffee, other spreads, yogurt, fruit and so on. A few hours later we all put on our shorts and went out to play volleyball. Bern is a beautiful place full of possibilities. They have more green space than one would know what to do with, large outdoor pools in the middle of the park that are well maintained and have free admission, ping pong tables, foozeball tables and of course, beach vollyball nets. It is not on the beach but there is sand and it feels the same. We layed on towels in the sun, played soccor and volleyball for some time before everyone decided it was time to swim in the Aureh (glacier water). Well everyone except for me, of course. I have a problem with the cold and I was not about to expose myself to such torture but I was happy to watch and take photos. So we walked barefoot to a bridge that people jump off of. The water was flowing extremely fast so they could just float down river. When we got to the bridge, within seconds, Valentina had already counted to three and jumped without hesitation. In seeing that his sister was quickly floating away, Nick jumped in secons behind her. Possibly feeling a bit left out, Tyson was not far behind them and by the time I ran back to the area where they got out, they had already dried off and were waiting for me, this is how fast the water flows. Tyson said the cold water was like a strong shock to the system but soon afterwards, you go numb and it's ok. We stopped for lunch at a popular kiosk type place and ate chicken nuggets and pommes frites. We laughed and chatted all day long and it was time well spent.
Tyson drove my Aunt's vehicle home and we all shared a big dinner with rice and chicken. We ate outdoors overlooking the newly planted gardens. All day, my Aunt and Uncle, with help from several workers, had been rearranging the garden and planting several dozen new flowers and plants. It looked lovely with roses, lavender and newly trimmed bushes. After dinner we all enjoyed coffee together. Valentina went out to a party with her friends while Tyson, Nick and I tried to watch the movie Hunger Games for the second time. The first time, the night before, I fell asleep within minutes and the other two were half and hour behind me. So this time we stocked up on enough Swiss chocolate to never have to share and tried to watch the underwhelmning film before passing out. I did not make it, but the other two claim to have watched the end.
In the morning when we woke up, my Aunt was in the hot pool so we got up and joined her. We all ate a big Sunday breakfast together with my uncle while in the pool. The pool overlooks amazing scenery. The green mountains are spotted with adorable Swiss style cottages and complimented by the sharp angles of the snow capped alps in the distance. It is really breathtaking to sit in the hot tub, breathing in the crisp fresh air and gazing at the picturesque sight ahead. We enjoyed this for the better part of a couple hours and then spent some time buying tickets and planning the rest of our trip.
My Aunt had to attend a gathering with her friends so my uncle took my cousins, Tyson and I to Interlaken, another one of Switzerland's jewels. It is the town by the famous Swiss Alps, where the scenery is unreal and the area is kept very clean and well groomed. We walked around a bit and enjoyed the gardens and the greenery. We watched the paragliders landing in the open fields and enjoyed our time together. We ate lunch at a fancy cafe style restaurant where a live musician was performing old sing along songs. Amazingly, dogs are allowed everywhere in Switzerland. They come onto public transit (with the purchase of an adult ticket), into stores and even into restaurants. So we brought William with us into the lovely restaurant that we enjoyed lunch in. In fact this is also the place that Shoghi Effendi (the Guardian of the Bahai Faith) used to spend time in when he was in Interlaken, which was quite often apparently. We ate appetisers of endless fresh breads with butter and then our main meals came. Tyson and I ordered typical Swiss meals, although I cannot remember the names exactly. Mine was a huge portion of grated fried potatoes, topped with slices of tomatoes and smothered in melted cheese. Tyson had two large chicken shnitzels (seasoned perfectly) with pommes frites. We ate more than we should have.
After lunch we went to a place where they have a installed a large clear lift through the inside of the mountain. We walked to the base of the mountain where we all stood inside of this large elevator type lift that carried us up through the center of the mountain to the middle where we got out. It was amazing that this was even possible to construct. We hiked up many stairs and saw the beautiful natural glacier waterfalls through the mountains. The water shot through the holes of stone increasing the size of it over time. 20,000 litres per second shoot down through the mountain to the body of water that Tyson and my cousins had swam in the day before. Of course by the time it gets to that area it has warmed up a bit. We took some photos and watched the miracle of nature and human construction with awe. We hiked back down the mountain and head back home.
Of course the Eurocup soccor matches are always the topic of conversation these days and the games were on throughout the evening. We ate another delicious dinner and then Tyson and I did some more planning before he and Nick went to the indoor tennis courts to work off their meals for the day. While they were gone, I worked some more and spent time with the rest of the family during our last evening. That night I was up until the middle of the night but we got a lot of planning done. We leave for Milan tomorrow and while we will miss the family here very much, we are also excited to see some more of this famous and wondrous continent.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
Tyson drove my Aunt's vehicle home and we all shared a big dinner with rice and chicken. We ate outdoors overlooking the newly planted gardens. All day, my Aunt and Uncle, with help from several workers, had been rearranging the garden and planting several dozen new flowers and plants. It looked lovely with roses, lavender and newly trimmed bushes. After dinner we all enjoyed coffee together. Valentina went out to a party with her friends while Tyson, Nick and I tried to watch the movie Hunger Games for the second time. The first time, the night before, I fell asleep within minutes and the other two were half and hour behind me. So this time we stocked up on enough Swiss chocolate to never have to share and tried to watch the underwhelmning film before passing out. I did not make it, but the other two claim to have watched the end.
In the morning when we woke up, my Aunt was in the hot pool so we got up and joined her. We all ate a big Sunday breakfast together with my uncle while in the pool. The pool overlooks amazing scenery. The green mountains are spotted with adorable Swiss style cottages and complimented by the sharp angles of the snow capped alps in the distance. It is really breathtaking to sit in the hot tub, breathing in the crisp fresh air and gazing at the picturesque sight ahead. We enjoyed this for the better part of a couple hours and then spent some time buying tickets and planning the rest of our trip.
My Aunt had to attend a gathering with her friends so my uncle took my cousins, Tyson and I to Interlaken, another one of Switzerland's jewels. It is the town by the famous Swiss Alps, where the scenery is unreal and the area is kept very clean and well groomed. We walked around a bit and enjoyed the gardens and the greenery. We watched the paragliders landing in the open fields and enjoyed our time together. We ate lunch at a fancy cafe style restaurant where a live musician was performing old sing along songs. Amazingly, dogs are allowed everywhere in Switzerland. They come onto public transit (with the purchase of an adult ticket), into stores and even into restaurants. So we brought William with us into the lovely restaurant that we enjoyed lunch in. In fact this is also the place that Shoghi Effendi (the Guardian of the Bahai Faith) used to spend time in when he was in Interlaken, which was quite often apparently. We ate appetisers of endless fresh breads with butter and then our main meals came. Tyson and I ordered typical Swiss meals, although I cannot remember the names exactly. Mine was a huge portion of grated fried potatoes, topped with slices of tomatoes and smothered in melted cheese. Tyson had two large chicken shnitzels (seasoned perfectly) with pommes frites. We ate more than we should have.
After lunch we went to a place where they have a installed a large clear lift through the inside of the mountain. We walked to the base of the mountain where we all stood inside of this large elevator type lift that carried us up through the center of the mountain to the middle where we got out. It was amazing that this was even possible to construct. We hiked up many stairs and saw the beautiful natural glacier waterfalls through the mountains. The water shot through the holes of stone increasing the size of it over time. 20,000 litres per second shoot down through the mountain to the body of water that Tyson and my cousins had swam in the day before. Of course by the time it gets to that area it has warmed up a bit. We took some photos and watched the miracle of nature and human construction with awe. We hiked back down the mountain and head back home.
Of course the Eurocup soccor matches are always the topic of conversation these days and the games were on throughout the evening. We ate another delicious dinner and then Tyson and I did some more planning before he and Nick went to the indoor tennis courts to work off their meals for the day. While they were gone, I worked some more and spent time with the rest of the family during our last evening. That night I was up until the middle of the night but we got a lot of planning done. We leave for Milan tomorrow and while we will miss the family here very much, we are also excited to see some more of this famous and wondrous continent.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
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